Life After Apple: Jony Ive’s Vision – Part 1

 ⏱️ 13 min read             

Jony Ive stepped away from Apple six years ago, leaving behind the iconic products that reshaped our world. But did he leave his design dreams behind? Not even close. 

Today, in the heart of San Francisco, Jony is building something entirely new – an empire of imagination, one groundbreaking project at a time. His bold new journey, is going from designing gadgets that fit in our hands to creating spaces that inspire our lives." 

Allow me to highlight Jony's transition from Apple to his current, visionary work in a fresh, and very intriguing way. 

Welcome to That's Life, I Swear. This podcast is about life's happenings in this world that conjure up such words as intriguing, frightening, life-changing, inspiring, and more. I'm Rick Barron your host. 

That said, here's the rest of this story 

Once a visionary behind Apple's iconic designs, Jony Ive embarked on a new journey beyond consumer electronics. Six years ago, Jony stepped down from his role as the company's head of design, setting his sights on a more ambitious project - the transformation of a city block in San Francisco. 

Surrounded by a large neighborhood model, he described his vision to a friend. "We're standing right here," he said, his finger tracing the outline of a two-story, 115-year-old building in the heart of the city's historic Jackson Square district. 

Jony’s acquisition of this building was just the beginning. His mind raced with possibilities as he surveyed the empty parking lot behind it. A garden, a pavilion, a space where people could gather and socialize – this was the future he envisioned for the neglected urban expanse. 

Unflinching by the complexity of his task, Jony methodically acquired one property after another, gradually assembling a patchwork of buildings that would serve as the canvas for his ambitious project. "This is a very odd thing," he remarked, his gaze fixed on the intricate wooden model before him. "For six years, I haven't talked to anybody about what we're doing." 

As the former design chief of one of the world's most influential technology companies, Jony has now turned his attention to reshaping the physical world around him, driven by a vision that extends far beyond the boundaries of a single city block. 

Jony Ive, a visionary in industrial design, had long cast a towering shadow over the tech industry. After a remarkable 27-year tenure at Apple, during which he crafted the iconic minimalist aesthetic that defined the company's products, the 58-year-old designer stepped away from the spotlight in 2019, leaving many to wonder what his next chapter might hold. 

His reputation as a celebrated creative force was unparalleled. His sleek, influential designs had permeated every corner of the consumer landscape, from the elegant lines of televisions to the organic curves of water bottles. Beyond his technical aptitude, Jony has also become a cultural icon, co-chairing the prestigious Met Gala and collaborating with renowned filmmaker J.J. Abrams to envision the iconic lightsaber for the "Star Wars" franchise. 

Yet, after departing Apple to establish his design firm, LoveFrom, Jony seemed to vanish from public view. The company's website offered little more than its self-made serif typeface, leading many in Silicon Valley to jokingly speculate that the designer had spent half a decade perfecting a mere font. But a deep curiosity lingered beneath the surface: what exactly was Jony Ive planning next? 

Jony Ive's comprehensive model of the city block offered a glimpse into his ambitious vision. Over the past five years, the British designer, estimated to be worth in the hundreds of millions, has quietly amassed a real estate portfolio worth nearly $90 million on a single city block in San Francisco. This building acquisition spree began early in the pandemic when many of Jony's tech industry peers fled the city. But the designer found this exodus deeply unsettling. 

Jony has shared with others that he owes so much to the city. San Francisco has been his home since the 1990s. The area had attracted so many people because of its vibrant creative energy, but as soon as things got tough, they were the first to abandon it, stated Jony. 

Jony has expressed a desire to draw new creative talent to the edge of downtown. He has already begun transforming one of his recently acquired buildings into a home base for his design agency, LoveFrom, which works on automotive, fashion, and travel projects. Another property will be the headquarters for a new artificial intelligence venture he is developing in partnership with OpenAI. 

"I don't know whether it was reckless," Jony once mused, reflecting on his real estate investments. "But it certainly wasn't arrogant. My intentions were sincere. I truly believe we can make a meaningful contribution to this city." 

In Silicon Valley, where wealth and ambition know no bounds, tech titans often indulge in grandiose real estate ventures or fantastical personal projects. From private islands to mammoth yachts and idealistic flying car startups, the excesses of the industry's elite have become the stuff of legend. In this context, Jony Ive's fixation on a single city block in San Francisco seems almost modest by comparison. 

Yet, this urban redevelopment represents a profound personal transformation for the celebrated designer. Few individuals ever walk away from the pinnacle of their profession, let alone embark on an entirely new chapter. Jony, a self-professed control freak, had grown weary of obsessing over the fine details of product design – the snug fit of an iPhone case, the precise layout of an Apple Watch component, the curvature of an iPad's corners. He craved something more. 

At his design firm, LoveFrom, Jony has sought to trust his instincts. One acquisition led to another, and a discussion about a new textile soon launched his first foray into fashion. Collaborations with clients like Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky opened doors to unexpected partnerships, such as his work with OpenAI. 

The outcome of Jony's real estate spending spree remains uncertain, and his design legacy has not been without controversy. Critics have accused him of prioritizing form over function, with some of Apple's thinnest laptops succumbing to keyboard malfunctions and the company's $17,000 gold Apple Watch drawing mockery from even its most loyal fans. 

Yet, he appears more relaxed, even as the scope of his ambitions continued to expand. "I'm learning to trust, more than ever, my intuition," Jony once stated. "That's the thing that I'm most excited about." 

A Designer's Journey from the Infinite Loop to Jackson Square 

In the summer of 1989, a young Jony Ive, just 21 years old, first set foot in San Francisco. The Royal Society of Arts had awarded the British designer a travel scholarship for creating a futuristic concept phone called "the Orator," he used the opportunity to visit Silicon Valley, which was then renowned as the epicenter of personal computer design. 

During that formative trip, Jony and his future wife, Heather, were captivated by the charm of San Francisco's Jackson Square neighborhood. They marveled at how many buildings had survived the city's devastating 1906 earthquake and fire, a testament to the area's whiskey storehouse, prompting officials to prioritize its protection even as the rest of the city burned. 

Jony spent countless hours immersed in the neighborhood's treasured William Stout Architectural Books store, browsing the thousands of design-focused volumes lined the shelves. By the time he departed the city, he knew with unwavering certainty that he would one day return. 

Jony Ive's Homecoming: From Silicon Valley's Epicenter to the Creative Heart of San Francisco 

When Apple extended Jony Ive a job offer to join their design team in 1992, making San Francisco his home was natural. It was here that his twin sons, Charlie and Harry, were born in 2004, and where the family settled into a large $17 million mansion in the Pacific Heights neighborhood, their view of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge stretching out before them. 

Years later, as Jony set out to establish his design firm, LoveFrom, he found himself again drawn to the creative energy of San Francisco's Jackson Square. Down the street were points of interest for Jony, such as the legendary City Lights Bookstore and Vesuvio Cafe, where the Beat Generation's luminaries like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg had once visited. The neighborhood was a tapestry of galleries and artists. 

Jony once stated, "One of the things I was fortunate to experience was seeing and understanding the context of San Francisco through the eyes of Steve Jobs." "He knew City Lights and Vesuvio. I owe Steve so much for how I came to appreciate San Francisco's profound contribution to the culture." 

It was with this deep reverence for the city's creative legacy that Jony named his new firm, LoveFrom – a nod to Jobs' own words, spoken to Apple employees in 2007, about the importance of imbuing one's work with "a great deal of care and love." 

Jony Ive's Ambitious Real Estate Ventures in San Francisco's Creative Heart 

As Jony set out to establish a permanent office for his design firm, LoveFrom, in early 2020, he stumbled upon a building for sale on Montgomery Street in the heart of San Francisco's Jackson Square. Recognizing the property's potential, he quickly acquired the $8.5 million building, only to discover that its back entrance led to a parking lot surrounded by the block's other structures. Determined to transform this underutilized space into a vibrant green oasis, Jony realized he would need to control the entire city block to achieve his vision. 

A year later, he made his move, purchasing a neighboring 33,000-square-foot building for a staggering $17 million. As he navigated these real estate dealings, Jony shared his ambitious plans with his friend Wendell Weeks, the CEO of Corning, the glass company responsible for iPhone screen manufacturing. While Jony spoke excitedly about his investments, Weeks could not help but cringe – the COVID-19 pandemic had dealt a devastating blow to San Francisco's commercial real estate market, leaving more than a third of its office spaces vacant. 

"I don't really think you need to do that," Weeks cautioned Jony. "I can get you office space." 

Join me tomorrow for part 2, and the conclusion, of Jony Ive’s new journey in design. 

What can we learn from this story? What's the takeaway? 

It’s never too late to take your creative talents, and challenge yourself to dive into a journey. 

Leonardo da Vinci said it best in a quote: 

Just as iron rusts unless it is used, and water putrefies or, in cold, turns to ice, so our intellect spoils unless it is kept in use. 

What does that mean? Leonardo was a huge proponent of staying eternally curious and constantly exercising one’s mind so it doesn’t become stale with disuse. 

Well, there you go, my friends; that's life, I swear 

For further information regarding the material covered in this episode, I invite you to visit my website, which you can find on Apple Podcasts for show notes and the episode transcript. 

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