Life After Apple: Jony Ive’s Vision – Part 2

⏱️ 14 min read             

Six years ago, Jony Ive stepped away from Apple, 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, Ive is building something entirely new – an empire of imagination, one groundbreaking project at a time. 

In part one of this story, we discussed how Jony left Apple after 27 years, to start a new journey to expand on his talents. This time it wasn't in the field of high-tech, but in the work of real estate. Let’s pick up where we left off.

This is part 2 of 2. 

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 

Ive's Vision for Revitalizing Jackson Square

Jony Ive's decision to acquire an entire city block in San Francisco's Jackson Square was a sharp departure from his experiences with Apple's isolated office campuses. At Infinite Loop and Apple Park, the sterile, futuristic environments could have existed anywhere without any meaningful connection to the surrounding community. However, for Jony, his new venture represented an opportunity to firmly root his design firm, LoveFrom, within the vibrant cultural fabric of the city.

However, this ambitious real estate play did not come without concern from residents and business owners. Aaron Peskin, a city supervisor, worried that Jony might demolish the neighborhood's iconic buildings in pursuit of a towering skyscraper. But those worries soon dissipated as the designer engaged with the community.

Jony proactively offered to reduce rents for existing tenants and provided free design services to others. He also won over the vocal critic Peskin by demonstrating a deep commitment to preserving the area's cherished architectural heritage and diverse business landscape.

Unraveling the Elegant History of Buttons

Sitting on a bench at a long wooden table inside the LoveFrom studio, Jony flipped through a presentation showcasing the diverse work of his design firm. There was a coronation emblem for the newly crowned King Charles III, a high-fashion jacket for the Italian luxury brand Moncler, and an interior touchscreen interface for the first electric Ferrari.

The three-story workspace was a harmonious blend of Jony's past and present. Exposed brick walls framed a long table for collaborative design discussions, reminiscent of his tenure at Apple. Nearby, waist-high display tables like those in Apple Stores presented the team's polished work. And along the shelves, white coffee table books on design research lined the walls.

Jony often talks about his "button book." One of the oversized volumes is titled "Garment Fasteners Design Research." Its pages are loaded with images of clasps and pins dating back to prehistory and the Bronze Age. This was the first in a custom-printed, five-volume series that chronicled the history of humanity's evolution in button-making for clothing. Jony once said about the book, "Five years we've been working on this, and we love it," he remarked with pride.

Ive and Newson: From Corporate Rigor to Creative Liberation

When Jony first contemplated leaving Apple, he turned to his longtime friend and fellow designer, Marc Newson, for advice. The Australian-born industrial designer, who joined Apple in 2014 to work on the Apple Watch, had built a career at an independent design firm, creating everything from luxury yachts and surfboards to Louis Vuitton luggage. Newson's advice to Jony was clear: start a creative collective to work on projects unfettered by corporate demands.

"The freedom was the idea," Newson recalled of those early discussions. The goal was to leave behind Apple's relentless grind and rigid structure.

Jony and Newson assembled a diverse team of architects, graphic designers, writers, and even a cinematic special effects developer for six years. Their collective, LoveFrom, would operate across three distinct realms: 

·       work done purely for the love of it 

·       without any financial compensation

·       client-commissioned work, including projects for Airbnb and Ferrari

During a 2019 conversation with Moncler CEO Remo Ruffini, he learned the jacket maker was unsure how to utilize a new recycled nylon yarn best. In response, Jony proposed a seamless, single-piece garment design that could be zipped together to create sleeves, nestled within various outerwear shells, and secured with custom, magnetically snapping buttons etched with LoveFrom's bear mascot.  

This Moncler collaboration was something Jony undertook because he wanted to design his first-ever garment. This project aligned with the firm's belief in balancing work done for "the love of others" with that done for "the love of us."

Ive and Newson's Grand Vision for Jackson Square

Jony's design firm, LoveFrom, has set sights on an ambitious "for us" project – redeveloping an entire city block in San Francisco's Jackson Square neighborhood. During a presentation near the studio's entrance, Jony displayed an artist's rendering of the transformation on a 114-inch TV screen.

The once-empty parking lot had been reimagined as a lush, green oasis. Winding pathways through strips of green grass, with hedges lining the perimeter and towering trees casting dappled shade over outdoor seating areas. At the heart of this urban sanctuary stood a graceful pavilion, a hub for meetings, events, and community gatherings.

Jony and his design partner, Marc Newson, plan for LoveFrom's studio to occupy two buildings flanking this reimagined courtyard. Zoning requirements dictate that one of these structures will house a dedicated LoveFrom retail store, offering the firm's custom notebooks, Moncler collaboration jackets, and other products.

The duo hopes this sweeping renovation, slated for completion by late 2025, will be a magnet, drawing new energy and investment to the area. They've already affirmed several firms, including Emerson Collective (founded by Laurene Powell Jobs) and Thrive Capital (with ties to OpenAI), to follow their lead and establish a presence in Jackson Square.

"There's a counterintuitive opportunity to prove people wrong about San Francisco," Newson said, confident their vision for the neighborhood will defy the city's recent challenges.

From Ferrari Screens to AI Devices: Ive's Diverse Design Pursuits

After the presentation, Jony walked up the wooden staircase to the second floor of the LoveFrom studio. He spoke about the firm's impressive client roster, which generates an annual revenue of up to $200 million. The two dozen designers working upstairs were engaged in various projects, from a Christie's auction stand and Airbnb graphics to the interior design of Ferrari's first electric vehicle.

One of LoveFrom's earliest clients was John Elkann, the CEO of Exor and a member of the Agnelli family, which owns the prestigious Ferrari brand. Elkann had turned to Jony's team because he admired how the designer had transformed the Apple Watch from an analog device into a groundbreaking digital product. He wanted Jony and his team to work the same magic on Ferrari's electrified future.

The project has given Elkann a deep appreciation for LoveFrom's meticulous design process. In January of 2024, he visited the studio for an extensive meeting focused solely on the car's steering wheel. As Jony and his team discussed the optimal length and grip ergonomics, Ferrari's chief test driver evaluated an early prototype, drawing on design cues from the brand's storied sports car and racecar heritage.

"Paying attention to the steering wheel in a car that you want to drive and what the physicality of that means is something that Jony was very clear about," Elkann remarked. He declared the resulting design to be "something different."

Ive's Collaborative Endeavors: Reinventing Airbnb and Pioneering AI Devices

Jony's diverse client roster extended well beyond the automotive industry. Another early collaborator was Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb. LoveFrom had assisted the travel company in redesigning its review system, introducing three-dimensional icons to the app, and developing a concept called "travel postcards" – a feature that allowed users to share digital postcards when booking their trips.

Chesky, a close friend of Sam Altman, the visionary behind OpenAI, arranged for Jony and Altman to meet for dinner at the Michelin-starred Spruce restaurant, just miles from Jackson Square. For several meetings, the two men discussed how the advent of generative artificial intelligence could usher in a new era of computing devices. Unlike traditional software, these 
AI-powered tools could summarize messages, identify objects, and handle complex requests like booking travel.

Inspired by these conversations, Jony and Altman collaborated on a product, with LoveFrom leading the design. They have since secured private funding, with Jony and Laurene Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective among the contributors. By the end of the 2024, the venture raised up to $1 billion in startup capital from tech investors.

In February of 2024, Jony found the perfect office space for this new AI-focused endeavor – a 32,000-square-foot building called the Little Fox Theater, directly adjacent to the LoveFrom courtyard. He has already assembled a team of around 10 employees, including Tang Tan, who previously oversaw iPhone product development, and Evans Hankey, who succeeded Jony as the head of design at Apple.

Ushering in a New Era of AI-Powered Computing

On a Friday morning in late June of 2024, Jony's collaborators, Tang Tan and Evans Hankey, wheeled chairs between the nearby LoveFrom studio and the recently acquired Little Fox Theater. Atop the chairs were papers and cardboard boxes containing the earliest ideas for a revolutionary new product that would leverage artificial intelligence to create a computing experience far less socially disruptive than the ubiquitous smartphone.

This highly secretive project is being developed under Jony's watchful eye. His design partner, Marc Newson, remained tight-lipped about the specifics, noting that the product's final form and release timeline were still in flux.

While Jony maintains a sense of optimism and enthusiasm about the potential of this 
 AI-powered endeavor to justify his significant investments in the Jackson Square neighborhood, he also struggles with unease about the future. It is only natural for him to harbor fears that he may have overspent on real estate or that his startup could ultimately fail.

Yet, seated on a plush, cream-colored couch near LoveFrom's intricate model of Jackson Square, Jony expressed a philosophical perspective that diverged sharply from Apple's dogmatic focus on Return on Investment. He believes the most critical decisions in life require a willingness to embrace the unknown.

"You somehow have to make friends with uncertainty," Jony said, espousing a view decidedly at odds with the tech giant's affinity for meticulous planning and risk aversion. 

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

Jony learned many things while at Apple. One lesson stuck with him, and it came from Steve Jobs.

It was a lesson Steve passed on to the CEO of Corning, and it was how one looks at risk.

In February 2007, Steve Jobs asked Corning to provide 5 million square feet of Gorilla Glass by the end of May, just before Apple's first iPhone went on sale. The CEO initially resisted but ultimately delivered on time.

Steve took time to explain to the CEO that he was afraid. He goes, 'You're letting your fear of embarrassment if you fail get in the way of the needs of a lot of people. You're passing up the opportunity to be great. Look at all the people you're speaking for at Corning who also have that opportunity.'

The rest is history

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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