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The man behind some of Apple’s most iconic designs, Jonathan Ive, has been awarded the British Visionary Inovator, beating out competition from Sir Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the world wide wide) and graffiti artist Banksy.
The award is given out by the Intellectual Property Office, and saw Ive win with almost half the vote (46.6%). Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who came second, achieved 18.8% of the vote. Third place went to the inventor of PIN technology and the cash Machine, James Goodfellow OBE, who got 15.2% of the vote.
Ive’s influence on Apple’s recent success can’t be underestimated; almost all the components found in Apple product are off-the-shelf, so it relies on stunning design and clever marketing to achieve it’s massive sales.
Ive designed the first iMac back in 1998 and has since overseen the design of products such as the PowerBook G4, PowerMac G4, PowerMac G5, G4 Cube, iBook, Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPod, iPod touch, iPhone and iPad.
His most iconic designs are the original iMac, first generation iPod, the iPhone and iPad which have all gone onto the cult status. Prime example is the iPod, it certainly wasn’t the first mp3 player, but is the world’s best selling and this was mainly down to the clean and crisp design.
On the topic of designing products for Apple, Ive said: “Our goals are very simple — to design and make better products. If we can’t make something that is better, we won’t do it.”
Ive was born in the Chingford, London and holds and Bachelor of Arts and honourary doctorate from Newcastle Polytechnic.
He has been recognised with numerous design awards including being named Designer of the Year by the Design Museum London in 2003 and being awarded the title Royal Designer for Industry by The Royal Society of Arts.
Last year there were rumours that Ive had fallen out with former Apple CEO Steve Jobs because he wanted to school his children in England and was to move back to the UK.
Apple wasn’t keen on the idea of their top designer working from the UK and not at their centre of design at the company’s head office in Cupertino.
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