Interesting article, I’m really looking forward to Job’s biography.
I don’t think any designer enjoys seeing other people take credit for their ideas and their work but sometimes for the good of the company and the public image that has to happen. I believe Jobs and Ives made each other a success.
Definitely a good article that makes me that much more curious about Steve’s bio.
In this respect, I think Steve Jobs had become a company mascot. If he had dragged Ive, a couple designers and 18 engineers out on stage, it would have just confused people.
Couldn’t the same be said of Ives? No doubt there is a whole team of designers and no product is one persons creation. Probably just a quote out of context and a grabby headline anyhow…
R
This is what annoys me with the whole Jobs god/changed the world thing like Jobs himself had designed all of apples products. It’s pretty harsh that even on these forums full of designers that they fall for this whole Mascot thing. As mentioned it would just confuse people if he had brought out the team of designers. It makes perfect sense in a business world to have him push them as ‘his’ ideas. However as designers we know full well that’s not how it worked.
There was a team of designers that designed the products.
Whom do you think makes all the Disney stuff? Walt, cracking it out from beyond the grave…
If they have bold visionary’s they will be fine.
I dont see what the big deal is. Its not like anyone who has purchased a product i designed knows it was my idea (except for maybe my mom)
Edison didn’t do everything himself either He had a team, bur he knew how to lead that team to success. I have not read the article yet, but I wanted to address the above. I don’t think anyone is saying that Jobs designed the iPhone our iMac (at least not on these boards) but rather was a visionary and knew how to lead. Because of this he did change the world.
J
You should read the article, as this is pretty much what Ives himself
said about Jobs, that he was there to lead the team and knew where
to lead it.
The grabby headline neither gives justice to the item discussed nor to
Ives on Jobs. I wish the o.p. could change it.
mo-i
Wasn’t the gist of his comment something to the effect of “It hurt when he took credit for my designs” but they were still close every single day. Jobs saying he was his soul partner in the office or something.
Hey, I’m the o.p. and I was just quoting the headline on the article so don’t shoot the messenger. 
This reminds me of posts about the design manager dilemma of having managed a project, but not drawn every line or CADed every surface, and whether they can claim ownership of the design.
There’s no doubt in my mind Ives led his team to develop the apple design language, probably with a ton of input from Steve Jobs. Anything done in that style is ‘his’, but has good design work done by his team. In that sense, Steve Jobs DID design everything too.
I just got the biography today too - it’s thick!
From school group projects, we learned fast to not say “I” during presentations but “we”. That’s basically the summary of the article…
“In so many other companies, ideas and great design get lost in the process,” Ive said. “The ideas that come from me and my team would have been completely irrelevant, nowhere, if Steve hadn’t been here to push us, work with us, and drive through all the resistance to turn our ideas into products.”
I think this sums it up. This seems like an interview that was taken out of context.
J
Just for the record, I would gladly let someone else take all credit for my work if they pay me $1 million + and I get to develop projects that are as nicely detailed as an iPhone.
Steve Jobs Bio: Apple Has 3 Years Of New Products In Jonathan Ive’s Studio
That’s how corporations work, and the bigger the corporation the less you’ll hear mentions of the people in the bakground. Isn’t Apple successful? And I know Ives is not comlaining of the success, but if wants the world to recognize him for every single one of his designs and ideas than he should open his own corporation and do everything himself.
It doesn’t take an idea to see a product through the system life cycle. Everyone has ideas, and great ones at that, but only a few take the initiative to take it to the next step, and fewer to take it all the way to production. It takes multiple process comprised of people who can offer different skills to see the idea through to production.
You don’t hear the people who work at the manufactering plant complaining that Jobs took credit for their work!
I don’t know that you would. Once you have enough, money isn’t a good motivator- depending on how it’s given out, it can actually demotivate you. I can imagine how the perception that you aren’t getting due credit for your role in the greatest corporate turnaround in human history might get pretty annoying.
That said, this article doesn’t seem to justify its headline. Ive recognizes Jobs’ role as an editor. We all know the importance (and difficulty) of picking the winner out of a stack of concepts. And of course there is a lot more to the success of Apple than just its ID.
Scott: You are right. I would work there two years, then go play by myself. I’m thinking starting a cottage sportscar make would be fun;)