We know the Queen loves the iPad, so it came as no surprise when Apple's chief designer Jonathan Ive was appointed Knight Commander before the New Year.
The Princess Royal officially knighted Jony Ive, Apple's senior vice-president of industrial design, on Wednesday for his services to design and enterprise. The 45-year-old spoke to the Telegraph and said the honor is "incredibly humbling."
“All I’ve ever wanted to do is design and make; it’s what I love doing. It’s great if you can find what you love to do. Finding it is one thing but then to be able to practice that and be preoccupied with that is another,” Ive told the Telegraph.
After starting his own design company, Tangerine, Ive began work as a consultant for Apple. He was wooed into full-time employment and moved to California in 1992. Within four years he rose through the ranks to become Apple's head of design.
In his position as a chief Apple designer, he served an integral role in the creation of the colored iMac desktops, iPod, iPhone and later iPad. During his interview with the Telegraph, Ive spoke of Apple in terms of simple, yet careful design, emphasizing the teamwork involved.
"We’re keenly aware that when we develop and make something and bring it to market that it really does speak to a set of values. And what preoccupies us is that sense of care, and what our products will not speak to is a schedule, what our products will not speak to is trying to respond to some corporate or competitive agenda. We’re very genuinely designing the best products that we can for people."
The British Royal Family are not the only ones who have recognized Ive's eye for design. According to Steve Jobs' biographer, the late Apple co-founder and CEO saw Ive as a "spiritual partner" and left him with more operational freedoms than any other employee within the company.
Among his other honors, Ive was named Fortune's "smartest designer" in tech in 2010; he received the title of "Commander of the British Empire" from the Queen in 2006; and he was honored as "Designer of the Year" by the Design Museum London in 2003.
As for his best Apple design that he wants to be remembered for, Ive believes it lies in his current work that has yet to be revealed.
"What we’re working on now feels like the most important and the best work we’ve done," Ive told the Telegraph. I guess we will all have to wait with bated breath to see Apple's next innovation.
Check out the gallery below to see 11 things you should know about the latest iPad, which Ive had a hand in designing.
