In a lengthy interview, Apple’s Senior VP of of Design Jony Ive shared some of his thoughts on design, particularly in reference to the iPhone 4. He places strong emphasis on the necessity of a designer to be familiar with materials in a real-world context, and not limited to virtual environments. As for the iPhone 4 specifically, Jony asserts that there was a lot of work that went into the SIM card tray, and that the single-band antennae surrounding the outside of the phone underwent “phenomenal manufacturing tolerances”.
Ive has been with Apple since 1992, and has helped the company launch such iconic products such as the iPod, and his participation in the iPhone 4 was no doubt integral. Of course, there are just a few complaints about the iPhone 4 folks might level in Ive’s direction, namely the reception issues caused by bridging the gap between antennae segments. Arguably, the Gorilla glass is a bit too brittle, but a bumper could solve both of those problems.
You can see a selection of quotes from Jony Ive below, or go ahead and read the full interview at the via link.
[via Core77]
“A big part of the experience of a physical object has to do with the materials. We experiment with and explore materials, processing them, learning about the inherent properties of the material–and the process of transforming it from raw material to finished product; for example, understanding exactly how the processes of machining it or grinding it affect it. That understanding, that preoccupation with the materials and processes, is essential to the way we work.”
“Those three black splits are co-molded in, and then the band goes through more processes. So it’s assembled first, the band, and then the final machining and grinding are performed, so the tolerances are extraordinary…. Whatever people’s feelings are about the actual design of the product is of course subjective. But objectively I can say that the manufacturing tolerances are phenomenal. And we determined this, we designed it from the very beginning to meet those goals.”
“The amount of care that went into that SIM tray is extraordinary. To achieve this kind of build quality is extraordinarily hard work and requires care across so many teams. It demands incredibly close collaboration with experts in certain areas, material sciences and so on.”
“In our quest to quickly make three-dimensional objects, we can miss out on the experience of making something that helps give us our first understandings of form and material, of the way a material behaves–‘I press too hard here, and it breaks here’ and so on. Some of the digital rendering tools are impressive, but it’s important that people still really try and figure out a way of gaining direct experience with the materials.”