喬納森?埃維：設(shè)計之光

Without Steve Jobs, Apple Inc. investors and customers are asking a big question: Can it continue to turn out innovative products without its co-founder and design visionary? The answer may lie with Jonathan Ive, an Apple executive little known outside the technology industry.

Mr Ive is Apples design chief. Since taking charge of the companys design team in 1996, Mr Ive and his group have been responsible for coming up with the physical look and feel of products that have helped set Apple apart from competitors.

The demands on Mr Ive will likely grow with the death of Mr Jobs. Apple depends on just four product lines computers, music players, smart phones and tablet computers to drive the lions share of the more than $100 billion in annual revenue the company is expected to take in this fiscal year. That means Apple relies on frequent product-cycle refreshes to generate the excitement for its devices.

To date, Mr Ives emphasis on elegant design has helped Apple products become consumer status symbols. The Ive-designed iPad, a simple slate of glass on an aluminum body, has defined the tablet-computer market. The latest iPad held 68% of global tablet shipments in the June quarter, outrunning rivals from Research in Motion Ltd. and others.Backed by slick marketing, Mr Ives creations have powered a remarkable growth spurt that has made Apple the most highly valued technology company in the world.

The sleek iPhone has become Apples single-biggest revenue driver, while the companys line of Macs is the fastest-growing segment of the personal-computer market. The spare iPad, which anchored Apples renaissance with its debut in 2010, popularized tablet PC for the consumer market.

Mr Ive was born in 1967 in London and studied design at Northumbria University. He worked at a U.K. design agency, Tangerine, that consulted for Apple in the early 1990s. In 1992, Mr Ive joined Apple and quickly became head of its industrial design team. Since joining, Mr Ive has worked in the background while Mr Jobs and other executives served as the companys public face. Mr Ives design team has spearheaded a revitalization of Apples products, which were once gray or beige boxes. Among his most notable products: the candy-colored line of iMac computers and the glass-and-aluminum iPhone.

People who work with Mr Ive say he is both brilliant and quiet. Unlike other designers, who often seek to become brands of their own, Mr Ive avoids the limelight.

“In the design world, hes famous for having won awards and not showing up to collect them,” said Don Norman, who worked with Mr Ive in the 1990s and is the co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group consultancy. “You dont see any ego at all.” His effect, however, has been profound.

Analysts say Mr Ives attention to seemingly small details set Apples apart from competitors. Charles Golvin, who tracks consumer technology for market watcher Forrester Research, says setting the keyboard on the Macbook deep on the machines base to create a palm rest was one such decision.

“It seems like a simple thing,” Mr Golvin said. “Its that kind of elegance I associate with him.”

Mr Ives designs are often compared to those of Dieter Rams, the German industrial designer who conjured products, such as calculators and radios for Braun in the 1960s. Those products, like Mr Ives at Apple, were known for their simplicity, elegance and ease of use.

“They share a design philosophy that dont overwork things, dont make it complicated,” said IDC mobile-device and technology trends analyst William Stofega.

“Most people think design is about making things look pretty, but its about much more than that,” said Sophie Lovell, a Berlin-based writer on design, who said Mr Ives passion for design was abundant when they met last year when she interviewed him for a magazine article. “Thats something that both Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive have understood.”

Mr Ives efforts have elevated Apples computers and cell phones into works of art. The first-generation of Apples iPod is one of six Ive-designed gadgets that are part of the Museum of Modern Arts collection, according to the museums website.

沒有了史蒂夫·喬布斯，蘋果公司的投資者和客戶提出了一個重大問題：失去了這位聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人和設(shè)計大師后，蘋果還能夠繼續(xù)推出創(chuàng)新產(chǎn)品嗎？這個問題的答案可能在于喬納森·埃維。埃維是蘋果公司的主管之一，在科技界之外鮮有人知。

作為蘋果公司的首席設(shè)計師，埃維自1996年接掌公司設(shè)計團隊以來，就一直和他的同事們負責打造蘋果產(chǎn)品的外觀和質(zhì)感，并成功地幫助蘋果公司從競爭對手中脫穎而出。

因為喬布斯的去世，人們將會對埃維有更高的要求。蘋果公司僅僅依靠四個系列產(chǎn)品──電腦、音樂播放器、智能手機和平板電腦，來獲得2013年預計超過一千億美元的大部分收入，這意味著蘋果的產(chǎn)品需要頻繁地更新?lián)Q代來引發(fā)人們的購買興趣。

如今，埃維典雅的設(shè)計風格已經(jīng)幫助蘋果產(chǎn)品成為消費者身份的象征。埃維設(shè)計的iPad──鋁制機身加上簡單的玻璃面板，已經(jīng)成為平板電腦市場的標桿。最新一代的iPad占據(jù)了全球平板電腦出貨量的68%，超過了Research in Motion等競爭對手推出的同類產(chǎn)品。得益于出色的市場營銷，埃維的設(shè)計為蘋果公司注入了強大的增長動力，使其成為享譽全球的科技公司。

時尚的iPhone已經(jīng)成為蘋果公司最主要的收入來源，而Mac系列是個人電腦市場增長最為迅速的產(chǎn)品。至于標志著蘋果再度崛起的iPad，自2010年首次上市以來已經(jīng)在平板電腦消費市場中普及開來。

埃維1967年出生于倫敦，畢業(yè)于諾森比亞大學設(shè)計專業(yè)。他曾在英國設(shè)計公司Tangerine工作，蘋果在上世紀90年代初是該公司的客戶。1992年，埃維加入了蘋果，并且很快成為工業(yè)設(shè)計部門的負責人。埃維自加入蘋果公司以來一直在幕后工作，而喬布斯和其他主管們則經(jīng)常代表公司拋頭露面。埃維的設(shè)計團隊讓一度以灰色和淺褐色機身為主的蘋果產(chǎn)品迎來了新生，其中最引人注目的產(chǎn)品包括糖果色的iMac電腦和玻璃面板加鋁制機身的iPhone。

埃維的同事表示，埃維聰慧過人，而且溫和平靜。與其他常常尋求打造屬于自己品牌的設(shè)計師不同，埃維總是盡力避開人們的注意。

尼爾森諾曼集團咨詢公司的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人之一、在上世紀90年代曾與埃維共事的唐·諾曼說：“在設(shè)計界，他因?qū)掖潍@獎卻不出席領(lǐng)獎活動而聞名，在他身上，你看不到絲毫的自以為是?！?/p>

分析人士認為，埃維注重細節(jié)的做法使得蘋果公司從競爭者中脫穎而出。市場研究機構(gòu)Forrester Research的分析師查爾斯·戈爾文一直關(guān)注消費領(lǐng)域中科技的發(fā)展。他說：“Macbook的懸浮式鍵盤設(shè)計讓輸入變得更為舒適，這就是注重細節(jié)的體現(xiàn)?！?/p>

“這一點看似簡單，”戈爾文說，“但這就是我認為埃維設(shè)計的典雅之處?！?/p>

埃維的設(shè)計常常會被拿來和德國工業(yè)設(shè)計師迪特·拉姆斯的作品相比較。拉姆斯在上世紀60年代為博朗公司設(shè)計了計算器和收音機等產(chǎn)品。那些產(chǎn)品設(shè)計正如埃維在蘋果公司的設(shè)計一樣，因其簡約、典雅和使用方便而聞名于世。

IDC公司移動設(shè)備及科技分析師威廉·斯托夫加說：“他們有著相同的設(shè)計理念——不過度裝飾，保持簡約?！?/p>

居住在柏林的設(shè)計領(lǐng)域的作家蘇菲·洛弗爾說：“大多數(shù)人認為設(shè)計就是使事物看起來漂亮，但實際上設(shè)計遠不止此。喬布斯和埃維都明白這一點?！甭甯栄a充道：“當我曾為了一篇雜志文章采訪埃維時，我發(fā)現(xiàn)他對設(shè)計充滿了激情?！?/p>

埃維的努力已經(jīng)將蘋果電腦和手機提升到了藝術(shù)品的范疇。根據(jù)現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)博物館網(wǎng)站上的介紹，蘋果公司的第一代iPod如今已成為該館收藏的埃維的六件設(shè)計作品之一。