Jonny Ive had long been the face of Apple's industrial design. We'd see him explain the design choices made for Apple products in his impeccable British accent at launch events. Ive's vision aligned with that of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and the two famously got on very well. So it was a big deal for the company when Ive decided to leave Apple in 2019.
Ive's design influence is no longer seen on Apple's devices. Some of the other members of the team have either retired or left as well. One major retirement has also reportedly been announced, and it's that of senior design Bart Andre, Apple's longest-serving designer who joined in the company in 1992 alongside Jonny Ive.
Bart Andre was one of Ive's closest lieutenants
Bloomberg has reported that Andre is retiring after spending over three decades of the company. His departure means that there's now a “near-complete turnover” of Ive's design teams. What that means in simple terms is that almost everyone who worked on Ive's design team at Apple is now gone.
The report adds that Andre has told colleagues that he's going to retire. Andre's described in the report as “one of Ive's top lieutenants,” and he also happens to be one of the biggest holders of Apple patents. His departure is undoubtedly going to be a major shakeup of Apple's design team, at a time when the company is taking some heat for not being too revolutionary with its design choices anymore.
Apple's design team is now run by COO Jeff Williams. The design team is apparently not too happy with an operations person overseeing the design division and that the recent cost-cutting measures have also not gone down well with the staff.
For example, under Ive, the design team could work on exploratory projects that wouldn't necessarily result in an immediate payoff for the business. Such exploratory projects have now been cut back. As for what Andre's next steps will be after this departure from Apple, there's nothing on that yet.
