乔纳森?埃维：设计之光

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.

没有了史蒂夫·乔布斯，苹果公司的投资者和客户提出了一个重大问题：失去了这位联合创始人和设计大师后，苹果还能够继续推出创新产品吗？这个问题的答案可能在于乔纳森·埃维。埃维是苹果公司的主管之一，在科技界之外鲜有人知。

作为苹果公司的首席设计师，埃维自1996年接掌公司设计团队以来，就一直和他的同事们负责打造苹果产品的外观和质感，并成功地帮助苹果公司从竞争对手中脱颖而出。

因为乔布斯的去世，人们将会对埃维有更高的要求。苹果公司仅仅依靠四个系列产品──电脑、音乐播放器、智能手机和平板电脑，来获得2013年预计超过一千亿美元的大部分收入，这意味着苹果的产品需要频繁地更新换代来引发人们的购买兴趣。

如今，埃维典雅的设计风格已经帮助苹果产品成为消费者身份的象征。埃维设计的iPad──铝制机身加上简单的玻璃面板，已经成为平板电脑市场的标杆。最新一代的iPad占据了全球平板电脑出货量的68%，超过了Research in Motion等竞争对手推出的同类产品。得益于出色的市场营销，埃维的设计为苹果公司注入了强大的增长动力，使其成为享誉全球的科技公司。

时尚的iPhone已经成为苹果公司最主要的收入来源，而Mac系列是个人电脑市场增长最为迅速的产品。至于标志着苹果再度崛起的iPad，自2010年首次上市以来已经在平板电脑消费市场中普及开来。

埃维1967年出生于伦敦，毕业于诺森比亚大学设计专业。他曾在英国设计公司Tangerine工作，苹果在上世纪90年代初是该公司的客户。1992年，埃维加入了苹果，并且很快成为工业设计部门的负责人。埃维自加入苹果公司以来一直在幕后工作，而乔布斯和其他主管们则经常代表公司抛头露面。埃维的设计团队让一度以灰色和浅褐色机身为主的苹果产品迎来了新生，其中最引人注目的产品包括糖果色的iMac电脑和玻璃面板加铝制机身的iPhone。

埃维的同事表示，埃维聪慧过人，而且温和平静。与其他常常寻求打造属于自己品牌的设计师不同，埃维总是尽力避开人们的注意。

尼尔森诺曼集团咨询公司的联合创始人之一、在上世纪90年代曾与埃维共事的唐·诺曼说：“在设计界，他因屡次获奖却不出席领奖活动而闻名，在他身上，你看不到丝毫的自以为是。”

分析人士认为，埃维注重细节的做法使得苹果公司从竞争者中脱颖而出。市场研究机构Forrester Research的分析师查尔斯·戈尔文一直关注消费领域中科技的发展。他说：“Macbook的悬浮式键盘设计让输入变得更为舒适，这就是注重细节的体现。”

“这一点看似简单，”戈尔文说，“但这就是我认为埃维设计的典雅之处。”

埃维的设计常常会被拿来和德国工业设计师迪特·拉姆斯的作品相比较。拉姆斯在上世纪60年代为博朗公司设计了计算器和收音机等产品。那些产品设计正如埃维在苹果公司的设计一样，因其简约、典雅和使用方便而闻名于世。

IDC公司移动设备及科技分析师威廉·斯托夫加说：“他们有着相同的设计理念——不过度装饰，保持简约。”

居住在柏林的设计领域的作家苏菲·洛弗尔说：“大多数人认为设计就是使事物看起来漂亮，但实际上设计远不止此。乔布斯和埃维都明白这一点。”洛弗尔补充道：“当我曾为了一篇杂志文章采访埃维时，我发现他对设计充满了激情。”

埃维的努力已经将苹果电脑和手机提升到了艺术品的范畴。根据现代艺术博物馆网站上的介绍，苹果公司的第一代iPod如今已成为该馆收藏的埃维的六件设计作品之一。