Jony Ive Becomes Apple's First-Ever Chief Design Officer

Jony Ive has just been named the first Chief Design Officer for Apple, in what is a newly-created position that will have Ive overseeing the design of Apple’s stores, in addition to his other roles. Stepping up from Senior Vice President of Design as of July 1st, Ive’s new role – which was announced via a biography of the designer written by comedian Stephen Fry in The Telegraph – will rid him of much of the day-to-day administrative duties that he has a notorious dislike for, instead making him responsible for wide-ranging design details for everything from hardware and software, to packaging and even picking out the furniture, fixtures, and fittings for retail stores and Apple Campus 2. Staff under Ive will also be restructured, with Richard Howarth — having been instrumental in the development of the first iPhone — being made head of Industrial Design, and Alan Dye becoming head of User Interface, having recently worked on the UI for the Apple Watch.