Apple’s legendary designer Jony Ive leaves the company to put up his own design firm

After being with Apple for nearly 30 years, Chief Design Officer Jonathan “Jony” Ive has announced he will be leaving the company to put up is own design firm called LoveFrom. One guarantee is that he counts Apple “among its primary clients.” Ive, who has led the design team since 1996, has helped craft Apple’s most iconic products, including the iPhone itself. Ive’s has even helped design the company’s “spaceship” Apple Park campus as well as the look and feel of Apple retail stores. He has also helped reshape the look of Apple’s software, starting with the revamped iOS 7 in 2013. Taking Ive’s place, Evans Hankey, current vice president of industrial design, and Alan Dye, VP of human interface design, will report to Jeff Williams, who “will spend more of his time working with the design team in their studio.”

“Apple will continue to benefit from Jony’s talents by working directly with him on exclusive projects, and through the ongoing work of the brilliant and passionate design team he has built,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a press release. “After so many years working closely together, I’m happy that our relationship continues to evolve and I look forward to working with Jony long into the future."