Jony Ive enters into multi-year partnership with Airbnb

Roughly one year after he left Apple Inc. Sir Jony Ive is back in the tech limelight, not for a revolutionary new product or innovation but because of a multi-year partnership with Airbnb. Ive retired last year to form his own LoveFrom design firm which was supposedly still open to collaborate with Apple. We've had a slew of product releases from Apple that seemed to have no direct involvement with Jony Ive. 

News has it that Ive's firm LoveFrom will help design the next generation of Airbnb products and services. This might seem confusing since Airbnb's service is hinged on technology that enables individuals to rent out their homes or apartments (something that has fallen out of favour lately, because of COVID-19). Collaborating with a design luminary like Ive seems strange, but if you consider Ive's final masterwork for Apple was his involvement in the Apple Park mothership, it makes sense to leverage his substantial knowledge of architecture, interior design, and innovation. Of course, the joke Ive watchers will make is that Airbnb is gearing up to create a series of white rooms like the one Ive used to do his Apple keynote voice overs from. This partnership could see Ive move on to his next phase as a designer and will likely yield some surprising new products for Airbnb.

Source: 9to5Mac