Done with designing iPhones, iMacs, and other big-selling Apple gadgets, Jony Ive, the tech giant’s former design guru, is turning his attention to top-end motors.
Two years after departing the tech giant as its head of design, Ive is embarking on a partnership with Ferrari, Bloomberg reported this week.
The “multiyear” collaboration will see Ferrari work with LoveFrom, the creative agency set up by Ive and fellow designer Marc Newson shortly after Ive departed Apple in 2019.
“The first expression of this new partnership will bring together Ferrari’s legendary performance and excellence with LoveFrom’s unrivaled experience and creativity that has defined extraordinary world-changing products,” Ferrari owner Exor said in a statement.
Beyond that, there’s little information on what Ive and Newson will be doing at Ferrari. Taking on an entire vehicle design? Possibly. Focusing on particular car components? Perhaps. Creating accessories for the Ferrari brand? Maybe. All will hopefully be revealed before too long, though a report in the Financial Times this week suggests the pair could be tasked with working on Ferrari’s first all-electric car, which is set to debut four years from now.
Ive has a long-running interest in vehicle design. In a 2014 interview with Time, he revealed that after he left school, he briefly attended a car-design course at London’s Royal College but was quickly put off as “the classes were full of students making vroom! vroom! noises as they drew.” The experience prompted Ive to switch to an industrial design course at a different college, a move that set him on a path that ultimately took him to Apple.
LoveFrom’s involvement with Ferrari comes nearly year after the design firm announced it was partnering with Airbnb. The collaboration was described as “a special collaboration,” though like Ferrari’s announcement, details about the partnership have been scarce.
