Steve Jobs as a Designer

Steve Jobs was an extremely successful entrepreneur, inventor, and the co-founder of Apple and NeXT. While he is extremely well-known for his work on the Macintosh systems as an engineer and salesman, and his collaboration with Steve Wozniak, he can also be seen within another light; as a designer.

Jobs’ whole design process revolved around a sleek and modern design. This likely came as a result of his travels though India, where he became engrossed in Buddhism, and became a practitioner in Zen Buddhism, which focused upon minimalism, and letting go. Jobs worked with several designers within the Apple team to create the Macintosh One, which drew heavy inspiration from modern appliances, such as the Cusinart. (Isaacson, paragraph 14). Jobs insisted upon smooth designs, certain bevel and chamfer dimensions, and worked tirelessly to design the friendliest, most human computer.

Jobs dabbled in everything that came standard with Apple products, from the calculator design to the typeface. With later computers, specifically the iMac G3, Jobs helped fabricators to design an entirely new transparent yet colorful plastic, which was placed on the back of machines and allowed for individuals to express themselves.

His greatest accomplishment was arguably the design of the iMac G4, which combined the monitor as well as the hardware for the actual computer into one sleek design, which drew inspiration from Luxo Jr., the Pixar lamp. The design of the iMac G4 made it so that one’s workspace was free of the clutter that additional wires created, making its design superior to its competitor, Windows. One can see this design prevailing throughout the history of Apple desktops, and its influences on the modern iMac.

Ultimately, without Jobs’ influence, Apple wouldn’t have the iconic design traditions it has now, likely would have gone bankrupt, and certainly wouldn’t be the overwhelming success it is today.

This image has been created during “DensityDesign Integrated Course Final Synthesis Studio” at Polytechnic University of Milan, organized by DensityDesign Research Lab in 2016. Image is released under CC-BY-SA licence. Attribution goes to “Giulia Piccoli Trapletti, DensityDesign Research Lab”., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45147810

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Steeber, Michael. “20 Years of Imac: A Story of Relentless Design Iteration.” 9to5Mac, 9to5Mac, 2 May 2018, https://9to5mac.com/2018/05/02/imac-design-20-years/.