Creativity from Without

When people design or create things, inspiration often times comes from inside the person.  But especially in our society today, there are designers that find inspiration outside of themselves.  Jonathan Ive is an example of one of those designers.  Born in 1967, Ive works as the senior vice-president of design at Apple, where he is most noted for designing the iPod and iMac.

http://designmuseum.org/design/jonathan-ive

In an interview with Design Museum in the United Kingdom, Ive is asked about how he came into design and what drives his designs.  His interest began from an early age, but he was specifically interested in “made objects.”  He loved taking things apart, putting them back together, and figuring out how they were made or worked.  Even at such a young age, he expressed interest in the composition of an object—its make-up and materials used.

As a teenager, he knew that he wanted to design and create things, but his interests were so broad, he didn’t even know where to begin.  Cars, furniture, jewelry, and boats—everything fascinated him.  But after considering his wide range of interests, he decided to pursue product design.  Then as his education progressed, he really started understanding the “historical and cultural context of an object’s design.”  This became extremely important especially as his career took off.

However for Jonathan Ive, his inspiration for design rarely came from within himself.   When asked why he chose to work with Apple, he explains that it was mostly because he felt “technically inept” and he could not figure out why he struggled with computers so badly.  Mac helped him out in that situation, allowing him to work with computers so much better than before.  Then later on, Ive returned the favor as an employee of Apple.

As a member of Apple now and a successful designer, Ive believes that design is “driven by the development of new materials.”  These new materials are created and exist in this tangible world, and from these materials, Ive is inspired.  So while many artists and even designers create from within themselves, Ive truly breaks the mold: he creates from without.