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If you market a destination or a hotel (or any business or product for that matter), it’s hard to dispute the fact that Jonathan Ive has impacted your job. If you don’t recognize the name, here’s a couple of hints: iPhone, iPad. Ive is the head designer for Apple and his products have transformed industries, including marketing. In a recent exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Ive discussed a variety of topics related to Apple and design, but the part I found most interesting was the definition of Simplicity.
In the interview, Ive explains that Apple’s goal is to “bring calm and simplicity to … complex problems…” But it’s the definition of simplicity that has specific meaning for Ive:
“Simplicity is not the absence of clutter, that’s a consequence of simplicity. Simplicity is somehow essentially describing the purpose and place of an object and product. The absence of clutter is just a clutter-free product. That’s not simple.”
“The quest for simplicity has to pervade every part of the process. It really is fundamental.”
Whether it’s marketing, sales or any number of the other projects and efforts we are engaged in on a daily basis, how many of them fit this definition of Simplicity? Can you really describe the “purpose and place” and is it fundamental to your process?
There’s only one Apple, but clearly they are doing something right with this approach. Granted, not everything is going to be a homerun. Ive hints that Apple's vaults are filled with many failures that didn’t see the light of day. But, since the company is impacting our daily lives, our work efforts, etc., it makes sense, at least to me, to examine why they do it the way they do it and how we can learn from that.
The Telegraph has published the interview in two parts. You can read both here:
Part One Part Two