In what is being widely perceived as part of a move that will eventually see Jony Ive phasing out his work responsibilities at Apple, Alan Dye, the new Vice President of User Interface Design, and Richard Howarth, the new Vice President of Industrial Design, will now report directly to CEO Tim Cook.
Ive has finally assumed his new position as the Chief Design Officer, with his bio now reading “Jony is responsible for all design at Apple, including the look and feel of Apple hardware, user interface, packaging, major architectural projects such as Apple Campus 2 and Apple’s retail stores, as well as new ideas and future initiatives.” The Englishman is now Apple’s third active C-level executive alongside CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri.
Prior to his promotion, Ive was named SVP of Design in 2013, a title referencing dual roles as head of hardware and human interface design. As CDO, Ive is still involved with both departments, but should have more leeway to work on Apple’s broader design language.
The memo shared earlier this year implied that Howarth and Dye would report to Ive, but that must have changed at some point between now and then. Howarth will focus on hardware and has been part of the iPhone team since the device launched in 2007. Dye will focus on software on both desktop and mobile devices and played a major role in the iOS 7 redesign as well as the design of watchOS.
Apple’s executive design shakeup was revealed earlier this year and centers around Jony Ive wanting to take on a smaller role and spend more time with his family and in his home country of England. Ive will still be in charge of the design teams overall, but the day-to-day management will be handed by Dye and Howarth.
