Apple has hired Marc Newson, an independent designer who has long worked and been friends with Apple's legendary king of design, Sir Jony Ive. Mr. Newson caught the attention of Apple-centric press in 2013 when he worked with Sir Jony to design items for an auction benefitting Bono's Project (RED).
Marc Newson, Driving a 1952 built Yellow Ferrari 225 with Phil Poynter during a time trial at 1000 Miglia race on May 12, 2011 in Brescia
Photo by Roberto Cerruti, courtesy of Shutterstock
The news was reported by Vanity Fair (via MacRumors), who said that Mr. Newson will remain in London, with "frequent" travel to Cupertino. He will report to Jonny Ive.
"Marc is without question one of the most influential designers of this generation," Sir Jony said in a statement provided to Vanity Fair Daily. "He is extraordinarily talented. We are particularly excited to formalize our collaboration as we enjoy working together so much and have found our partnership so effective."
For his part, Mr. Newson issued his own statement, saying, "I'm full of admiration and respect for the extraordinary design work that has been produced by Jony and the team at Apple. My close friendship with Jony has not only given me a unique insight into that process, but the opportunity to work together with him and the people that have been responsible. I am enormously proud to join them."
Under Jony Ive's leadership, Apple's design team has reigned supreme in the tech world for many years, but the reality is that the addition of Marc Newson is likely to make it that much better. Mr. Newson and Sir Jony have collaborated on a number of projects, and their contributions to the (RED) auction alone raised millions.
Note that one of those contributions was the (RED) Mac Pro, so this won't be the first time Mr. Newson has worked on Apple kit.