Bart Andre, Apple's longest-serving senior industrial designer, disciple of Jony Ive, is leaving.

Описание: Sources are telling Bloomberg that Apple's longest-serving senior industrial designer, Bart Andre, told colleagues this month that he is retiring; Andre joined Apple in 1992 alongside Jony Ive. Quoting Bloomberg:

Andre was one of the last remaining designers from the Ive era and helped create the aesthetic for Apple products released over the past three decades — even prior to Steve Jobs returning to the helm in the late 1990s.

The designer was known as one of Ive’s top lieutenants and helped run the team after former chief Evans Hankey, Ive’s successor, departed last year. He’s also known as one of the biggest holders of Apple patents.

“His mark on Apple products is indelible — I see him every day in the details,” said Christopher Stringer, who used to work with Andre at Apple and now runs sound company Syng.

The departure is the latest in recent months for the group. Top designers Colin Burns, Shota Aoyagi and Peter Russell-Clarke all left around the end of last year. Multiple longtime designers on Apple’s software design team have also signaled they are planning to leave in the near future.

Both the industrial-design and user-interface groups are overseen by Jeff Williams, the company’s chief operating officer. He’s held that role since Ive’s departure in 2019 but took on direct management of the industrial-design team last year when Hankey left.

Having an operations person oversee a division dedicated to design and innovation has rankled some staff, according to the people close to the situation. There have also been cost-cutting measures that have added to the unrest, they said. Under Ive, the team embarked on exploratory projects that didn’t necessarily have an immediate payoff — something that’s been reined in. ENDQUOTE

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