• Home
  • Latest
  • Coins2Day 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Inside Apple’s industrial design lab

By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
November 7, 2009, 6:33 AM ET

A rare visit with the man who designed the iMac, the iPod and the iPhone


“I guess it’s one of the curses of what you do,” says Jonathan Ive, Apple’s senior vice president for industrial design, “is that you are constantly looking at something and thinking ‘Why why why is it like that? Why is it like that and not like this?'”

Ive’s five-minute appearance in Objectified is one of the centerpieces of Gary Hustwit’s 2009 documentary about contemporary industrial design. It’s a follow-up to Hustwit’s amazing Helvetica (2007), the only full-length film about a typeface. Objectified may not be as surprising or groundbreaking, but it does feature this rare inside look at Apple’s (AAPL) secretive design lab, an inner sanctum on the Cupertino campus only slightly less guarded than Fort Knox.

“I remember the first time I saw an Apple product,” says Ive as the camera pans across a busy Apple Store. “I remember it so clearly because it was the first time I realized when I saw this product I got a very clear sense of the people who designed it and made it.”

Below fold, unless Hustwit has pulled it, a YouTube clip of that video.

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0fe800C2CU]

See also:

  • A fireside chat with Jonathan Ive

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

About the Author
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Coins2Day 500
  • Global 500
  • Coins2Day 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Coins2Day Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Coins2Day Brand Studio
  • Coins2Day Analytics
  • Coins2Day Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Coins2Day
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in

Jeffrey Sprecher, President and Founder, CEO of Intercontinental Exchange
SuccessBillionaires
Meet the self-made billionaire who bought a nearly bankrupt company off Warren Buffett for $1,000 and turned it into a $98 billion giant
By Emma BurleighJanuary 16, 2026
1 day ago
Walmart International president and CEO Kathryn McLay speaks at Coins2Day Most Powerful Women Summit on Oct. 10, 2023.
NewslettersMPW Daily
Walmart’s leadership shakeup sees one female CEO contender leave—and another up-and-coming exec climb higher up the ladder
By Emma HinchliffeJanuary 16, 2026
1 day ago
C-SuiteCoins2Day 500 Power Moves
Coins2Day 500 Power Moves: Which executives gained and lost power this week
By Coins2Day EditorsJanuary 16, 2026
1 day ago
Kevin O'Leary
SuccessThe Interview Playbook
Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary warns job seekers he’ll throw your resume ‘straight in the garbage’ if you have bad WiFi
By Preston ForeJanuary 16, 2026
1 day ago
SuccessCareer Advice
Jensen Huang tells Stanford students their high expectations may make it hard for them to succeed: ‘I wish upon you ample doses of pain and suffering’
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJanuary 16, 2026
1 day ago
Sophia Kianni and Phoebe Gates attend the alice + olivia By Stacey Bendet Pride Event With Performance By Paris Hilton on June 13, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for alice + olivia)
SuccessWomen
Melinda French Gates told her daughter Phoebe to ‘get up or get out the game’ when investors kept asking about her plans to have kids
By Eleanor PringleJanuary 16, 2026
1 day ago

© 2025 Coins2Day Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Coins2Day Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Politics
The Nobel Prize committee doesn't want Trump getting one, even as a gift—but they treated Obama very differently
By Nick LichtenbergJanuary 16, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Newsletters
The oil CEO who stood up to Trump is a follower of the disciplined 'Exxon way' and has a history of blunt statements
By Jordan BlumJanuary 13, 2026
5 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
America’s $38 trillion national debt is so big the nearly $1 trillion interest payment will be larger than Medicare soon
By Shawn TullyJanuary 15, 2026
3 days ago
placeholder alt text
Europe
Americans have been quietly plundering Greenland for over 100 years, since a Navy officer chipped fragments off the Cape York iron meteorite
By Paul Bierman and The ConversationJanuary 14, 2026
3 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Jensen Huang tells Stanford students their high expectations may make it hard for them to succeed: 'I wish upon you ample doses of pain and suffering'
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJanuary 16, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Banking
'Absolutely, positively no chance, no way, no how, for any reason': Dimon says he'd never run the Fed but 'would take the call' to lead Treasury
By Jacqueline MunisJanuary 16, 2026
1 day ago