14 DAY TRIAL // Whether it has something to do with the regime at Apple, or simply because there are more profitable opportunities under a different roof, one Andy Miller of the iAd division, and Louie Mantia, who served as a visual interface designer, are leaving Apple behind to take a different route.
Reports indicate that Apple’s iAd chief, Andy Miller, is leaving the company to become a general partner at venture firm Highland Capital.
Apple staffers had been told by his “impending departure”, according to All Things D, who heard the news from sources close to the situation.
The move is considered very interesting as Miller is the co-founder of Quattro Wireless, a company Apple snatched in 2010 for $275 million to get their hands on some advertising expertise with iAds in mind.
While iAd still remains a part of Apple’s business, Miller’s shoes will have to be filled by someone else.
Elsewhere inside Apple Inc., specifically over at the department where people are working on interface elements for Mac OS and iOS, a certain Louie Mantia also seems to be determined to cut a new path in his career.
After serving as a visual interface designer for the company’s iTunes Design team, Mantia posted an announcement on Twitter this week, saying:
“My position at Apple in iTunes Design will be available soon, so if you are interested, send me a link to your portfolio!”
Unlike Andy Miller, however, Mantia will still somewhat have ties to Apple as he will be leaving for Square, a San Francisco mobile payment startup whose products are sold on the Apple Store as they leverage iPhones, iPod touch players, and iPads.
Mantia is notorious (in Apple circles) for designing several icons for Apple’s Mac operating system, including the controversial iTunes 10 icon.
Before working at Apple, he contributed to the creation of Tap Tap Revenge, Tapulous’ immensely popular music game, created several Mac and iPhone icons as a freelance designer, did the UI for the Obama ‘08 app, and the list goes on.
