“We meet on average three times a week,” says the Brit

Jun 17, 2014 06:55 GMT  ·  By

Chingford, London-born Jonathan Ive spoke on the record with the NY Times recently dishing out details about the design process at Apple, his relationship with CEO Tim Cook, and other things that make up the company headquartered in Cupertino, California.

When Steve Jobs was around, Ive was known to grab lunch with the co-founder on a regular basis, discussing the next iThing and the design process, including the materials that would go into the production of the device, the software, etc.

Now Apple is run by Tim Cook, a great leader but not exactly the articulate visionary that Jobs was. Jobs loved design in much the same way Ive does, whereas Cook only pays attention to it. But that’s a level of dedication he can live with, Ive says.

“We meet on average three times a week. Sometimes those meetings are over in his space, sometimes here in the design studio. We all see the same physical object. Something happens between what we objectively see and what we perceive it to be. That’s the definition of a designer – trying to somehow articulate what contributes to the way we see the object.”

“Heading on for two decades working with Tim, one of the things I have always admired is the quiet consideration he gives to trying to understand how he perceives something. He will take the time. I think that testifies to the fact that he knows it’s important.”

So while he may not jump in with ideas to remove a seam, shave off some material to achieve a slope and what not, Cook pays enough attention to the design process to make sure he understands the importance of a particular decision, leaving the product in the hands of Ive’s team with great confidence that he will make the best choices.

In fact, Cook is quite interested in the materials that go into Apple’s products and even seems involved in the handpicking of these materials. According to Ive, the next wave of products will be using all-new materials that he can’t talk about on record.

“I’ve worked for the last 15 or 20 years on the most challenging, creative parts of what we do. I would love to talk about future stuff – they’re materials we haven’t worked in before. I’ve been working on this stuff for a few years now. Tim is fundamentally involved in pushing into these new areas and into these materials.”

The full interview is well worth a read, as it includes many tidbits about the Apple under Steve Jobs and the current organization under Cook’s leadership. You can also visit the related stories below for more coverage of Ive’s recent interview.