SVP of Design Jony Ive Visits Apple Store, Buys Two iPads

Reports say that Steve Jobs was not the only Apple exec to visit an Apple Retail store on the iPad’s launch day. The company’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, Jonathan Ive, reportedly visited one of the company’s stores and got not one, but two iPads. The charismatic Apple exec presumably acquired one Wi-Fi-only iPad, and one 3G-capable model.

One of the few people who recognized Ive at a San Francisco store was Matt Galligan, who scored a picture with Apple’s designer (available to the left). Cult of Mac reports that, although Ive is famously shy and self-effacing, he decided to attend the iPad launch event at the flagship Stockton Street store where few people even noticed the guy.

Born in London, Jonathan Ive is the senior vice president of Industrial Design at Apple, reporting directly to Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. Since 1996, he has been responsible for leading a design team widely regarded as one of the world’s best. Ive is recognized with numerous design awards. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and an honorary doctorate from Newcastle Polytechnic. Named Designer of the Year by the Design Museum London, Ive was awarded the title Royal Designer for Industry by The Royal Society of Arts in 2003.

Moving on to the second part of our story, Steve Jobs is known to have dropped by his local Apple store on April 3, the day the iPad launched. Steve Jobs reportedly showed up to casually check out how things were going at one of the company’s retail establishments, bringing his wife and daughter along with him.

Their visit occurred around noon (Pacific time). Initial reports said that Jobs merely wanted to observe the festivities, but he inadvertently delivered an unexpected thrill to iPad shoppers. Some, however, claim to have spotted the CEO personally offer his daughter a one-to-one training session. Twitter user Cédric Lignier reportedly told Cult of Mac, “Met Steve Job @ Palo Alto today! I gave up my iPad spot 4 let him demoed the iPad 2 his daughter. Unbelievable!”