Last week, we reported that Apple’s Jony Ive had been promoted to the position of Chief Design Officer. The job change, as we mentioned then, frees him up for many new responsibilities – including, to our particular interest, designing Apple’s retail stores. Ive has already been heavily involved with this for some time, but how could these stores change now that he has more control over their appearance?
Well, our honest answer to that question is: we can’t be certain. We can, however, look to certain clues to speculate. Ive tends to strongly adhere to minimalist design principles, as particularly evident with his significant overhaul of iOS in 2013. So, could Apple Stores soon look as minimalist as the Mac computers, iPhones and iPads on display inside them?
Tellingly, in a recent article for The Telegraph, British actor and self-confessed Apple fan Stephen Fry reported visiting Apple’s Cupertino headquarters and sitting at tables that Tim Cook told him Ive had designed. Fry’s description of the tables? “Round white/grey marble disks. At least I think they’re marble.” He also referred to Ive’s influence on the under-construction Apple Campus 2, including “desks which people can raise or lower with little buttons”. This familiar stripped-down look, then, could be what to expect even more of in Apple Stores in future.
