Jonathan Ive, the designer who has created Apple's most successful products in the last decade-plus, has been awarded a knighthood in his native Britain.
Ive, who designed the first iMac in 1998 that was "Bondi blue," then later available in a variety of candy colors, went on to design the iPod, iPhone and iPad. He is considered one of Apple's most important assets, a man whose design philosophy meshed pretty much perfectly with that of the company's late co-founder, Steve Jobs, who died in October.
In an interview with the BBC, Ive, 44, said the knighthood is "absolutely thrilling" and that he is "both humbled and sincerely grateful."
"I am keenly aware that I benefit from a wonderful tradition in the UK of designing and making," he said. ""I discovered at an early age that all I've ever wanted to do is design."
Ive was made Knight Commander of the British Empire; the honor is the second one for him by Britain, said the BBC: In 2005, he was made a a Commander of the British Empire.
Ive's title with Apple is senior vice president, industrial design. He has been with the company since 1996. Six of his Apple creations, including the original iPod, are part of the collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
In a recent story about the quite-private Ive, Donald Norman, co-founder of usability consulting firm Nielsen Norman Group said of the designer: "He just has a wonderful eye of making things that are simple and elegant. But he also understands that it has to be usable by people."
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- 'Armani of Apple' will be key in post-Jobs era
- Behind Apple's products is longtime designer Ive
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