Rest In Peace Steve
He changed the way we think, the way we work, and how we interact. Steve Jobs was a luminary of course, and a brilliant technologist, inventor, and thinker. But, he was also one of the most vocal champions of design. Steve showed the world over and over again that design matters.
I remember the first Macintosh that Grafik bought. At the time we thought it was only good to help render type. And our initial reasons for buying one were somewhat misguided. Not to mention the fact that the cost was astronomical for a small firm, all the components were sold separately and we could only afford to lease one. It cost about $12,000 and it was obsolete as soon as we paid for it. Over the years, I probably have easily purchased well over a hundred Apple computers of all sizes and shapes. Everyone knows that if you were a design shop Microsoft was the Evil Empire. And, we scoffed at the clunky world of PCs and the horrible interfaces and designs of any computer that was not an Apple product.
We loved our new toys, but what we loved almost as much was the packaging it came in—the clear simple instructions, and the well designed user manuals. No design detail was too small or overlooked. I know that I have always kept the packaging long after I have unpacked my many computers, iPods, iPhones, and my iPad. Who could throw out the beautiful white boxes?
Even the way Jobs dressed in his cool black turtle necks made the design community love him. He was one of us. He was not just any CEO—we felt like we could trust him to take our best interests to heart. And, he never disappointed us.
When Jobs stepped down as Apple’s CEO, like many others, I knew the end was near and I felt immense sadness. Tonight upon hearing of his death, I feel like I have lost a good friend and I know that the design community has lost a luminary that understood the power that design has to change the world.
Jobs’ first ad campaign was the brilliant “Think Different” series. And that is the challenge that he leaves all of us with: to continue to push the limits of design, to sweat the details because they matter, and to keep the faith that good design sells.
Steve, designers around the world thank you and will miss you.
