Bangalore:  ‘Design is the most immediate, the most explicit way of defining what products become in people’s mind’ quoted Jonathan Paul Ive, Senior Vice President, Industrial Design Apple who is soon to be conferred with knighthood “by the touch of a sword by Her Majesty the Queen” in early 2012.

The brain behind Apple’s successful machines especially the Mac Book series will be here on addressed Sir Jonathan for his revolutionary simple, appealing and attention seeking design geometry of the music gadgets.

Born in Chingford, London and drawing inspiration from his father who was a design and technology teacher, Ive was interested in object drawing and making stuff. His close meet ups with design experts fuelled his passion for industrial design and Ive decided to switch to North Umbria University from Central Martin’s Art School where he designed  cars as part of the Product Design Program.

‘His attitude to work was incredibly thorough’ remembers Neil Smith his lecturer. Sketches of jewelry, cars, boat did not miss his eye for perfection. Neither interested, nor good, at building a business, Ive kick started his career with London design agency Tangerine whose client Apple, impressed, offered him in 1997 and thus began a sucess story that is still riding high. He was commissioned to design iMac, contradictory to his dislike for computers since childhood.

 The works of Dieter Rams, the chief designer at Braun motivated Ive to romance with these mean machines and make it more sleek and fun loving. Renowned for his ‘alchemical’sense for engineering, his designs are distinguished especially the touch screens which control the glass-sided machines. The obsessive MacBook Air which took the markets by storm also falls under elite clubs of Ivy’s designs.

iMac was the result of a request to design a low cost CRT color computer by Steve Jobs which made iMac not just a machine ‘but a machine for fun’ and its ever more sleek successors iPod, iPhone and iPad, has turned Apple into the second biggest company in the world, with a higher turnover than Google or Microsoft as Ivy describes ‘Apple stood for something and had a reason for being that wasn't just about making money’.

‘There is an amazing synergy about the leader of a company valuing design and the leader of design valuing the company’ quoted Thomas Meyerhoffer who has worked with Ive in the design team for three years. Design team and its crew form the core success story and are the hallmark of Apple which saw its position plummet between 1994 to 2000.

Ivy married to Heather Pegg, will receive 15 million in Apple shares alone next year. He was also appointed as a commander of the order of British Empire in 2006 in the New Year Honors for his services to the Design Industry. Even after knighthood is conferred on him, Ivy will remain as an American designer for Apple.