Legendary Mac Designer: The iWatch Isn't Enough To Save Apple

HARTMUT ESSLINGER IS THE FOUNDER OF FROG AND THE DESIGNER OF SOME OF APPLE’S ORIGINAL DESIGN LANGUAGE. IN AN INTERVIEW WITH CO.DESIGN, HE ARGUES THAT APPLE DESIGNERS SHOULD BE GIVEN MORE POWER.

If you pointed to one single company as being the absolute best in the world at giving design a voice in corporate direction, it would be Apple. Because it was design that led to a string of massive hits--the Macintosh, the iMac, the iPod, and the iPhone.

So it’s a bit surprising when Hartmut Esslinger, the founder of Frog who worked with Steve Jobs on both Apple’s iconic “Snow White” design language and the Next computer--and recent author of Keep It Simple--says Apple’s current problem with innovation is that designers don’t have enough power in the company, and that leadership is shifting Apple’s focus from innovation to marketing, adopting a defensive posture around the iPhone.

“I don’t want to trash Apple,” Esslinger cautions. “I don’t want a Samsung phone!”

Read on here