Industrial designer Marc Newson is joining Apple’s design team

Vanity Fair reports that Apple has hired industrial designer Marc Newson. Newson will join his friend and Senior Vice President of Design, Jony Ive on the company’s design team creating future Apple products. This hire is huge as it would give Ive someone of his caliber of talent to work with. Steve Jobs was famously hands-on with most aspects of the design of Apple products. This involved spending a lot of time with Ive as the two collaborated on the company’s hardware. Meanwhile, Tim Cook took care of the day-to-day business. CEO Cook is still not nearly as involved in the day-to-day design elements of upcoming products, at least according to The New York Times. Hiring Newson could be a way of giving Ive someone to collaborate with like he did with Jobs.

Designer Marc Newson is joining Apple as part of senior vice president of design Jonathan Ive’s team, the company told VF Daily on Friday. Newson, who will continue to be based in the United Kingdom, will be an employee of Apple, and will be frequently traveling to the company’s Cupertino, California, headquarters. The industrial designer has had his work archived by MoMA, and has been commissioned by Ford, Nike, and Qantas Airways, among others. Ive and Newson, who have been close friends for years, have been spending time together over the past year. During that time, they have also worked on some designs for Apple. “Marc is without question one of the most influential designers of this generation,” Ive said in a statement provided to VF Daily. “He is extraordinarily talented. We are particularly excited to formalize our collaboration as we enjoy working together so much and have found our partnership so effective.” The pair previously collaborated on U2 singer Bono’s (RED) auction in November, which raised $26.2 million for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS in Africa. Ive and Newson curated a collection of items, many of which they made themselves. “I’m full of admiration and respect for the extraordinary design work that has been produced by Jony and the team at Apple,” Newson said. “My close friendship with Jony has not only given me a unique insight into that process, but the opportunity to work together with him and the people that have been responsible. I am enormously proud to join them.”