Apple Inc loses one of its last remaining designers from Jony Ive era

By Mark Gurman
 

Peter Russell-Clarke, one of Apple Inc.’s last remaining senior industrial designers from the Jony Ive era, has stepped down after nearly 20 years at the company. 
 

The executive worked on hardware design for Apple’s main products and helped craft the look of its headquarters and retail stores. Russell-Clarke, who left the iPhone maker in October, is now joining space technology company Vast as an adviser. He will help the startup build its own industrial design team, Vast said in a statement Monday.

The move represents a changing of the guard for Apple’s vaunted design department. Nearly all of the roughly two dozen core designers who worked under Ive have now left the company. The work of Ive and his colleagues helped established the Apple aesthetic — clean lines and intuitive interfaces — that helped make the iMac, iPhone and iPad into hits. 

Ive left Apple in 2019 to start his own design firm, LoveFrom, which works with clients such as Airbnb Inc., Ferrari NV and Moncler SpA. There are only a handful of designers left at Apple from the Ive era, including Vice President of Design Richard Howarth. 

Apple’s replacement for Ive — Evans Hankey — left Apple in 2023 after only about three years in the head role. Apple’s top designers now report to Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams directly.