I came across this video on a brand new You Tube channel called “ThinkingDifferent-yt” where the host talks about how Apple first went wrong with flat design under Jony Ive and his iOS 7 redesign, and now has added a further layer of poor design with Liquid Glass, courtesy of Alan Dye.
It’s a really great video and very thoughtfully put together. And it provokes thought.
Click HERE to watch it.
Watching this and seeing OS X and iPhoneOS it made me realise how much we lost when Jony Ive took over software design at Apple.
Jony is is great designer, but only when it comes to hardware. That’s his speciality. Even Apple Park was designed by Ive because its hardware. And anyone who has seen Apple Park will agree he did a good job.
But software design is not his strength.
This video makes the point that if you look at what Ive did with iOS 7, and the language used at the keynote, it’s clear that he never understood or appreciated why iPhoneOS (and by extension OS X since iPhoneOS was based on OS X) was designed the way it was. That’s quite the statement. I wholeheartedly agree.
iPhoneOS is so much more approachable, fun, has depth and context and buttons and was also inspirational at the same time. The same goes for OS X. Even down to the design of the icons, buttons, shadows, gloss etc. It was insanely great design that Ive couldn’t understand in his eternal quest for minimalism.
I don’t know about you but if they reverted both MacOS and iOS to the older design or design principles, while retaining the newer features and sharpening it up for high resolution screens, I’d update in a heartbeat.
If you have some time head over to iLounge to see their guide to iPhoneOS. It has some great screenshots to remind you how good we had it.
When you’re finished there, head over to YouTube and watch THIS video of the MacOS Leopard Welcome video. Why did Apple ever stop making these videos?
We have lost quite alot. I hope we get it back someday.
