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Where does one begin when attempting to put into words “Where would we be today without the vision of Steve Jobs?” And by “we” I mean more than graphic and communication designers, I mean everyone: designers, clients, students, teachers, grandparents, children...
It goes without saying, that prior to the introduction of the Mac, computers were clunky, uncooperative, alien “machines” which required dedicated knowledge and perserverence to do even the simplest of tasks. Starting with the simple mouse, Jobs changed the interface from a series of coded and ominously serious “commands” to the simplicity of the mouse and its childlike point and click. What a baby wants, it points at. And that set the tone for everyone's relationship with a Mac. It's not adversarial: it’s a partnership. It opens its arms, and we snuggle in!
I remember learning how to set type in college in 1982 in the pre-WYSIWYG environment and absolutely hated it. Being introduced to a MacPlus in 1986 at Gottschalk + Ash changed my world. Then being forced to work on a PC in 1989 after already having worked on the MacPlus—the need for different drives, and sticky notes all over the monitor with the necessary codes to access the drives and initiate a simple task like “Print” made my head hurt!! I had seen the light and knew there was a better way.
And then there was typography. The ability for designers to set their own type and be in control of the basic element of all design was probably the biggest game changer for our profession. Sure it was intimidating in those early years, and of course there were the cries of the dangers of those desktop publishers and how they'd take away our work. But the democratization of design has through the Mac, if anything, made our skills and knowledge more respected because people quickly realized there was more to design than picking fonts and applying cool background patterns.
And I'm sure countless others had the same experience and revelation: working on a computer did not need to feel like work.
And that’s what Steve Jobs did for all of us. The computer became an extension of ourselves: be it our design, our music, our communication, our networking. I for one cannot imagine our world if we'd been left to the pedantic “vision” of the faceless IBM.
It’s not very often that our world is touched by such a visionary person. The caveman who discovered how to control fire. The inventor of the wheel. The domestication of animals. Gutenberg and his moveable type. The clock. The internal combustion engine. Electricity. Flight. The Mac.
Thank you Steve Jobs.
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It's funny - when people ask me about Apple products and the latest thing, or about Steve Jobs and his impact, I usually say something like "I don't really care. I don't get excited about technology, I just love that I can do with it." I just see my Mac as a tool and an extension of my creativity, not an object that I covet.
But now I realize that's exactly why I should be thankful to Steve Jobs. It didn't become a magical extension of my creativity by accident, he designed it that way.
RIP Steve Jobs your insanely creative genius has offered the world a remarkable level of beauty and intelligence and changed the way we live and think for over thirty years. Graphic designers are forever thankful for your inspirational and amazing tools and saving us from the mundane. I remember leaving my paste-up table to look at a Mac Classic in 1987, and knew from that moment on, the Mac was for me (I did almost convince the UVic Graphics department in early 90s to purchase the NeXT computer, following Jobs all along). I don't know how many Apple products I now have in my household: several iPods, iPhone, mac G4, mac book pros, mac air...and the iPad is coming. Steve Jobs legacy is to dream and dream big knowing that life is all too short for compromise.
Nothing like a reality check from Steve Jobs, he got my attention when he gave a very honest and moving address to the students graduating from Stanford in 2005, see the following link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/oct/06/steve-jobs-pancreas-cancer?intcmp=122
This speech inspired me just as a human being trying to find my way in the world. I received this link again from a past student who cared enough to remind to continue to share these insights from Mr. Jobs.
Take a look, listen, and keep your search light on.
I'd be humming along with Clyde Gilmour hunched over a drawing table, with the sweet smell of melting wax mixed with marker fumes and stale tea.
But all my clients would still be trying to draw themselves out of paper bag.
(Thanks a lot Steve. Clyde! I miss you!)
BOB Apple-free since '83
Like just about everyone else in our business I was thinking of Steve Jobs this morning, and it occurred to me that there is a little-known story about Jobs and typography that may be of interest to GDC members.
In the early 80s Jobs met the legendary typographer Aaron Burns. Aaron was President of the International Typeface Corporation and was one of the first to approach Apple with the idea of licensing their typefaces on the new Macintosh. You may recall that the early Mac’s had a number of ITC faces on them. What began as a straight-forward business deal turned into a much deeper relationship. In Aaron Steve found the father he never had, and Aaron, although he had two children of his own, found the son he, perhaps, wished he had. The two became quite close, personally and professionally. I have long suspected that much of Jobs’ typographic knowledge actually came from Aaron. He certainly knew more about typography than he could have picked up from a few calligraphy classes with Lloyd Reynolds.
I have an undated photo taken at a meeting held in New York in the early 80s showing Wolfgang Kummer, President, Linotype; John Warnock, President , Adobe Systems; Steven Jobs, Chairman of the Board, Apple Computer and Aaron Burns, President, International Typeface Corporation. Aaron had arranged that meeting because he actually was the one who really saw what each of those companies had, which of course was what came to be known as desktop publishing. That meeting may very well mark the beginnings of Desktop Publishing. Perhaps it is time for some research into this period and the interesting relationship between Aaron and Steve Jobs.
An inspiring legacy -- love his message about living to your own truth and listening to your inner voice! We all waste too much time worrying about what other people think (perhaps as designers, we're more conditioned to think this way). His passing has re-inspired me to listen to myself a teensy bit more. Thanks for sharing this Matt.
If it was not for Apple I may well still be getting my pants stained in paint and ink. Thank you Steven Jobs for the best damned computer one could have ever hoped for.
I wrote a blog post a while back about Think Different and when Apple became important to my work. Without the desktop computer revolution I would have never returned to design.
http://blog.catspawdynamics.com/?p=367
While I don't like to admit how much the Apple brand means to me, I was sad when Steve Jobs passed away. He was brilliant, and proved that good design and good function can be one and the same, there needs to be no separation. Of course there are issues with Apple products. The user experience is too controlled. For example, I don't like that in order to open a photo that sits in your iPhoto library, you have to take a circuitous route.
But the achievement of Steve Jobs, and therefore of Apple is good design. A PC world without Apple would be a sad place. Apple was there from the beginning for designers and other creatives. If Apple didn't exist, someone would have to invent it. And I believe Apple will continue to exist, because people crave good design, whether they know it or not.
What I have also come to appreciate about Steve Jobs, and what directly contributed to Apple's superiority, was his dictatorial style of leadership. The older I get, the more I come to the conclusion that excellence in design can never be achieved by committees and consensus. Just like art, great design is a great idea, executed well, by a great designer, with the ultimate decision-making in the hands of the designer.
Three cheers to my favourite design dictator, Steve Jobs!
While I don't like to admit how much the Apple brand means to me, I was sad when Steve Jobs passed away. He was brilliant, and proved that good design and good function can be one and the same, there needs to be no separation. Thank you !
Goodbye Steve, It's Been Fun
What can be said that hasn't already been ruminated extensively about the man? Well, for starters, I miss him. there's a hole in my Apple where he used to live. I've had a close relationship with Steve since I bought my first Mac back in 1989.
Back in those days buying a Mac was akin to scoring drugs. They weren't sold in regular stores like today, back then you had to source your Mac through hard to find, shady resellers (in Vancouver anyway), and this wouldn't change for many years. I felt like I had scored.
<a href="http://www.comfysuite.com/2011/10/14/imissyou.php">Read full post here.</a>
I first learned the Mac in 1986. That summer I was interning with April Greiman in Los Angeles. She had a Mac Plus with an external hard drive and she was using it to created a pixilated full body nude portrait of herself for an issue of Design Quarterly. That was quite the experience. I made my dad buy me a Mac when I got home and began to use it for my school projects. The rest is history. I recently showed my kids a photo of what my Mac Plus looked like and they laughed. I should have hung on to it. It would have been an antique now!
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