Jony Ive, the long-time Apple designer and a key figure behind legendary products such as the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, has presented an exclusive yacht lantern with his design firm LoveFrom for a proud price of €4,500.
Who is Jony Ive and what exactly has he introduced? Jony Ive is a British industrial designer who led Apple’s design department for over two decades. He significantly shaped the appearance of products like the iPhone, iPad, iMac, and Apple Watch. In 2019, he eventually left the company.
Together with his design firm LoveFrom and the Japanese manufacturer Balmuda, Ive has introduced the “Sailing Lantern” – a lantern specifically designed for use on yachts.
It is made from stainless steel and glass, contains LEDs with rechargeable batteries, and is designed to withstand even the roughest conditions at sea. Price: a hefty $4,800 or €4,500 for the European market. Only 1,000 pieces will be produced (via Business Insider).
A lot of money for a little light
Why a lantern – and why so expensive? The idea came to Ive from a very personal reason. He simply wanted to buy a lantern for his own yacht. But he found none that met his standards. In an interview with the industry magazine BOAT International, he says:
I could have just bought a lantern for my yacht – that’s what I wanted. But there’s nothing suitable on the market. So instead, I spent two years working hard to design it. Creating something so technologically refined takes time.
How does this fit into his career? That Ive wanted to start something of his own is not surprising. He left Apple in 2019 to found the design firm LoveFrom with Marc Newson. Since then, he has been working on projects that go far beyond smartphones.
Source: OpenAI
In addition to his passion project, Ive is also working on future technologies that have a significantly greater relevance to everyday life. With his company io, he founded a studio for AI hardware. Ultimately, OpenAI acquired the company and is now working together with Ive on devices that are likely to extend significantly further into people’s everyday lives than a luxury lantern (via Fortune).
Jony Ive shows with his lantern that design remains a passion for him – whether it’s an iPhone or a yacht lamp. While the lantern remains clearly a luxury object, his next projects with OpenAI could reach significantly more people. Discussions about good design are also currently taking place in the automotive industry: Mercedes has been stuffing its cars with screens for years, now the software chief says: “Classic buttons are much better”.
