Remembering Steve

And admiring his foundation's beautiful logo

Anyone who knows me closely knows that the late Steve Jobs inspired me to become a designer. And since then I’ve been devoted to studying his philosophy. It has helped shape my values and principles. As a high school student, I planned to attend design school because I was determined to work at Apple with Steve.

Unfortunately, Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011.

I never got to work with Steve, but I keep a portrait of him in my studio. It’s the black and white one where he’s young and holding a Macintosh. I have it here as a reminder for myself to push beyond my perceived limitations. A reminder to make something wonderful for people.

That’s why I wanted to share some thoughts on the Steve Jobs Foundation logo. It was designed by long-time collaborator and design soul-mate Jony Ive’s firm LoveFrom,. (That’s not a typo the name has a comma.)

Here is the official logo

Because I couldn’t find a logo with a higher resolution I used AI to upscale the design with care. I made sure not to change anything and what I found was beautiful.

At first glance, it’s obvious the logo implies an apple tree. This tree could also, in a way, function as a symbol of knowledge.

But if you start to think about it differently and tilt your head gently downward to your left the logo changes. I’ll save you the neck pain and rotate the logo for you.

Doing this now makes the logo look like a key. But what happens if we take an even closer look at the circles in the logo?

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I put a perfect circle (red) behind the logo’s circles (black).

Upon a closer look, you will see that the circular forms are actually not a perfect circle but instead an ellipse.

Why?

Perfect circles aren’t interesting.

Most people won’t notice these things because great design is almost invisible.
It just feels delightfully right and irresistible to look at. And that’s why I fell in love with design. It’s these little atomic details that make things spring to life and fun.

And each time I’m designing and I feel the excitement at arriving at something that feels inevitable, I am grateful for Steve. ⚜️

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Questions for you:
1. Well-known or not, who in your life has made a significant impact on your trajectory?
2. What details in life do you find pleasure in observing?
3. What designs do you find beautiful?
4. Do you see anything else in the logo that I may have missed?

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this please leave a comment and let me know what you think. I read and respond to every one of them! I hope you are enjoying your weekend and I’m looking forward to the next one.

Oh and here’s an animation I made. I saw it as a collaboration between Steve and myself. I think he would have liked to know that I made it on iPad.

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