Chief designer Jony Ive leaves Apple and starts his own company

Jony Ive, chief designer at Apple, will leave the company later this year. He is starting his own design agency and will have Apple as a customer, his employer announced. He has worked for the American company for 27 years.

Evans Hankey and Alan Dye will take over Ive’s role within the company, Apple writes. CEO Jeff Williams will also be more involved with the design team. Ive will remain involved with Apple in the form of projects. The 52-year-old designer was involved in designing for the iMac in 1998, iPod in 2001, and iPhone in 2007, among other things. He has also appeared in many of Apple’s promotional videos for new products. The departure from Apple will take place later this year.

Apple does not disclose why Ive is starting a new company, but does state that he will pursue “personal projects” in it. Bloomberg reports that the designer had been less involved in the day-to-day running of the design department for some time. Ive received much appreciation for his work. For example, the British Queen knighted him and a book was published about his life.