Peter Russell-Clarke, a senior industrial designer who has been with Apple for nearly two decades, has recently left the company, reports Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
A key figure from the Jony Ive era, Russell-Clarke was instrumental in the hardware design of Apple’s primary products and played a significant role in shaping the aesthetic of Apple’s headquarters and retail stores. His departure in October marks a significant shift in Apple’s design department.
Russell-Clarke is now set to join the space technology company Vast as an adviser. In his new role, he will be pivotal in building the space tech firm Vast’s own industrial design team, as announced in a statement on Monday.
This transition signifies a changing of the guard within Apple’s esteemed design department. Since Ive’s departure in 2019 to establish his design firm, LoveFrom, nearly all of the approximately two dozen core designers who worked under him have left Apple. The team, led by Ive, was famous for creating the Apple aesthetic characterized by clean lines and intuitive interfaces, which were key to the success of products like the iMac, iPhone, and iPad.
LoveFrom has been hired by big-name companies such as Airbnb, Ferrari, and Moncler and more. With Russell-Clarke’s exit, only a few designers from the Ive era remain at Apple, including Vice President of Design Richard Howarth.
Apple’s design leadership has seen significant changes recently. Evans Hankey, who succeeded Ive as the head of design, left the company in 2023 after a tenure of about three years. Currently, Apple’s top designers report directly to Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams.
