Honestly, if you ask most people who designed the Apple Watch, they’ll probably just shrug and say "Apple" or maybe "Jony Ive." And they aren't exactly wrong. But the truth is way messier, way more collaborative, and involves a weird mix of legendary British industrial designers, a famous Australian rebel, and a team of 1,000 "techies" hiding in a secret lab.
It wasn't just a gadget. It was a statement.
After Steve Jobs died in 2011, Apple was at a crossroads. They needed to prove they could still innovate without the visionary at the helm. Jony Ive, the man behind the translucent iMac and the sleek iPhone, decided the wrist was the next frontier. But he didn't do it alone. He basically called in his best friend, Marc Newson, to help pull it off.
The Dynamic Duo: Jony Ive and Marc Newson
You’ve got to understand the vibe between these two. Jony Ive and Marc Newson had been "bromancing" over design for decades before Newson officially joined Apple in 2014. If you look at Newson’s old work—specifically his Ikepod watches from the 90s—you can see the DNA of the Apple Watch everywhere. The rounded, "squircle" case? That’s Newson. The soft, rubbery strap that tucks into itself? Classic Newson.
Ive was the philosopher-king of the project. He didn't just want a tiny phone on your wrist. He was obsessed with the "horological" history of watches. He brought in experts like Jonathan Betts from the Royal Observatory to talk about the history of time. He wanted the Apple Watch to feel like a real watch, not a piece of disposable plastic.
It Wasn't Just One Person
While Ive and Newson get the glossy magazine covers, the Apple Watch was a massive heavy lift for the Apple Industrial Design Group. This is a tiny, elite group that, at the time, only had about 20 core members. But for the Watch, it ballooned.
- Kevin Lynch: He’s the guy who actually made the software work. He came over from Adobe and was told he was working on a secret project with no instructions. He had to figure out how to make a user interface that didn't feel like a nightmare on a 38mm screen.
- Alan Dye: He was the VP of Human Interface Design. If you love those intricately animated watch faces—the butterflies, the flowers, the jellyfish—that was his team. They literally spent weeks filming real jellyfish in slow motion to get those pixels perfect.
- The "Secret" Team: Beyond the big names, you had people like Evans Hankey (who later took over for Ive) and designers like Richard Howarth and Julian Hoenig. These are the folks who agonized over the "taptic engine"—the little motor that makes it feel like someone is tapping your wrist instead of just buzzing.
The Design Philosophy: Why Is It Square?
People love to argue about this. "Why isn't the Apple Watch round?" Basically, the designers realized that lists are easier to read on a rectangle. If you try to put a list of text on a round screen, the corners get cut off, and it’s a waste of space.
They also invented the Digital Crown. That little dial on the side was a huge deal. Ive and his team realized that pinching and zooming on a screen that small would just cover up the whole display with your fat fingers. The Crown was their "Click Wheel" moment for the wrist.
The Evolution (and the Struggles)
The first Apple Watch, launched in 2015, was sort of a fashion disaster in disguise. Ive wanted it to be a high-end luxury item. Remember the $10,000 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition? Yeah, that was his "Pyrrhic victory." It didn't sell well, and it made people think the watch was just for the ultra-rich.
Eventually, the "Business" side of Apple, led by Jeff Williams, steered the ship toward health and fitness. This caused a bit of friction. Ive was more interested in the "craft" and the "art of making," while the rest of the company wanted a device that could save your life by detecting a heart arrythmia.
By the time the Apple Watch Ultra came out in 2022, the design language had shifted. It was chunkier, more rugged, and had an "Action Button." Jony Ive had already left to start his own firm, LoveFrom, by then, but you can still see his fingerprints on the titanium casing and the sapphire glass.
What You Should Do Next
If you’re interested in the "why" behind the design, you don't need a degree in industrial design. You just need to look closer at the thing on your wrist.
- Check your strap: Look at the "Sport Band." That material is called fluoroelastomer. It’s designed to be chemically stable and sweat-resistant. Notice how the pin-and-tuck closure is flush? That's the Marc Newson influence.
- Play with the Crown: Notice the haptic feedback. In newer models, it feels like it has physical "clicks" even though it's just a vibration. That’s the result of years of engineering to make digital feel analog.
- Read the Credits: If you really want to geek out, look up the patents for the Apple Watch. You’ll see names like Christopher Stringer and Shin Nishibori. These are the "ghost designers" who built the world we live in.
The Apple Watch wasn't "designed" by a single genius in a vacuum. It was a messy, expensive, multi-year brawl between fashion, technology, and old-school watchmaking.
Actionable Insight: If you're a designer or a tech enthusiast, study the transition from the "Series 0" to the "Series 10." You'll see how Apple moved from "fashion accessory" to "medical tool" without changing the core shape. That's the real magic of their design—it’s flexible enough to survive a total shift in purpose.
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Pro Tip: If you ever find a 1990s Ikepod Hemipode watch at a flea market, buy it. You’re looking at the literal blueprint for the Apple Watch.