While Jony Ive is rarely seen on stage at Apple events, his videos with him waxing lyrical about the company’s latest phone, tablet or other product have become famous for showcasing his distinctive dulcet tones and cool, laid-back delivery.
We watch transfixed, waiting to hear which obscure adjectives he’s carefully selected as he searches for a way to describe the company’s newest device in a manner that cleverly sets it apart from earlier iterations.
And, of course, we wait on tenterhooks to see if, after years spent living in the U.S., he’s finally relented and decided to omit the second “i” in “aluminium.”
Now, in a fabulous though some might say creepy piece of work, those soft, soothing tones can be enjoyed at your leisure with an awesome new soundboard created by software developers Amy Hoy and Thomas Fuchs.
The pair have lovingly compiled 43 words commonly used by Ive in his video presentations, among them “durable,” “forged,” “laminated,” “precision,” and, of course, “aluminium.”
Click on any of the words to hear Ive – or “Jony Jive” as the creators call him here – utter them in his own unique way, or, even better, build a sentence to have the designer describing anything you bloody well like. There’s even a photo of him on the soundboard’s webpage featuring an absurd cardboard-cutout mouth that moves when he speaks the sentences.
The provided vocabulary is broad enough to construct something relatively sensible such as, “Pure design is tough but essential,” or, if you want to go borderline bonkers: “Aluminium forged humanity from profoundly polished fanatacism is inept, durable and incredibly relevant in laminated leather.”
It’s weird but when Jony says it, it seems to make sense.