Amy Kardel, Clever Ducks
Visiting 1 Infinite Loop is like travelling through time to a foreign country, to a not-so-distant or unfamiliar, but much more stylish future.
It felt like a transit visa may be required to enter this special place where the tech giant flies its own banner, a pale blue apple with the stylized byte missing, right next to the California and American flags.
As members of the Insight Studio tour of Apple’s Cupertino campus, we had VIP access and, upon arrival, were quickly badged and briefed on certain specifics, such as no photography or social media use on the campus. Then we were allowed to cross the border and enter into the secured foyer.
The glass, chrome and bleached wood furnishings glistened in a biodome-like setting with a lovely café, lots of healthy and energetic young employees who look like they just stepped out of Apple advertisements as they huddle around tables with their laptops and barista drinks under the most beautifully manicured towering ficus benjamina trees I have ever seen.
It was interesting how stark the environment is. There was no art on the walls except for artistic photographic blowups of the latest iDevices, quotes from Steve Jobs and his portrait. Everything was cohesively sleek and exudes attention to detail.
We were briefed by a rotation of Apple executives including Hiroki Asai, vice president and creative director of graphic design, Cathy Foster, corporate governmental affairs, Aaron Raphel, director, Apple University, Ann VanMiddlesworth, national U.S. higher education development manager, Erik Morley, real estate development advisor, Apple Campus 2 and Ben Dobbin, one of the Foster + Partners project leads on the Apple Campus 2 project.
The focus on their mission and brand was overwhelmingly apparent. We were being given a rare glimpse into their corporation, which became apparent as each presenter said something to the effect of ‘I haven’t even seen this before, you are so lucky!’
Some of the ideas I heard that we can take back to our businesses are:
- The details matter and everything is connected.
Hiroki Asai kicked off the day describing his creative department and enumerating the types of projects that they produce. Everything from packaging to events and the interior of retail spaces to each piece of advertising for every Apple product. His team, a combination of art directors, writers, motion graphic designers, developers and designers, is responsible for every piece of marketing and each communication about anything Apple. The team is unique in that it is the only one of its size that can design, produce and engineer all of the communications work from every creative discipline all in-house. - People like beautiful things and pay more for them.
Each time a decision is made, the way it will influence the customer experience is the driving factor. The beauty of each product, space and experience people have with Apple is purposefully beautiful and simple; good taste is consistently chosen over creativity for creativity’s sake. - Staying innovative takes a lot of effort.
Aaron Raphel, the director of Apple University opened his presentation with the joke ‘People say that there is no flexibility in your work schedule when you work for Apple, but that’s not true. We let you decide if you want to have Saturday OR Sunday off.’ The effort and personal commitment given by each employee was further reinforced by the promise that Apple makes to their employees: you will do your best work here. People that thrive at Apple are those motivated by tough challenges - Having a consistent brand to the core is very powerful.
It has been touted as the world’s most powerful brand for many years and by a multitude of sources, but nowhere was the power of the Apple brand more evident than the last stop of our tour, the studio where Foster and Partners tackle the job of designing and building Apple Campus 2.
Real Estate consultant Eric Morley and project lead Ben Dobbins shared the intuitive ideas and groundbreaking technology that went into the building that will house more than 14,200 employees. We saw the job site through a tall fence where dozens of cranes are busy getting it out of the ground. The model of the spaceship-like ring-shaped building gives a glimpse at what aims to be the world’s best office building and a ‘romantic counterpoint to the high tech environment.
It makes me proud to be a Californian because we are home to this innovative leader. I hope we get to go back to see the new campus when it is complete.