Tim
According to reports, Samsung found its new Head of Global Design this month in Lee Don-tae, a former co-president of London-based design studio Tangerine. If Tangerine happens to sound just a slight bit familiar, that might be because Apple SVP of Design Jony Ive was one of its earliest employees.
However, while a few sites appear to be claiming Lee Don-tae as the second coming of Jony Ive for Samsung, from our research, there is little to connect the two besides the same design consultancy. By the time Don-tae came to Tangerine in 1998, Ive had already left for Apple in the early 90s.
Even though Don-tae never studied with or under Ive, you have probably still heard of his work. Back in 2001, Don-tae won a design award for his S-shaped airplane seating arrangement which was later adopted by British Airways. The arrangement allows for members of first class and business class to turn their seats down into beds.
Regardless of a new design head, there are probably a few things we can certainly expect to see the in the Galaxy S6. One of those things? Chamfered edges.
Update: Tangerine reached out and wanted to clarify a small piece of info about the British Airways’ Club World seat. “This project was led by Tangerine founder and CEO, Martin Darbyshire and the victorious concept was designed by Tangerine’s Creative Director Matt Round. Don-tae Lee was a member of the project team.”
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