{"id":5724,"date":"2019-10-09T15:20:36","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T19:20:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?p=5724"},"modified":"2021-03-10T11:47:35","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T16:47:35","slug":"ivy-ross-google-home-mini-pixel-daydream-mattel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/ivy-ross-google-home-mini-pixel-daydream-mattel\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Ivy Ross, the Designer Behind Google’s Hardware"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Ivy Ross may not yet be a household name but in her short tenure as vice president of hardware design at Google, Ross has transformed over 30 of the company\u2019s products. Since 2016, her team has won nearly a hundred design awards<\/a> for the bold, colorful, textile-driven palette the company has adopted for their durable goods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Google Home Mini in Charcoal, Coral, and Fog. <\/em>Source: Google<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before she was tapped to lead the technologically groundbreaking but commercially unsuccessful Glass initiative<\/a> in 2014, Ross developed products at an impressive roster of non-tech companies, including Coach, Mattel, and Avon. Prior to that, Ross had a successful career as a jewelry designer, which is where she acquired her penchant for highly tactile, wearable design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Astro Teller, the director of Alphabet\u2019s ambitious research subsidiary X Development (formerly Google X), once told<\/a> the MIT Technology Review that he thinks this is part of the reason for Ross\u2019s success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe is trained to be sensitive to getting technology out of the way\u2014using technology, rather than thinking technology is a natural benefit in and of itself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s what you need to know about Ivy Ross. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\u2019s the mastermind behind Google\u2019s signature use of textiles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You see it on the Daydream View VR headset<\/a>, the Home Hub assistant<\/a>, and the Pixel 3 smartphone cases<\/a>\u2014colorful fabrics in shades of \u201cpink moon,\u201d seascape,\u201d and \u201ccarbon.\u201d They make you think less of technology and more of upholstery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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A Pixel 3XL fabric case in Pink Moon. <\/em>Source: Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ross explained in an interview with Cool Hunting<\/a> that the fabric trend came about because consumers desire a more physical, tactile experience with objects. This craving contrasts the sleek, cold technology that often surrounds us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are on screens\u2014which are slick\u2014a lot,\u201d Ross said. \u201cAnd when we are not on a screen, the rest of the product, because it\u2019s sitting in our home, should blend in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ross\u2019s color sense doesn\u2019t stop at textiles. The Pixel 3<\/a> and Pixel 3a<\/a> smartphones also come in Pantone-friendly shades of \u201cnot pink\u201d and \u201cpurple-ish.\u201d Flashes of neon orange and mint on the buttons give the smartphones a playful, unique appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The Pixel 3 in Just Black, Not Pink, and Clearly White. <\/em>Source: Google via Expert Reviews<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
She made Mattel more fun<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
In the early 2000s, Ross was the head of design and packaging of the girls division at Mattel, the toy company behind Barbie and Hot Wheels. Her team invented Ello, a \u201ccreation system\u201d akin to Legos, designed for girls ages five to 10.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Ello Creation System: Ello-Opolis<\/em>. Source: Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The toy itself was a highly unique and inventive experiment, a collection of colorful pieces which young girls could use to build everything from necklaces to houses to furniture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t just Ross\u2019s new invention that rocked the toy industry\u2014it was also her method. As Fast Company<\/a> reported, the team that Ross assembled to invent Ello was a hybrid group. Designers and writers\u2014not to mention child psychology experts and young test subjects\u2014all sat at the same table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ross dubbed this innovative method \u201cPlatypus,\u201d after the mammal that\u2019s a surprising amalgamation of several other species. The Platypus Project gave Mattel a way to shake things up within the company and to get innovative ideas out in the open. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a toy company, but we weren\u2019t playing enough,\u201d Ross said. \u201cTo really shift thinking, you have to shift environments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her jewelry pieces are in the permanent collections of over ten design museums around the globe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Earrings, woven tantalum, 1979. In the collection of the <\/em>Smithsonian American Art Museum<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Google\u2019s new line isn\u2019t Ross\u2019s first foray into color. In her twenties, Ross was a metalworker and designed jewelry out of non-precious metals, including titanium, tantalum, and niobium. In response to an electrical charge, these metals would take on iridescent colors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of these early works have wound up in the permanent collections of design museums, including the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum<\/a> in New York and the V&A Museum<\/a> in London, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Designer on the Cutting Edge<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Brooch in silver, niobium, 1981. In the collection of the <\/em>Cooper Hewitt Design Museum<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ivy Ross is that rare person who has both the business and creative skills to helm a team that\u2019s on the cutting edge of design. But it\u2019s her empathetic and unflagging attention to the consumer that makes so many of her products and inventions such a success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think I get into the mindset of the consumer,\u201d she told Cool Hunting. \u201cI think we have to do what\u2019s right for each person.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ivy Ross, Google’s VP of hardware design, leads a team that’s won nearly 100 design awards for its transformation of over 30 Google products.<\/div>\n
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