Calling him "the Medici of his day: a 21st-century patron of the new and the best," I.D. Magazine has named Apple Computer Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Steve Jobs the second most important design trendsetter for 2005.
The industrial design magazine asked 800 experts to name their 40 most influential people in design. Mr. Jobs won out over such visionaries as "Gherkin" building architect Norman Foster (#11), renowned architect Frank Gehry (#12), and vacuum cleaner designer James Dyson (#17).
Saying people can be easily captivated by "the sheer beauty" of the Mac Cube or the "gently breathing light of the iBook," I.D. Magazine wrote, "for Jobs, great design is a means to an end: bringing technology to people. He understands that you need smart designers -- industrial designers, but also interface designers, software designers, mechanical engineers -- to make that happen."
Saying he has brought "color to an industry of beige," the magazine wrote of the Apple co-founder, "Perhaps greater than the boxy little machine was Jobsi other creation: a company, that by example, has shown the world the power of design."
Taking first place was the design department curators of the MoMA Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Adobe Systems took fourth spot with I.D. Magazine editors describing the company as "a Microsoft that actually works" and praising it for "remarkably reliable" software products and finding "a balance between creativity, responsiveness, and corporate structure."