Meta poaches Apple’s top designer Alan Dye, who is famous for being the brain behind the sleek designs of the iPhone X, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. The Design Executive is set to join Meta as a Chief Design Officer, leading a new creative studio inside Meta’s Reality Labs Division, as announced by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
This move is part of a series of Meta’s efforts to play catch-up in the AI arms race, by ultimately blending AI with every of its services, including its incoming consumer hardware like smart glasses and virtual reality headsets.
Zuckerberg frames this talent poaching as a bet on leveraging “[artificial] intelligence as a new design material.”
And back at Apple, Steve Lemay, a long-time UI designer at the company will be replacing Dye, with Apple affirming in a statement to Bloomberg that Lemay has played “a key role in the design of every major Apple interface since 1999.”
Alan Dye’s Apple Legacy
Dye joined Apple in 2006 as a Creative Director in the Marketing Communications team, rising quickly in 2012 to oversee and manage the look and feel of the company’s software and hardware. He is known to have led the notch designs of the iPhone X, the intuitive Apple Watch face, and the spatial computing interfaces for Vision Pro.
And more recently, Dye led the “Liquid Glass” redesign rolling out across iOS, macOS, and watchOS, with all boasting smooth animations and depth effects that make Apple’s digital products feel alive.
What Alan Dye Will Be Bringing to Meta
At Meta, Dye will lead a new creative studio in Reality Labs that promises to “bring together design, fashion, and technology to define the next-generation of our products and experiences,” as explained by Zuckerberg.
“Our idea is to treat intelligence as a new design and imagine what becomes possible when it is abundant, capable, and human-centered,” the social media tech giant’s CEO said. “We plan to elevate design within Meta, and pull together a talented group with a combination of craft, creative vision, systems thinking, and deep experience building iconic products that bridge hardware and software.”
Zuckerberg also adds that Alan will be joined by Billy Sorrentino, who is another well-known design lead from Apple, as well as Joshua To, Pete Bristol, and Jason Rubin, who will all be involved in the development of Reality Labs to meet the AI vision the company has, especially when it comes to devices.
“We’re entering a new era where AI glasses and other devices will change how we connect with technology and each other,” the CEO wrote. “With this new studio, we’re focused on making every interaction thoughtful, intuitive, and built to serve people.”
While this style of recruitment from other tech giants may mean the development of more competing gadgets in the market, it also sheds light on how these companies are in a talent arms race as AI rapidly moves beyond conversational chatbots to wearables and other forms of digital companions.
