Apple’s Jonathan Ive is a ridiculously talented designer, and like all great creative minds, his work has been inspired by outside influences. British furniture designer Frederick Scott is credited as one of them, having created System Supporto, a family of office furniture (£651 and up) that Supporto Ltd. says is amongst Ive’s favorite designs, and is in heavy use within Apple’s industrial design studios. If the black-on-silver and glass designs look familiar, that’s no surprise: it’s been speculated that Ive channeled Supporto’s look into the current family of Macs.
The System Supporto line began with the Task Chair in 1976, and grew from there. According to the company’s website, Ive loves the designs enough to have brought System Supporto’s stools, tables, chairs, and desks into his offices; Cult of Mac suggests that the black on top, silver on bottom designs influenced the look of today’s iMacs and MacBooks, which are undeniably somewhat similar. Just think: your favorite computer might have been influenced by one of Ive’s favorite chairs.
