Bauhaus and Zen devotion in Apple products

                                 

Apple, by Steve Jobs, is highly regarded as one of the most influential companies of all time. But many of the same ideals that Apple represents directly come from the teachings of the Bauhaus.  He mentioned that his product is simple yet an expressive spirit, emphasized on rationality and functionality by employing clean lines and forms. He accomplished this through product designs and marketing campaigns.

Minimalism was a religion to Gropius; a creed to be applied to everything from buildings to typography. To Steve, it was a powerful tool to be used everywhere it makes sense. What Steve implicitly knew that Gropius and most minimalists since him have completely missed is the fact that a minimal spirit is rarely a lovable spirit. And so Steve imbued the user interface of all his Apple creations with lovable characteristics on many levels. That lovable interface began by setting people at ease with their machines by using ideas with which they were familiar and comfortable.

However, other than Bauhaus, I fouund out that Steve Jobs actually also inspired by the Zen devotion.After dropping out of college, he made a long pilgrimage through India seeking enlightenment, but it was mainly the Japanese path of Zen Buddhism that stirred his sensibilities. “Zen was a deep influence,” said Daniel Kottke, a college friend who accompanied Jobs on the trip. “You see it in his whole approach of stark, minimalist aesthetics, intense focus.” Jobs agreed. “I have always found Buddhism—Japanese Zen Buddhism in particular—to be aesthetically sublime,” he told me. “The most sublime thing I’ve ever seen are the gardens around Kyoto.”

                                       

So, i think that Jobs actually make a collab of the Bauhaus design principle with Zen devotion's idea then appied it on all his products.

Reference

i)Peg.S (2011) ‘The Apple of Zen’, Appamada, 16 October. Available at: http://community.appamada.org/profiles/blogs/the-apple-of-zen (Accessed:  27 July 2015)

ii) Chris.O.B (2013) ‘How Steve Jobs and Apple turned technology into a religion’, Los Angeles Times, 1 September. Available at: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/01/business/la-fi-tn-how-steve-jobs-and-apple-turned-technology-into-our-religion-20130829 (Accessed: 27 July 2015)

iii) Walter.I (2012) ‘How Steve Jobs’s love of simplicity fuelled a design revolution’, Smithsonian Magazine, September. Available at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-steve-jobs-love-of-simplicity-fueled-a-design-revolution-23868877/?no-ist (Accessed: 1 June 2015)

iv) Steve. M(2013) 'Skeuomorphism - How Steve Jobs Hit What Walter Gropius Missed - But Now, Is Apple Throwing Its Soul Away?' Original Green, 6 May. Available at: http://www.originalgreen.org/blog/skeuomorphism---how-steve.html#sthash.KMMLoiG0.RkDX7Knk.dpuf (Accessed at: 27 July 2015)