LoveFrom is a design company founded in 2019 by former Apple design chief Jony Ive and designer Mark Newson. Their famous projects include the coronation emblem of King Charles III and the clown nose for the British charity Comic Relief.
The new LoveFrom project was a vinyl record player. Together with the British brand Linn, they worked on a limited edition of the Sondek LP12 model, which celebrates its 50th anniversary. A total of 250 Linn Sondek LP12-50 units will be released, which will be manufactured and delivered between August 2023 and March 2024. The cost of a vinyl record player is £50,000 ($60,000).
The collaboration between the companies began last year, when Linn CEO Giled Tiefenbran was offered a meeting with Jony Ive. As a result, they agreed to collaborate on a vinyl record player, which is described as “Ive’s first hardware project post-Apple.”
Linn focused on the Sondek LP12-50’s sonic components, particularly the Bedrok panels, which are made from solid wood to minimize vibrations. LoveFrom, in turn, was responsible for the industrial design of the product. “We saw a number of areas where there could be small improvements and gentle evolutions of the current design,” Ive said. Previously square elements have received smoother edges, the plastic power button has been replaced by an aluminum circle, and new hinges have been developed for the protective cover of the player, which can keep it open at any angle.
Interestingly, it is reported that LoveFrom’s work on the Sondek LP12-50 was unpaid, and that there is no no contract or other financial arrangement” between the two companies. . “There’s a substantial percentage of our work which we do purely for the love of doing it,” Ive said, noting that the design firm makes money from its long-term contracts with the likes of Airbnb and Ferrari.
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