By Star Chang, posted Oct 8, 2011 at 4:08 PM, 8,705 views,

Meet The Hong Kong Student Who ‘Redesigned’ The Apple Logo (Video)

Update: Jonathan Mak said he was not the first to come up with the design that fits Jobs’ silhouette into the bite of the Apple logo. He was speaking after comments surfaced on Twitter that a U.K.-based designer, known as Raid71 (real name: Chris Thornley) on the web, created the original design in May. Mak acknowledged he was not the original creator of the design but said he did not “rip off” the U.K. designer. Like Mak’s design, the UK-based designer fits Jobs’ silhouette into the bite of the Apple logo. But the dimensions and proportions of that design differ from Mak’s logo.

Source: REUTERS, Jonathan Mak@ tumblr

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A Hong Kong teen has redesigned the Apple logo to tribute the Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who passed away this week. The design went viral, leading to a job offer and a host of commemorative merchandise featuring the design. The 19-year-old student told the local press he felt overwhelmed and it’s hard to believe that his logo tribute to the Apple genius has become a sensation worldwide. We have already made a little report on him during last few days, and now we bring you the behind story on how the poignant design has created …

Jonathan Mak, a design student at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, was caught off-guard by the response after the death of Jobs. He created the design as a tribute to Jobs’ passion for simplicity on the day he quit his post as Apple CEO in August. Although there are other designs combining Jobs’ silhouette with the Apple logo, no one made it into a “bite”. The ‘new’ Apple logo was deluged by “like” and “share” hits on major social networks. The image even appears on eBay memorabilia. He has been approached by several local TV station, overseas companies and software developers. Other designers have sought him out for collaborations. One proposal is to use his design to help raise funds for cancer research.

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Mak told Reuters the process on recreation of the Apple logo :

“ Originally, I was going to put a black modified logo against a white background, it just didn’t feel sombre enough. I just wanted it to be a very quiet commemoration. It’s just this quiet realisation that Apple is now missing a piece. It’s just kind of implying his (Steve Jobs) absence. ”

Mak was not a huge Apple fan and only recently bought a MacBook and an iPod Touch. He was more moved by Jobs’ character, inspired by his message to Stanford’s students in 2005. Mak is in his second year of studying, to major in visual communication. He intend to focus more on his education. He also wish to contact Apple, to convince the company to use his design for producing souvenir products to commemorate Steve Jobs, or to become the funding logo for cancer research. As for the unauthorised copies of his design on eBay, Mak said he will leave that to Apple, it’s their trademark logo after all.

Source: SCMP, Apple Daily (need subscription), Jonathan Mak @ tumblr

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