It is extremely convenient that the only source regarding Michael Darius’s contributions to Apple products is himself.
I *know* he worked at Apple.
I *know* he is a real person.
That stuff is not debatable.
What *is* debatable is how significant his contributions actually were, and as of this moment, he seems to be the only person quantifying those contributions.
*My* concern is that first-hand accounts have told me that he’s dramatically inflating the significance of his contributions.
There are a million people pretending to be people they aren’t, posting things that they generated, claiming they “made” them.
That part doesn’t actually bother me nearly as much as falsifying the *basis* for his career knowledge.
Lots of former Apple designers will do this to get more work. I get it to an extent. However, I would approach with lots of caution when someone who you’ve never heard of starts claiming they did stuff without anyone else backing them up.
Also, be wary of anyone calling themselves a “key figure” or “leader” on a project or at a company. Don’t take it from them. Take it from others on that team.
I just remembered something my mom said once: “I was a good mother.” I thought about it for a second and thought... is she even qualified to say that? Or are her two sons the *only people* able to qualify that?
Same goes here. If Michael Darius says he was a leader on a team, ask the people he supposedly led if that’s true.
Michael Darius absolutely did not make either the “original iTunes icon / logo for the launch of the iTunes Store” found here: https://dribbble.com/shots/4896032-Original-iTunes-Icon-Logo
These icons were made by Brian Frick, a friend of mine. I’ve seen the source files when I worked at Apple myself. Zero chance Michael had any part of it or ever worked with Steve Jobs.
I think even *today*, there’s no way Michael Darius could create the icons Brian made 20 years ago. No evidence to show he drew anything.
@louie yikes. He has this write up for the original iPod campaign too. Talked about the “maze of tasks and responsibilities”… but basically describes any marketing or advertising process… absolutely nothing specific to the direction or artistic process…
How do people get away with this?
@louie Yeah, big oof. Those are some BOLD claims, with little to no proof, and with more recent work whose taste and refinement that doesn’t align.
Couple it with the barely audible video of him doing Steve Jobs cosplay next to a koi pond, and it adds a “George Santos” vibe to the whole affair. (Also, and maybe this is petty, but if one is grabbing their crotch for most of the video, shoot a second take.)
@brandonleedy Man I only saw that video for the first time today and it is a hard cringe.
But what you say is true: any recent work or taste does not match any of his past claims. It doesn't pass a sniff test.
@louie perhaps his claim here is that he made the 4.0 icon (green), not the 1.0 one (lavender, purple, pink)?
Which… kind of misleading, if that’s it.
@louie I worked ON the dataset for the original iTunes Icon which was used across the whole ecosystem of icons for Mac OS X.
The universal lightsource, the icon family itself was all something I was involved in standardising across the operating system.
If my twitter feed were still available I could link you to numerous places where I tribute Brian Frick for his original work in Cinema 4d on this icon and other areas of the company.
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Michael Darius