Photo by Robert Anasch on Unsplash — *Photo by* *Robert Anasch* on *Unsplash*

The iPhone is as much art as it is technology. Even the packaging is a joy to use. How did Apple learn to value aesthetics? We are told it was the maniacal focus of the late Steve Jobs, and it surely helped. But who influenced him? Who shaped his worldview?

We’ve talked before about Steve’s adoptive father, Paul Jobs. He certainly played a major role, imploring the young Jobs to care as much about the things people won’t see as the things they will. It’s a craftsman’s mindset, but there was another who took up the mantle of helping Jobs apply craft to business - a 33-year-old Marketing executive from Intel - Mike Markulla.

Mike joined the nascent Apple as the adult in the room and articulated a philosophy that would drive the company to this day.

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If you read The Apple Marketing Philosophy, you might stumble on the word ‘impute’. Yes, it’s awkward, but an honest acknowledgment that presentation matters and the human brain has been tuned to make snap judgments based on very little information. The professional understands that while most people won’t notice or appreciate the details, they will feel if you cared - that will come through - and that’s all that matters. Perception is reality as we’re told.

"We may have the best product, the highest quality, the most useful software etc.; if we present them in a slipshod manner, they will be perceived as slipshod; if we present them in a creative, professional manner, we will impute the desired qualities.” - Mike Markkula

Dressing well matters.
Speaking well matters.
Writing well matters.
Manners matter.
Etiquette matters.

It’s the same in a product.

“People form an opinion about a company or product based on the signals that it conveys.” -- Walter Isaacson

If you still don’t believe me, here’s an example from one of the best speeches of all time, displayed in comic sans.

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How does that feel? Are you inspired? Do you trust the speaker? And now a much better font, FF Meta.

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Same content, different result.

Thank you Mike for reminding us that “People Do Judge a Book By Its Cover.”