Letters to a Young Creator is Steve Jobs Archive’s new book

Letters to a Young Creator, Steve Jobs Archive — *Letters to a Young Creator*, Steve Jobs Archive

(Image credit: Steve Jobs Archive)

Steve Jobs was a big fan of the pithy aphorism, coining a fair few of his own to distil and disseminate his laser-like focus on business, culture and creativity. The new two-volume publication from the Steve Jobs Archive, Letters to a Young Creator, has been compiled by the archive and Laurene Powell Jobs as a way of inspiring a new generation of innovators.

The first recipients of Letters to a Young Creator will be those selected for the one-year SJA Fellowship, a programme that offers fellows a stipend to ‘pursue their ideas’, in addition to support, access and mentorship.

Despite their relatively slender size, the two volumes reflect the impressive reach of the Jobs Rolodex. The archive approached a great swathe of heavyweight names, many of whom worked closely with Jobs in his lifetime, and asked each to provide a succinct letter of advice.

As Powell Jobs writes in her introduction, ‘Steve thrived by seeking out people who could offer new knowledge and fresh perspectives, and he surrounded himself with diverse voices – musicians, artists, scientists, designers, engineers, writers, and humanitarians… We have asked distinguished creators of diverse fields to share some of their answers to questions you asked at the beginning of your fellowship year.’

Letters to a Young Creator is available as a digital publication — *Letters to a Young Creator* is available as a digital publication

Styled after Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet (1929), a personal favourite of Jobs, the books include contributions from Tadao Ando, Jony Ive, Tim Cook, Alice Rawsthorn, Es Devlin, Mario Bellini, Jenny Holzer, Ben Okri, Dieter Rams and many more.

Powell Jobs concludes, ‘I’m struck by this line from [Rilke]: “Live the questions for now. Perhaps then you will gradually, without noticing it, live your way into the answer, one distant day in the future.”’

Letters to a Young Creator is available now as a free digital publication from the Steve Jobs Archive, SteveJobsArchive.com

The title is the second publication from the Steve Jobs Archive, which released Make Something Wonderful, designed by LoveFrom, in 2023.

Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.