FILE PHOTO - Apple CEO Tim Cook (R) plays with an iPhone as Jonathan Ive, Apple's Chief Design Officer, looks on during a launch event in Cupertino, California, U.S. September 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

(Reuters) - Apple Inc Chief Design Officer Jony Ive is returning to day-to-day management of the company’s design teams after handing off managerial duties two years ago to focus on other projects, Apple told Reuters on Friday.

Ive, who had led Apple’s design teams since 1996, was behind many of the company’s most iconic designs, from early iMacs that came in translucent jelly-bean colors to the first iPhone.

In 2015, Ive was named chief design officer, reporting directly to CEO Tim Cook. He then handed off some administrative duties to Apple design executives Alan Dye and Richard Howarth to focus on broader efforts like Apple’s retail stores and new “spaceship” campus in Cupertino, Apple Park.

Dye and Howarth will now report to Ive once again.

“With the completion of Apple Park, Apple’s design leaders and teams are again reporting directly to Jony Ive, who remains focused purely on design,” Apple spokeswoman Amy Bessette told Reuters.

Bloomberg reported the move earlier.