Apple design boss Jony Ive says his new job lets him work on 'naughty, under-the-radar' activities

In May, Apple's famed SVP of design Jony Ive got bumped into the role of "chief design officer."

As part of that switch, he handed off all his managerial duties to two other execs, while still overseeing the product design team overall.

But he also got official clearance to do things that he was already sort of doing: Helping with the design of the company's retail stores and spaceship campus. 

"They were always sort of naughty, under-the-radar activities, but now they're all legitimate," Ive said on stage at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit.

Ive says that he was never great at the administrative duties, and that he should have given them up long ago. 

"I haven't felt this happy or this creative in years and years," he said. 

Ive also spoke about the new Steve Jobs film, which he accused of hijacking Jobs' image. Although he hasn't seen the film himself, he says that friends have told him that they don't recognize the man the film portrays.

"Unlike most of us, [Steve] is having his identity described and defined by a whole bunch of other people with agendas," Ive said. "And so that's been a bit of a struggle for me personally." He called the portrayal "heartbreaking.

Here's the video of him speaking: