Google design whiz Dan Makoski is quitting the search giant's free-thinking Project Ara 'pirate' mobile development division to join Capital One as VP of design, with an initial focus on m-commerce and payments.
Makoski is the brains behind Google's modular Project Ara smartphone project - a phone with interchangeable elements that users pick and choose forn themselves - and an earlier force in the creation of Microsoft's original Surface touchscreen tabletop.
"I don't blame you if you're like a few of my colleagues who think I'm a bit insane to leave one of the world's most admired tech companies for a bank," he says in a blog post announcing his departure. "But what you might not understand is that there are few spaces as ripe for technology and human-inspired re-imagination as how people relate to their money."
Makoski is cagey about what projects he'll be working on at Capital One, which has been steadily adapting its working practices to accommodate new thinking in digital design and iteration.
"I'll be working out of the San Francisco studio, building a money team, focused on bold, breakthrough transformations that will help people connect with their finances in meaningful and delightful ways," he teases. "That's about all I can say at the moment...let the work speak for itself over the upcoming months."