Say what you will about headphone jacks, dongles, and the post-Steve Jobs era, there’s no denying that Apple is still somewhere at the front (if not the very front) of the pack when it comes to their collective of industrial design and design engineering feats.
While some of their more recent design decisions might be questionable, the past two decades tell an entirely different story rooted in jaw-dropping advancements developed by Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, and the notoriously secretive industrial design team at the company’s Cupertino headquarters. Unsurprisingly, Apple and Jony Ive want to tell this story their way.
Chronicling the past 20 Years of Apple design, “Designed by Apple in California” is the first official “Apple Book” that covers industrial design and engineering advancements over the past few decades with stunning photographs (by photographer Andrew Zuckerman) and revealing product details that have previously been locked behind closed doors.
“The idea of genuinely trying to make something great for humanity was Steve’s motivation from the beginning, and it remains both our ideal and our goal as Apple looks to the future,” said Jony Ive, Apple’s chief design officer. “This archive is intended to be a gentle gathering of many of the products the team has designed over the years. We hope it brings some understanding to how and why they exist while serving as a resource for students of all design disciplines.”
No matter how you slice it, this book is a thing of beauty. But like most other Apple products, it too comes with a hefty price tag: $199 for the small edition and $299 for the large edition. That said, the linen-bound hardcover books are printed on specially milled, custom-dyed paper with gilded matte silver edges, using eight color separations and low-ghost ink. So — it’s more of a centerpiece book than something to shove on the bookshelf between your Game of Thrones series.
The book is available at Apple Stores and online.
