20 years of Apple designs are chronicled in this luxurious photography book that lets the products speak for themselves.
Thanks to their sleek appearance and tendency to embrace experimental design ideas, Apple products and devices have shaped the way people perceive technology over the years. This history of innovation has now been chronicled with the release of 'Designed by Apple in California', a new hardbound photography book that covers products from 1998's iMac to 2015's Apple Pencil.
Filled with 450 images shot by photographer Andrew Zuckerman, Designed by Apple in California is laid out in a deliberately spare style that reflects the tech company's iconic branding. With plenty of white space, the book takes the unusual approach of letting the products speak for themselves.
Photos of the products are presented without accompanying annotations
"While this is a design book, it is not about the design team, the creative process, or product development," explains Apple's chief design officer Jony Ive. "It is an objective representation of our work that, ironically, describes who we are."
"It describes how we work, our values, our preoccupations, and our goals. We have always hoped to be defined by what we do rather than by what we say.
We strive, with varying degrees of success, to define objects that appear effortless. Objects that appear so simple, coherent, and inevitable that there could be no rational alternative."
Even recent products like the Apple Watch are featured
As you would expect from a company with a keen eye for design, every aspect of the book has been carefully considered. Available in two sizes and printed on specially milled, custom-dyed paper with gilded matte silver edges, this high end design book won't look out of place next to any of Apple's tech products.
Using eight colour separations and low-ghost ink, the linen bound volumes were developed over an eight-year period. Fittingly, the book is dedicated to the memory of Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs.
“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,” Ive adds. “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.”
The books have a subtle design that ties into the Apple brand
Available now in certain Apple stores around the world, Design by Apple in California is available in a small (10.20" x 12.75") and large (13" x 16.23") format, costing £169 and £249 respectively.
Dom Carter is a freelance writer who specialises in art and design. Formerly a staff writer for Creative Bloq, his work has also appeared on Creative Boom and in the pages of ImagineFX, Computer Arts, 3D World, and .net. He has been a D&AD New Blood judge, and has a particular interest in picture books.
