Hasta La Ideas

“Apple Computer, Inc. has never developed an entirely new electronic product: it did not invent the computer or the MP3 player or even the cell phone,” writes Ina Grätz in her introduction to Apple Design, slated for publication by Hatje Cantz in November. “That these devices from the company are nevertheless considered to be among the most innovative of our time can be explained above all on the basis of their product design.” The forthcoming book, a sleek and souped-up catalogue for the Grätz-curated “Stylectrical” exhibition that opened last Friday at Hamburg’s Museum for Arts and Crafts, features more than 200 examples of Apple designs by Jonathan Ive and his team, from the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh to the latest iPad. Each object is pictured from multiple angles and examined in detail as part of a broader exploration of Apple’s approach to industrial design, production, materials (including pioneering applications of translucent plastic and aluminum), and, of course, marketing. Did someone say Dieter Rams? Indeed. An entire chapter of Apple Design is devoted to the company’s overt references to the simplified forms of Braun products. In an essay entitled “Kronberg Meets Cupertino: What Braun and Apple Really Have in Common,” Bernd Polster demonstrates how Apple has deployed and fulfilled each of Rams’ ten principles for good design. Artbook is now taking pre-orders for Apple Design here.

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