California Designing Freedom

How did California come to have such a powerful influence on contemporary design? This book explores how the ideals of the 1960s counterculture morphed into the tech culture of Silicon Valley, and how ‘Designed in California’ became a global phenomenon.

The central premise is that California has pioneered tools of personal liberation, from LSD to surfboards and iPhones. This ambitious survey brings together political posters and portable devices, but also looks beyond hardware to explore how user interface designers in the San Francisco Bay Area are shaping some of our most common daily experiences. By turns empowering, addictive and troubling, Californian products have affected our lives to such an extent that in some ways we are all now Californians.

Lavishly illustrated, California: Designing Freedom features essays by leading experts in the field, such as Barry M Katz and Louise Sandhaus, as well as interviews with key designers and thinkers, including Fred Turner, Kevin Kelly and April Greiman. It also features a rediscovered lecture by Steve Jobs, introduced by Apple’s chief design officer, Jonathan Ive.

This book examines California’s enormous impact on contemporary design, from the counterculture of the 1960s to the tech culture of Silicon Valley. On a more expansive level, California: Designing Freedom explores the idea that California has pioneered tools of personal liberation – from LSD to surfboards and iPhones. This ambitious survey brings together political posters and portable devices, but also looks beyond hardware to explore how user interface designers in the San Francisco Bay Area are shaping some of our most common daily experiences. Californian products have influenced contemporary life across the globe to such an extent that in some ways we are all now Californians. Put simply, ‘Designed in California’ is the new ‘Made in Italy’.