Would you buy a MYR1,000 book? Wait, let me rephrase that. Would you buy a MYR1,000 Apple Design book? I know a couple of you out there who will say a resounding yes. The good news is, the “Designed by Apple in California” book is now available in Malaysia. The bad news? It’s MYR949.
So, what’s with this white hardbound book that costs as much as an iPad mini?
To make a long story short, it’s an Apple-style visual chronicle of Apple’s brilliant design and innovation over the past two decades. Not just for its finished products, but to illustrate Apple’s design process. Dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs, no less. “Apple-style” is evident here – minimalistic, empathetic, beautiful.
Perhaps minimalistic is an appropriate word to describe the book, because it’s incredibly sparing in the “abc” department, aside from Jony Ive’s foreward.
“While this is a design book, it is not about the design team, the creative process or product development. 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.”
— Jony Ive
What it is though, is a gorgeous photo book showcasing the work of photographer Andrew Zuckerman. All 450 photographs of Apple products exquisitely shot and laid out. From the revolutionary 1998 iMac to 2015’s Apple Pencil.
The design of the book itself will bring a smile to a fanboy, or even a design enthusiast. It is printed on specially milled, custom-dyed paper with gilded matte silver edges, using eight colour separations and low-ghost ink.
On the exterior, the title “Designed by Apple in California” is embossed on the spine.
Attention to detail? As expected.
“Designed by Apple in California” is available in two sizes – small and large. Small (260×324) starts at MYR949/USD199, while Large (330x413mm) is priced at MYR1,399/USD299. Both are exclusively available from the Malaysian Apple Online Store.
Alternatively, if you’re the reading type, you may want to pick up “Appledesign: The Work of the Apple Industrial Design Group” first published in October 2017, in celebration of Apple’s 20th anniversary. This one isn’t cheap either, a paperback version may cost you up to USD249/MYR1,103. It does showcase concepts that never made it into production. Certainly one for the die-hard fans.
If you think these design/photobooks are expensive, they’re nothing compared to Ferrari’s 2013 design book, entitled “Enzo Diamente Edition – The Official FerrariOpus.” The limited edition 872-page book had a limited 300-copy run, and cost USD275,000. What’s with the ridiculous price tag you wonder? How about it being encrusted with 1,500 diamonds?
For more down-to-earth accessibility though, there’s also the USD34,925 Enzo, the USD6,545 Cavallino Rampante and USD3,520 Classic editions.
So, after all that’s been said, would you buy a copy?
Source: Designlimitededition, Apple
https://youtu.be/CEW4D_CERkE
