Book "Designed in California"

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 broader level, California: Designing Freedom explores the idea that California is the source of tools of personal liberation, from LSD to surfboards and iPhones. This ambitious survey brings together political posters and portable devices, but also goes beyond hardware to explore how user interface designers in the San Francisco Bay Area are shaping some of our most common everyday experiences. Californian products have influenced contemporary life around the world, so much so that, in a way, we are all Californians now. In other words, "Designed in California" is the new "Made in Italy".

Justin McGuirk is a writer and museum curator based in London. He is Chief Curator at the Design Museum and head of the Design Curating & Writing department at Design Academy Eindhoven.