Workbench

Workbench veered off the path of the other Mac computer prototypes with this curvy look.

Throughout "Design Forward," Hartmut Esslinger mentions what inspires his work, but this paragraph about Mac design is especially fascinating: "As I explored ideas for designing the 'face' of this new form, I looked at history, in particular Native American mythology, because I thought that Apple's design should be rooted in the West Coast's past. This search lead us to the geometric sand paintings of the Navajo, then on to the art of the Aztecs, whose carved stone reliefs often resembled astronauts. Those images inspired us to design Apple's computers to look like little people and to transform the display screen into a face."