An exhibition based on three historically significant traveling exhibitions of contemporary mass-produced, American-designed consumer goods in the 1950s, commissioned by the U.S. Department of State and presented in West Germany to help promote the growth of democratic government. 

"A Designed Life" recreates and interprets early Cold War exhibitions that were designed by modern masters Florence Knoll (textiles), Tom Lee (wallpapers), and Will Burtin (containers & packages) restating and interpreting part of each display as it might have appeared in the early 1950s. Each industry-specific exhibit showcased other design professionals such as Noemi Raymond, Angelo Testa, and Stig Lindberg (textiles); Ben Rose, Ray Komai, and Ilonka Karasz (wallpapers), and Paul Rand, Morton Goldsholl, and Alma Shon (containers & packaging) each of whom in turn would be associated with modernism.