Harrison McIntosh's ceramics convey a simplicity that is both classic and modern. While the silhouettes of his stoneware vessels recall ancient forms, they are often adorned with regular geometric patterns — inspired by the Bauhaus's machine-age aesthetic — painted in a balanced rhythm of bold and muted colors.

McIntosh developed his appreciation for ancient pottery at the University of Southern California, where he studied with ceramicist Glen Lukens. From 1949 to 1953, McIntosh studied with Richard Petterson at the Claremont Graduate School before attending Marguerite Wildehain's summer workshop at Pond Farm, her remote studio in the Russian River Valley.

Since the mid-1950s, McIntosh has worked out of his studio in Claremont, California, supplementing sales of his pottery by designing ceramics and glasswares for Mikasa.