Macintosh Icon Designer Reflects On Her Work at Apple

Susan Kare, who created many of the original interface elements for the Apple Macintosh in the mid–1980s, today reflected on her work at Apple in an interview with Path (via AppleInsider). Kare first joined Apple with the title "Macintosh Artist" through software programmer Andy Hertzfeld, who she knew from high school.

susankareicons

When asked about her design influences and her time at Apple, she had this to say:

I was so lucky to get to work in the Macintosh group with great colleagues and talented programmers. That experience introduced me to interface design development and how I might be able to contribute as a graphic designer to the overall user experience. It also gave me practice in aiming to communicate big concepts in small spaces.

At Apple, Kare was responsible for most of the typefaces and the icons of the original Macintosh, along with much of the marketing material. She is best known for the Chicago sans-serif typeface and the "Happy Mac" icon that welcomed early Mac users on startup.

Kare now works as an independent artist and created a set of "stickers" for social networking app Path.

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight

Tuesday April 1, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the Apple Card is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs. Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple's card services provider, while...

Top Rated Comments

mrsir2009 Avatar
156 months ago
Those icons remind me of my childhood :o
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HMI Avatar
156 months ago
"That experience introduced me to interface design development and how I might be able to contribute as a graphic designer to the overall user experience. It also gave me practice in aiming to communicate big concepts in small spaces."

That was back when one could get a job without 5+ years of professional experience doing the same exact thing they were applying for and without having advanced degrees in that specific field.

If she were trying that now, I wonder if any company would give her the time of day, even with her obvious talent.

Art is so undervalued!
:(
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Casiotone Avatar
156 months ago
The funny thing is those icons were better than the ones now. Given the size of the icons these old black and white icons would be perfect for the iPhone.



I loved doing that. Plus constantly screwing around with control panel settings, editing the system file and juggling extensions. Does anyone remember the name of that program for editing system files? The icon was a jack in the box popping out of a mac.

ResEdit.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
notabadname Avatar
156 months ago
Man, hard admitting that I am old enough to recognize (and have used) all of those.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
laurim Avatar
156 months ago
Kinda makes me wish there was a "classic" theme to OSX. Anyone remember changing the sounds of functions like emptying the trash? In the early '90s, I had Oscar the Grouch singing "I LOOOOOVE trash". For another, can't remember if it was the error noise or new mail, I had Arnold Schwarzenegger saying "Your clothes, give them to me, now!". So much fun!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Casiotone Avatar
156 months ago
No mention of Clarus the Dogcow?


Moof!
http://clarus.chez-alice.fr/ENGLISH/history.html (http://clarus.chez-alice.fr/ENGLISH/history.html)
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)