Famous designers: Susan Kare, who designed the Mac icons

Contents:

• "Either Be a Good Artist or Be a Teacher"
• "Macintosh Artist"
• After Apple
• Return to Pixel Art
• "Virtual Gifts" on Facebook* and Other Works of Recent Years

We continue our series on iconic 20th-century designers. In the previous issue, we discussed Stefan Sagmeister, a prominent figure in design from the late 1990s and 2000s. In this article, we'll focus on Susan Kare, a talented, award-winning designer. In 2018, Medium magazine recognized her as one of the women who have significantly influenced the modern world. Susan Kare is known for her innovation and contributions to graphic design, and her work continues to inspire new generations of designers.

This designer's most famous projects include creating icons and fonts for the Macintosh, as well as collaborating with Microsoft and developing the famous solitaire game Solitaire for Windows. The designer's work is exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and San Francisco, highlighting her contribution to the development of graphic design and user interfaces.

This article will provide information on key aspects of the topic. We will cover key points to help you better understand the subject matter. Learn how to effectively use the information presented to achieve your goals. This article will be a useful resource for anyone interested in deepening their knowledge and improving their skills in this field.

• How Susan Kare got into Apple;
• The connection between the Command key and Scandinavia;
• Collaborating with Paul Rand;
• How graphics changed in Microsoft and IBM systems;
• What she created for Facebook*.

"Either be a good artist or be a teacher"

Susan Kare, a renowned designer and artist, was born in 1954 in Ithaca, New York. She made a significant contribution to the development of graphic design, becoming the creator of many famous fonts and icons. Kare is known for her unique style that combines simplicity and functionality, which has made her work sought after in a variety of fields, including technology interface design.

Since first grade, Susan has had a particular passion for art. At 14, she began an internship with designer Harry Lauck at the Franklin Institute, a science museum in Philadelphia. Harry, who was working for the renowned American designer Charles Eames at the time, introduced Susan to the basics of typography and graphic design. The process of creating labels using a phototypesetting machine to apply type deeply inspired her and became an important stage in her professional development.

Susan gained experience and built her portfolio by creating posters and brochures for college completely free of charge. She also designed holiday cards and invitations, which contributed to the development of her skills and confidence in design.

Kare received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, graduating magna cum laude. She then went on to study at New York University, where she successfully completed her master's and doctoral degrees. Her undergraduate thesis and doctoral dissertation were both in sculpture, demonstrating Kare's deep immersion in this field. Susan always dreamed of becoming a talented artist or teacher. After completing her studies at the university, she moved to San Francisco, where she took a job as a curator at the Museum of Fine Arts. However, Susan soon realized that her true calling lay outside of museum work. Interacting with artists at exhibitions inspired her to dream of owning her own studio. She eventually decided to leave the museum, converted her garage into a studio, and began a career as a sculptor.

"Macintosh Artist"

In 1982, Susan Kare received a call from her former classmate Andy Hertzfeld, then a senior software architect for the Macintosh operating system at Apple. Susan was living in Palo Alto, the well-known center of Silicon Valley, and was working on a life-size boar sculpture for a museum in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Andy offered her a job developing graphics for the new Apple computers. Although Susan had no experience with pixel art or typography, she decided to give it a try, seeing it as an interesting challenge and an opportunity to express her creativity. Susan created small pixelated images on grid paper, mimicking the Macintosh's raster display. Among the sketches for future icons was a pointing finger, symbolizing the "Paste" command. This graphic design process emphasizes the importance of visual interface design and functionality in software.

In 2015, the Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired a sketchbook containing icon sketches. This significant artifact became part of the museum's collection, highlighting the importance of graphic design and iconography in contemporary art. The sketchbook serves as a valuable testimony to the creative process and inspiration behind the creation of modern icons.

Susan prepared meticulously for her interview at Apple Computer. She brought a sketchbook with her own sketches and several books on typography that she had studied at the Palo Alto library. This decision was aimed at impressing the interviewers and increasing her chances of success. This approach demonstrates her serious attitude and deep interest in design, which fits the company's culture of innovation and creativity.

Susan's interview was successful, and in 1983 she became part of the development team. She was glad that she was not assigned to the design team. "Working with engineers will give me a deeper understanding of the software creation process," she noted. This decision opened up new horizons in the field of development, allowing her to explore technical aspects and make significant contributions to the company's projects.

Susan spent some time drawing icons on grid paper, as there were no computer graphics editors at the time. She could only use a mouse to turn pixels on and off, calculating their coordinates. However, this changed when Andy Hertzfeld developed a specialized graphics editor. This innovation allowed Susan to create images directly on the computer, concentrating on the creative process rather than being distracted by mathematical calculations.

Susan had no computer experience, but she had skills in graphic design. She considered raster graphics to be analogous to mosaics or embroidery, which reminded her of the counted cross-stitch lessons her mother taught her as a child. Susan noted that thanks to her mother's passion for needlework, she learned to form images from small identical squares, each of which occupied a strictly defined space. This experience became the basis for her understanding of the principles of working with graphics and design.

Susan used icons that were part of the Apple Lisa computer system as prototypes for creating new icons for the Macintosh. She refined these images, including the trash can icon, which became the Trash symbol. These updated icons became a vital part of the Macintosh interface and contributed to a better user experience.

Susan created several iconic icons that became symbols for users. One of her most famous works is the smiling computer icon that greets users when the system starts. She also designed the bomb icon, which denotes a system error, and the graphic for the Command key, which is still present on Apple keyboards. Interestingly, the developers searched for a long time for a suitable image for the Command symbol until Susan found a sign used in Scandinavian countries to denote landmarks in a book. These works by Susan not only defined the visual style of computer systems but also left a noticeable mark on the history of design.

Susan designed a miniature 32x32 pixel portrait of Steve Jobs, in which she accurately captured his characteristic mischievous grin. This portrait became popular and delighted not only viewers, but also Steve Jobs himself. The micro-portrait became a striking example of how small images can contain deep emotional content and recognition.

Kare once noted that effective icons resemble road signs rather than ordinary images. They should be simple, uncluttered, and easy to remember. Her work on Macintosh graphics empowered non-technical users to interact confidently and comfortably with computers. Intuitive icon design was an important step in making technology easier to use and contributed to the wider adoption of computers in everyday life.

While working at Apple, Susan Kare designed a set of fonts for the Macintosh. At the time, most popular digital fonts were monospaced, so Kare decided to create proportional fonts. The first of these was Chicago, a bold system font. This font was used in the Macintosh user interface until 1997 and was also used in early versions of the iPod. Susan Kare's typeface designs have had a significant impact on the visual style and perception of interfaces, making them more aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly.

Susan Kare and Andy Hertzfeld originally planned to name the fonts after train stops on the Philadelphia main line. However, Steve Jobs suggested changing the concept and using the names of famous world cities. Thus, the New York, Geneva, London, Toronto, and Venice fonts were created, and they have become integral parts of the design and visual identity of Apple products. These fonts not only reflect style and elegance, but also emphasize the international character of the company, creating a unique visual language that is used in various applications and interfaces.

Susan developed a unique "set of modern hieroglyphs" for the Macintosh. The Cairo font included miniature images that users could integrate into their text, effectively becoming the precursor to modern emoji. The most famous image from this font was Clarus the Dogcow—a character resembling a dog, but often mistaken for a cow due to the distinctive spot on its back. At Apple, Susan didn't limit herself to creating fonts and icons. She also created illustrations for the user manual and advertising materials using MacPaint. Her work included images of a Japanese woman combing her hair, tennis shoes, and gourmet baby food. Interestingly, Susan was an early adopter of MacPaint, actively testing new features as they became available.

After Apple

In 1986, Susan Kare left Apple, following Steve Jobs, and became creative director at his new company, NeXT Computer. She was responsible for creating NeXT's corporate identity and invited her idol, renowned designer Paul Rand, to design the company's logo. Susan Kare credits her collaboration with Rand with significantly influencing her professional development. She was particularly inspired by Rand's confidence in design, which he considered art despite its subjectivity. She recalls the moment when he slammed the table and declared, "I've been doing this for fifty years, and I know what you should do!" This statement underscores the depth of his experience and confidence in his own design decisions.

Return to Pixel Art

While working at NeXT, Susan realized her passion for pixel art. In 1989, she founded her own design studio, Susan Kare Design, where she began collaborating with major corporations such as Microsoft and IBM. This move marked a significant milestone in her career, allowing her to develop a unique style and push pixel art to new heights.

One of Kare's most famous projects for Microsoft is the design of the Solitaire card deck, which was included free with Windows 3.0, released in 1990. This version of the operating system quickly gained popularity among users. Kare also designed icons and other design elements for Windows, which differed from the black-and-white macOS with a vibrant color palette supporting 256 colors. Some icons, such as the Notepad icon, remained recognizable and were used until the release of Windows XP in the early 2000s. These designs played a significant role in shaping the visual style of the operating system and made it more appealing to users.

Solitaire was designed not only as a recreational game, but also to teach early computer users how to use a mouse. This game helps to master the basic principles of manipulating objects on the screen, which makes it a useful tool for beginners.

At IBM, she developed icons and design elements for the OS/2 operating system, which competed with Windows and was released from 1987 to 1999. Despite supporting 256 colors, the icons were more detailed and voluminous, which made them unique and attractive.

Susan Kare has successfully adapted to constantly changing technologies, showing an interest in creating both black-and-white icons for the Macintosh and designing color icons for Windows and OS/2. In an interview, she noted that if she had to choose a project to start immediately, she would focus on changing the graphics for Nokia mobile phones. This emphasizes her passion for innovation and interest in mobile technologies, which continue to evolve and remain relevant in the modern world.

"Virtual Gifts" on Facebook* and Other Work of Recent Years

In the early 2000s, Susan received an offer from designer Jared Morgenstern to join the Facebook team. As part of her work, she was responsible for creating "virtual gifts" - small icons that users could purchase and send to each other. These bright, 64x64 pixel images were a significant departure from her previous projects at Apple and Microsoft. Susan notes: "Working on "gifts" allowed me to implement ideas that didn't fit into traditional interface elements. The icons are more reminiscent of road signs than illustrations. "Gifts" should only be gifts." This design approach was an important step in the development of visual culture on social media.

Virtual gifts became a popular trend among Facebook users. By purchasing these gifts, users not only made their friends happy but also supported a worthy cause. All proceeds from sales of virtual gifts went to the Susan A. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. This initiative combined social media with charity, drawing attention to the issues that many women face.

Since 2015, Susan Kare has served as Creative Director at Pinterest. She finds this work similar to her experience at Apple, as both companies share a creative atmosphere and a commitment to creating a user-friendly interface. At Pinterest, Susan continues to develop ideas aimed at improving user interaction with the platform, ensuring intuitive and aesthetically pleasing designs.

In 2021, Kare began working at Niantic Labs, a company specializing in the development of mobile games with elements of augmented reality. At the same time, Susan actively sells posters of her famous icons on the website kareprints.com, each of which she signs. She also creates unique "pixel" patterns for napkins, coasters, and towels, which can be found at the home goods store Areaware. Kare continues to develop her creative ideas, combining art and technology, which makes her work coveted among fans and collectors.

Susan Kare follows the principle of simplicity and clarity in design in her work. She believes that design should be accessible and understandable for everyone. Inspired by the words of Paul Rand: "Don't try to be original, just try to be good," Susan emphasizes the importance of quality and functionality in the work of a designer. Her approach to design is focused on creating intuitive solutions that are easy for users to understand.

Stefan Sagmeister: An Exploration of Beauty and Happiness

Stefan Sagmeister is a renowned artist and designer whose creative path is filled with a search for deep beauty and harmony. His work reflects a striving for perfection, as well as a desire to convey positive emotions through art. Sagmeister uses a variety of techniques and materials to create unique pieces that inspire and delight viewers.

An important aspect of Sagmeister's work is his ability to find happiness in simple things. In his works, he strives to capture moments of joy and peace, which makes his art particularly relatable and accessible. Each of his projects is not just an aesthetic pleasure but also a profound philosophical idea, inviting viewers to reflect on life, love, and the beauty of the world around them.

Sagmeister actively participates in exhibitions and cultural events, where he shares his vision and creative discoveries. His works inspire not only professional artists but also a wider audience, opening up new dimensions of artistic perception. Exploring themes of beauty and happiness, Stefan Sagmeister continues to be an important figure in contemporary art, bringing a fresh perspective and unique style to it.