Susan Kare’s name may not ring a bell in many people’s minds when mentioned, but you’ll probably be able to identify her most iconic work in an instant because she is the lady behind Apple’s first icons.
When an opportunity for a designer to create the first Macintosh computer’s icons arised back in 1982, a high school friend who worked for Apple suggested Kare as a candidate. She was hired as a Macintosh Artist designing fonts and icons for the Apple Macintosh.
“I didn’t have any computer experience, but I had experience in graphic design,” Kare recalls. “And I didn’t really know anything about digital typography, but I got as many books on it as I could.”
Below are some of Kare’s first drawings of some of the Macintosh’s most recognisable icons and fonts:
Kare has also done a number of designs for Microsoft, creating icons for the Notepad and Control Panel and the entire Windows 3.0 Solitaire. Later, Kare ventured off on her own and began collaborating with companies such as Facebook and PayPal to do some design work for them.
Kare has come a long way from designing those first Apple Macintosh icons. Today she has her own digital design graphics company called Susan Kare User Interface Graphics in San Francisco.
You can read more about Kare and her journey on Price Onomics.
[Images: Susan Kare, Price Onomics]