Every time you look at the user interface of an Apple product, you are looking at the legacy of the work of graphic artist Susan Kare, one of the latest inductees to the CompTIA Hall of Fame, IT Innovator Wing.
In the early 1980s, when Kare was sought out by the then-fledgling Apple Computers, personal computing was pretty much a keystroke-only experience. Steve Jobs and his team wanted to change all that and make it a graphically user-friendly environment.
At the time, Kare had just finished Ph.D. in fine arts from New York University and was working as a curator for the Arts Museums of San Francisco. She wanted to get back into the studio as a working artist, so it was fortuitous that she received a call from her high school friend, Andy Hertzfeld, who just so happened to be a key system software programmer on what would become the Macintosh interface. Apple, he said, needed someone to help them design the look and feel of their now-historic desktop OS.
Kare had little experience with computers at the time — only some limited exposure to an Apple II — but was intrigued by the offer. “It was explained to me that the Macintosh was intended to be a computer for anyone, not just people with technical backgrounds, so that really resonated with me,” she said.
Although her computer experience was limited, it was perhaps an asset as well. If Apple wanted to appeal to a world outside of Silicon Valley, it would need an outsider perspective. Kare and Apple made for a natural collaboration.
“When I first started, I created sample icon with markers on graph paper. Shortly thereafter, Andy Hertzfeld wrote an icon editor so I could design fonts and icons on a prototype Macintosh using a mouse,” Kare said. “Since I worked in the software group, there was plenty of tech support from my ultra-technical and knowledgeable colleagues.”
The idea of the desktop interface seems so commonplace now, but at the time it was an entirely new concept. It took time to get it right. “We tried many versions of the title bar before settling on the horizontal stripes,” Kare said. “Because there were many builds of the software, it was possible to see how various graphic elements looked on screen, get feedback and iterate.”
The resulting icons are almost universally known — or copied in other OS graphic user interfaces (GUIs) — such as folders and mouse arrows. Kare also helped design the family of fonts that would populate the Mac OS for many years.
“I'm partial to the Happy Mac that was shown when the computer was started up, because it was a symbol for overall user-friendliness,” she said.
Her groundbreaking work made her a popular designer for the growing computer industry. Microsoft hired her to design interface graphics, a project that presented some new opportunities. “A big difference for me was being able to work with the 16-color VGA palette after working on a monochrome display,” Kare said. “Color provided another means to approach design problems, though the resolution was the same. I also got to design the deck of Solitaire cards, one of my favorite projects.”
Graphic design will continue to play an important role in technology, she said, especially as technology becomes more pervasive. “It seems as if new tools continue to enhance the ease of [use], but many core design problems — searching for universal metaphors and recognition at a glance — [won’t just be] solved by technology.”
Kare still works in the technology sector for some of the biggest players: AT&T, Autodesk, Cisco, Facebook, Google, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Microsoft, Oracle, PayPal and Xerox. While she may not have predicted it from her early days as an artist, this space has provided her with medium in which she thrives.
“Designing for limited screen real estate is something I particularly enjoy,” she said. “I took pleasure that Slate referred to Solitaire as the ‘most used program in the Windows universe.’ I was happy that Microsoft got good mileage out of those bitmaps.”
David Dritsas is a freelance writer based in Chicago who has covered business and technology since 1999. He has written for both trade and consumer publications, as well as industry websites.
