View source for Susan Kare

{{short description|American artist and graphic designer (born 1954)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Susan Kare
| image              = SusanKare2019photo.jpg
| caption            = Kare in 2019
| alt                = Susan Kare, a woman in a floral print shirt and navy jacket, with long brown hair, looking away from the camera, in front of a pink background
| image_size         =
| birth_name         =
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1954|2|5}}
| birth_place        = [[Ithaca, New York]], U.S.
| death_date         =
| death_place        =
| education          = [[Mount Holyoke College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]]) <br>[[New York University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
| known_for          = Contemporary American design
| occupation         = Graphic designer
| notable_works      = GUI design language and product launch of the [[Macintosh]]
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Jay Tannenbaum||2011|reason=divorced}}
}}
| children           = 3
| relatives          = [[Jordin Kare]] (brother)
| website            = {{URL|kare.com}}
}}
[[File:Happy Mac.svg|thumb|''Happy Mac'' icon (late 1980s)<ref name="How Susan" /><ref name="MICG-2022" />]]
'''Susan Kare''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɛər}} {{respell|KAIR}}; born February 5, 1954) is an American artist and graphic designer, who contributed interface elements and typefaces for the first Apple Macintosh personal computer from 1983 to 1986.<ref name="Design Biography">{{cite web | title=Design Biography | publisher=Susan Kare | first=Susan | last=Kare | url=http://kare.com/design_bio.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222102629/http://kare.com/design_bio.html | access-date=May 8, 2020 | archive-date=December 22, 2007 }}</ref> She was employee #10 and creative director at NeXT, the company formed by Steve Jobs after he left Apple in 1985. She has worked as a design consultant to Microsoft, IBM, Sony Pictures, Facebook, and Pinterest. {{asof|2023}}, Kare is employed at Niantic Labs.<ref name="sjm">{{cite web |url=http://www.kare.com/articles/sjmerc.html |title=The mother of the Mac trash can |access-date=August 15, 2007 |first=Ron |last=Wolf |work=[[San Jose Mercury News]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701120743/http://www.kare.com/articles/sjmerc.html |archive-date=July 1, 2007}}</ref> As a pioneer of [[pixel art]] and of the [[History of the graphical user interface|graphical computer interface]], she has been celebrated as one of the most significant designers of modern technology.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McLaughlin |first=Aimée |date=2018-02-05 |title=The most influential female designers of the last century |url=https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/5-11-february-2018/the-most-influential-female-designers-of-the-last-century/ |access-date=2023-02-19 |website=Design Week |language=en-UK}}</ref><ref name="MICG-2022" />

==Early life and education==
Kare was born in [[Ithaca, New York]]. Her father was a professor at the [[University of Pennsylvania]] and director of the [[Monell Chemical Senses Center]], a research facility for the senses of taste and smell.<ref name="Regional">{{cite web | title=Susan Kare, Regional Rail and the original Macintosh fonts | date=January 14, 2011 | work=Technically | url=https://technical.ly/philly/2011/01/14/susan-kare-regional-rail-and-the-original-macintosh-fonts/ | first=Brian James | last=Kirk| access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref> Her mother taught her [[counted-thread embroidery]]<ref name="How Susan">{{cite magazine | magazine=Smithsonian Magazine | title=How Susan Kare Designed User-Friendly Icons for the First Macintosh | first=David | last=Kindy | date=October 9, 2019 | url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-susan-kare-designed-user-friendly-icons-for-first-macintosh-180973286/ | access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref> as she immersed herself in drawings, paintings, and crafts.<ref name="Iconic Iconographer Priceonomics"/> Her brother was aerospace engineer [[Jordin Kare]].<ref name="hom_su">{{cite web |author=Alex Soojung-Kim Pang |date=February 19, 2001 |title=Interview with Susan Kare |url=https://web.stanford.edu/dept/SUL/library/mac/primary/interviews/kare/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311195002/http://library.stanford.edu/mac/primary/interviews/kare/index.html |archive-date=March 11, 2010 |access-date=August 13, 2007 |website=Making the Macintosh: Technology and Culture in Silicon Valley |series= |publisher=[[Stanford University]]}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.monell.org/Newsletters/Monell_Fall03.pdf |title=The Monell Connection, Winter 2003 |access-date=August 13, 2007 |year=2003 |publisher=[[Monell Chemical Senses Center]] |page=9 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407124004/http://www.monell.org/Newsletters/Monell_Fall03.pdf |archive-date=April 7, 2008}}</ref> She graduated from [[Harriton High School]] in 1971. She graduated ''[[Latin honors|summa cum laude]]'' with a B.A. in art from [[Mount Holyoke College]] in 1975, with an undergraduate honors thesis on mathematics{{Citation needed|reason=I could not confirm this by doing a duckduckgo search, nor by searching my university library's catalog|date=June 2025}}. She received an M.A. and a Ph.D. in fine arts from [[New York University]] in 1978 with a doctoral dissertation on "the use of caricature in selected sculptures of [[Honoré Daumier]] and [[Claes Oldenburg]]". Her goal was "to be either a fine artist or teacher".<ref name="hom_su"/><ref name="I.D. Forty"/>

==Career==
===Early===
Susan Kare's career has always focused on fine art.<ref name="Kare AIGA"/> For several summers during high school she interned at the [[Franklin Institute]] for designer Harry Loucks, who introduced her to [[typography]] and graphic design while she did [[phototypesetting]] with "strips of type for labels in a dark room on a PhotoTypositor".<ref name="2019 NDA"/><ref name="Designboom">{{Cite web|url=https://www.designboom.com/design/interview-with-graphic-designer-susan-kare-10-21-2014/|title=interview with graphic designer susan kare|date=October 21, 2014|website=designboom {{!}} architecture & design magazine|access-date=March 16, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Kare AIGA">{{cite web | title=Susan Kare | date=September 17, 2018 | first=Zachary | last=Crockett | url=https://www.aiga.org/medalist-susan-kare | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424230444/https://www.aiga.org/medalist-susan-kare| archive-date=April 24, 2019|access-date=May 6, 2020}}</ref> Because she did not attend an artist training school, she built her experience and portfolio by taking many pro-bono graphics jobs such as posters and brochure design in college, holiday cards, and invitations.<ref name="Designboom"/><ref name="2019 NDA"/> After her Ph.D., she moved to San Francisco to work at the [[Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco]] (FAMSF),<ref name="hom_su" /><ref name="Tobin">{{Cite journal|last=Tobin|first=Janet|date=Summer 2001|title=Designer Susan Kare '75 Gives Pixels Personality|url=https://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/comm/vista/0106/kare.shtml|journal=Vista|publisher=[[Mount Holyoke College]]|volume=6|issue=1|access-date=April 20, 2018|archive-date=January 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122020209/https://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/comm/vista/0106/kare.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref> as sculptor<ref name="Iconic Designer">{{cite web | title=Susan Kare, Iconic Designer | date=May 4, 2018 | first=Eric S. | last=Hintz | publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] | url=https://invention.si.edu/susan-kare-iconic-designer | access-date=May 6, 2020}}</ref> and occasional curator.<ref name="Macintosh Smile"/> She later reflected that her "ideal life would be to make art full-time but that sculpture was too solitary".<ref name="hom_su"/>

===Apple===
[[File:Chicago typeface spec.svg|thumb|alt=A display of the Chicago typeface showing various letters and numbers in a pixelated, bold font style|[[Chicago (typeface)|Chicago typeface]] by Kare (1984)<ref name="MICG-2022" />]]
In 1982, Kare was welding a life-sized razorback hog sculpture commissioned by an Arkansas museum when she received a phone call from high school friend [[Andy Hertzfeld]]. In exchange for an [[Apple II]] computer, he solicited her to hand-draw a few icons and font elements to inspire the upcoming [[Macintosh 128K|Macintosh]] computer.<ref name="hom_su"/><ref name="Kare Engadget">{{cite web | title=Susan Kare, the brains behind the Mac's famous icons and fonts | first=Yoni | last=Heisler | date=April 4, 2014 | work=[[Engadget]] | url=https://www.engadget.com/2014-04-04-susan-kare-the-brains-behind-the-macs-famous-icons-and-fonts.html | access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref> However, she had no experience in computer graphics and "didn't know the first thing about designing a typeface" or [[pixel art]]<ref name="Iconic Designer"/> so she drew heavily upon her fine art experience in [[mosaic]]s, [[needlepoint]], and [[pointillism]].<ref name="Kare AIGA"/><ref name="How Susan"/> He suggested that she get a {{US$|2.50}} grid notebook<ref name="How Susan"/><ref name="Celebrating"/> of the smallest graph paper she could find at the University Art store in Palo Alto<ref name="The Sketchbook">{{cite web | title=The Sketchbook of Susan Kare, the Artist Who Gave Computing a Human Face | first=Steve | last=Silberman | date=November 22, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628124925/https://blogs.plos.org/neurotribes/2011/11/22/the-sketchbook-of-susan-kare-the-artist-who-gave-computing-a-human-face/ | url=https://blogs.plos.org/neurotribes/2011/11/22/the-sketchbook-of-susan-kare-the-artist-who-gave-computing-a-human-face/ | archive-date=June 28, 2012 | work=Plos Blogs | url-status=dead | access-date=May 9, 2020}}</ref> and mock up several {{nowrap|32 × 32 pixel}} representations of his software commands and applications.<ref name="Kare AIGA"/> This includes an icon of scissors for the "[[Cut, copy, and paste|cut]]" command, a finger for "paste", and a paintbrush for [[MacPaint]].<ref name="Macintosh Smile"/><ref name="Iconic Designer"/> Compelled to actually join the team for a fixed-length part-time job,<ref name="hom_su"/> she interviewed "totally green" but undaunted, bringing a variety of typography books from the [[Palo Alto, California|Palo Alto]] public library to show her interest<ref name="Iconic Designer"/> alongside her well-prepared notebook.<ref name="Kare AIGA"/><ref name="Mac OS Icon sketchbook">{{cite web | title=Mac OS Icon sketchbook | publisher=MoMA | date=2020 | first=Susan | last=Kare | url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/188382?artist_id=38483&locale=en&page=1&sov_referrer=artist | access-date=May 6, 2020}}</ref> She "aced" the interview<ref name="Iconic Designer"/><ref name="sjm" /><ref name="Tobin" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://technology.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,4688619-110837,00.html |title=Technology: Talk Time |access-date=August 15, 2007 |last=Mackintosh |first=Hamish |date=June 12, 2003 |work=[[Guardian Unlimited]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120525194235/http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2003/jun/12/interviews.onlinesupplement/print |archive-date=May 25, 2012}}</ref> and was hired in January 1983 with Badge #3978.<ref name="Iconic Designer"/><ref name="lemmons198402">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1984-02/1984_02_BYTE_09-02_Benchmarks#page/n59/mode/2up | title=An Interview: The Macintosh Design Team | work=BYTE | date=February 1984 | access-date=October 22, 2013 | last=Lemmons | first=Phil | pages=58 | type=interview}}</ref> Her business cards read "Macintosh Artist".<ref name="Iconic Designer"/>

As a computer novice in the target market of the Macintosh, she easily grasped the [[Apple FileWare|Twiggy]]-based Macintosh prototype which "felt like a magical leap forward" for art design.<ref name="How Susan"/> She preferred it over the Apple II<ref name="hom_su"/> and was amazed and excited by the computer screen's design capability to undo, redo, and iterate an icon or letterform while seeing it simultaneously at enlarged and 100% target sizes.<ref name="How Susan"/> She immediately embraced [[Bill Atkinson]]'s existing rudimentary graphics software tools and applications, to toggle pixels on and off and convert the resulting images to [[hexadecimal]] code for keyboard input.<ref name="hom_su"/> More advanced graphical tools were written for her by Hertzfeld,<ref name="Iconic Designer"/> and she embellished the flagship application [[MacPaint]]'s user interface while the programmers matured it to become her primary tool.<ref name="hom_su"/> She contributed to the Macintosh identity and devised ways to make the machine humanized, intuitively usable, relatable, and inviting.<ref name="Kare AIGA"/>

Her whimsical personality was essential to the infectiously budding culture and lore of the early Macintosh team, and infused into the product. She stunned the staff of accomplished pixel artists and engineers with her unexpectedly personable renditions of their portraits in the Mac's standard {{nowrap|32 × 32}} pixel monochrome resolution for icons.<ref name="Steve Icon">{{cite web | title=Steve Icon | date=February 1983 | publisher=Folklore.org | first=Andy | last=Hertzfeld | url=https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Steve,_Icon.txt | access-date=May 6, 2020}}</ref> She and [[Steve Capps]] sewed a [[Jolly Roger]] pirate flag with a rainbow colored Apple logo eyepatch, as the christening brand of the new Macintosh headquarters at Bandley 3, embracing [[Steve Jobs]]' ethos "it's better to be a pirate than to join the Navy".<ref name="Pirate Flag">{{cite web | title=Pirate Flag | date=August 1983 | first=Andy | last=Hertzfeld | publisher=Folklore | url=https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Pirate_Flag.txt | access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref><ref name="hom_su"/><ref name="Iconic Iconographer Priceonomics"/> Working as the only graphic designer in a diverse and articulate team of programmers and with Hertzfeld as the primary requester, she spent hours or days at a time developing a rich selection of graphics for the consensus-driven feedback loop for each GUI element. Jobs personally approved each of her main desktop icons.<ref name="hom_su"/> Kare participated heavily in the prerelease marketing campaign for the Macintosh in 1983 by posing for magazine photo shoots, appearing in television advertisements, and demonstrating the Mac on television talk shows.<ref name="Iconic Designer"/>

In only one year, she designed the core visual design language of the original Macintosh which launched in January 1984. This includes original marketing material and many [[typeface]]s and icons, some of which became patented.<ref name="How Susan"/> As a whole platform of their own, these designs comprise the first visual language for the identity of the Macintosh and for Apple's pioneering of [[graphical user interface]] (GUI) computing.<ref name="Iconic Iconographer Wired">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/02/iconic-iconographer-susan-kare-explains-how-%E2%8C%98-came-to-be/|title=Iconic Designer Susan Kare Explains How ⌘ Came to Be|last=Gonzalez|first=Robbie|magazine=WIRED|access-date=April 21, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:Mac OS Bomb.svg|thumb|alt=A pixelated bomb icon in black and white showing a round bomb with a lit fuse|Kare's [[Bomb (icon)|system error bomb icon]] for the original Macintosh OS ({{circa|1984}})<ref>{{Cite web |title=Susan Kare's early Mac icons gave computers a personality (photos) |url=https://www.cnet.com/pictures/susan-kares-early-mac-icons-gave-computers-a-personality-photos/ |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=CNET |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Kare Engadget" /><ref name="MICG-2022" />]]
She refined Apple's existing iconography and [[Desktop environment|desktop metaphors]] imported from the Macintosh's predecessor, the [[Apple Lisa|Lisa]],<ref name="Iconic Designer"/> such as the [[Trash (computing)|trash can]], [[Dog ears|dog-eared]] paper icon, and [[Cursor (user interface)#I-beam pointer|I-beam cursor]]. She devised the practice of associating unique document icons with their creator applications.<ref name="hom_su"/> The team's GUI elements such as the Lasso, the Grabber, and the Paint Bucket became universal staples of computing. Her original cult classic icons include Clarus the [[Dogcow]] seen in the print dialog box, the [[Happy Mac]] icon of the smiling computer that welcomes users at system startup, and the [[Command key]] symbol on Apple keyboards.<ref name="hom_su" /><ref name="Tobin" /><ref name="Kare AIGA"/> Aligned with Steve Jobs's passion for calligraphy,<ref name="The Sketchbook"/> she designed the world's first proportionally spaced digital font family<ref name="Kare AIGA"/> including [[Chicago (typeface)|Chicago]] and [[Geneva (typeface)|Geneva]], and the [[Monospaced font|monospace]]d [[Monaco (typeface)|Monaco]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Folklore.org: World Class Cities |url=https://www.folklore.org/World_Class_Cities.html |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=www.folklore.org}}</ref> Chicago is her first font, made especially for systemwide use in menus and dialog; it has a bold vertical look initially named Elefont,<ref name="How Susan"/> in which Kare implemented Jobs's idea of variable spacing, where each character can have the unique pixel width that it needs, to differentiate the computer from a monospaced typewriter.<ref name="Celebrating"/> [[Fonts on Macintosh|Cairo]] is a set of icons in font form, for combining graphics directly into text, akin to "proto-emojis".<ref name="Iconic Iconographer Priceonomics"/>

She became a Creative Director in Apple Creative Services working for the department director, Tom Suiter, "at a time when it seemed as if the main Mac development was over".<ref name="A Question">{{cite interview | interviewer=Adam Kallish | first=Tom | last=Suiter | title=A Question of Identity : An Interview with Tom Suiter | url=https://blog.tropesites.com/a-question-of-identity-an-interview-with-tom-suiter | access-date=May 6, 2020}}</ref>

''[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine]]'' summarizes her groundbreaking Macintosh work: "It was an intense time with untold pressure to perform on a new product launch that demanded countless hours of work, rework and work again to get everything right." Kare recalled the privilege of being directly taught by engineers how early software is assembled:<ref name="I.D. Forty"/> "I loved working on that project—always felt so lucky for the opportunity to be a nontechnical person in a software group. I was awed by being able to collaborate with such creative, capable and dedicated engineers. My 'work/life balance' has improved since {{nowrap|then. : n )}}"<ref name="How Susan"/>

===After Apple===
[[File:Sad mac.png|thumb|''Sad Mac'' error icon (early 1980s)<ref name="MICG-2022" />]]
In 1986,<ref name="Design Biography"/> Kare followed [[Steve Jobs]] in leaving Apple to launch [[NeXT|NeXT, Inc.]] as its Creative Director and 10th employee.<ref name="How Susan"/><ref name="MICG-2022">{{Cite web |title=Icônes by Susan Kare {{!}} MICG |url=https://www.imprimerie.lyon.fr/en/susan-kare |access-date=6 August 2025 |website=[[Musée de l'Imprimerie|Musée de l'Imprimerie et de la Communication Graphique]]}}</ref> She introduced Jobs to her design hero [[Paul Rand]] and hired him to design NeXT's logo and brand identity, admiring his table-pounding exactitude and confidence.<ref name="hom_su"/> She created and re-created slideshows to Jobs's exacting last-minute requirements.<ref name="Iconic Iconographer Priceonomics"/>

She realized that she wanted "to be back doing bitmaps"<ref name="hom_su"/> so she left NeXT to become an independent designer with a client base including graphical computing giants [[Microsoft]], [[IBM]], [[Sony Pictures]], [[Motorola]], [[General Magic]], and [[Intel]].<ref name="How Susan"/><ref name="Design Biography"/><ref name="Tobin" /> Her projects for Microsoft include the card deck for [[Windows 3.0]]'s [[Microsoft Solitaire|solitaire]] game,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://thisisstory.com/susan-kare-discusses-windows-3-solitaire-iconography-nostalgia/ | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002141443/https://thisisstory.com/susan-kare-discusses-windows-3-solitaire-iconography-nostalgia/ | archive-date=October 2, 2016 | title=In Conversation With Susan Kare: On Windows 3.0 Solitaire, Iconography, and Nostalgia – STORY|date=September 27, 2016|work=STORY|access-date=January 2, 2022}}</ref><ref name="nyt96">{{cite web|url=http://www.kare.com/articles/nytimes.html|title=The Designer Who Made the Mac Smile|last=Zuckerman|first=Laurence|date=August 26, 1996|work=[[The New York Times]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070812002119/http://www.kare.com/articles/nytimes.html|archive-date=August 12, 2007|url-status=dead|access-date=August 15, 2007}}</ref> which taught early computer users to use a mouse to drag and drop objects on a screen. In 1987, she designed a "baroque" wallpaper,<ref name="I.D. Forty"/> numerous other icons, and design elements for Windows 3.0,<ref name="sjm" /> using [[Isometric video game graphics|isometric 3D]] and 16 [[dither]]ed colors.<ref name="Design Biography"/> Many of her icons, such as those for [[Windows Notepad|Notepad]] and various [[Control Panel (Windows)|Control Panels]], remained essentially unchanged by Microsoft until [[Windows XP]]. For IBM, she produced pinstriped isometric bitmap icons and design elements for [[IBM OS/2|OS/2]].<ref name="nyt96" /><ref name="I.D. Forty">{{cite web |url=http://www.kare.com/articles/Images/ID_Magazine.jpg |title=I.D. Forty/Susan Kare |first=Craig |last=Bromberg |magazine=I.D. Magazine |date=January 1997 |access-date=August 15, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103164205/http://www.kare.com/articles/Images/ID_Magazine.jpg |archive-date=January 3, 2013}}</ref> For General Magic, she made [[Magic Cap]]'s "impish" cartoon of dad's office desktop.<ref name="I.D. Forty"/> She was a founding partner of Susan Kare LLP in 1989.<ref name="Design Biography"/><ref name="Iconic Designer"/><ref name="Kare AIGA"/> At [[Eazel]], she rejoined many from the former Macintosh team and contributed iconography to the [[Nautilus (file manager)|Nautilus file manager]] which the company permanently donated to the public for free use.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gnome.org/projects/nautilus/about.html|title=Nautilus File Manager|website=www.gnome.org|access-date=April 20, 2018}}</ref>

In 2003, she became a member of the advisory board of Glam Media, now called [[Mode Media]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141216183421/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=25963690&privcapId=24011066&previousCapId=266017&previousTitle=DELL%20INC "Susan Kare"], Bloomberg Businessweek, December 16, 2014</ref> In 2003, she was recommended by [[Nancy Pelosi]] as one of four appointments to the [[Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee]] for designing coins for the [[United States Mint]].<ref name="Coinage">{{cite web | title=New Member Joins Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee | date=August 1, 2003 | location=Washington, DC | publisher=US Mint | url=https://www.usmint.gov/news/press-releases/20030801-new-member-joins-citizens-coinage-advisory-committee | access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref>

Between 2006 and 2010,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aiga.org/medalist-susan-kare |title=Susan Kare |publisher=[[American Institute of Graphic Arts]] |first=Zachary |last=Crockett |date=March 20, 2018}}</ref> she produced hundreds of {{nowrap|64 × 64 pixels}} icons for the virtual gifts feature of [[Facebook]].<ref name="Iconic Iconographer Priceonomics"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/buy-a-virtual-cupcake-for-breast-cancer-on-facebook/|title=Buy a virtual cupcake for breast cancer, on Facebook|work=CNET|access-date=January 17, 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref name="2019 NDA"/> Initially, profits from gift sales were donated to the [[Susan G. Komen for the Cure]] foundation until [[Valentine's Day]] 2007.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kareprints.com/big-kiss/|title=BIG KISS ON IVORY &#124; Susan Kare Prints|access-date=2018-04-22|archive-date=2018-04-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423034256/http://kareprints.com/big-kiss/|url-status=dead}}</ref> One of the gift icons, titled "Big Kiss" is featured in some versions of [[Mac OS X]] as a user account picture.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=2234372130 |title=Give gifts on Facebook! |last=Morgenstern |first=Jared |date=February 7, 2007 |access-date=August 15, 2007}}</ref>

In 2007, she designed the identity, icons, and website for [[Chumby Industries, Inc.]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwPu8I6D5y4C&q=chumby+susan+kare&pg=PA187 |title=Graphic Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design |author1=Bryony Gomez Palacio |author2=Armin Vit |pages=187 |date=2011|publisher=Rockport Publishers |isbn=978-1-59253-742-6 }}</ref> as well as the interface for its Internet-enabled alarm clock.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://gizmodo.com/359388/hands-on-chumby-wi-fi-widget-beanbag-cuddly-in-more-ways-than-one/amp |title=Hands On chumby Wi-Fi Widget Beanbag (Cuddly in More Ways Than One) |publisher=[[Gizmodo]] |first=Matt |last=Buchanan |date=February 21, 2008}}</ref>

Since 2008,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search.momastore.org/?q=susan+kare&Submit.x=0&Submit.y=0&promoCode= |title=search Susan Kare |website=MoMAstore.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917043308/http://search.momastore.org/?q=susan+kare&Submit.x=0&Submit.y=0&promoCode= |archive-date=September 17, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) store in [[New York City]] has carried stationery and notebooks featuring her designs. In 2015, MoMA acquired her notebooks of sketches for the original Macintosh user interface.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.i-programmer.info/news/200-art/8362-susan-kare-archive-at-moma.html |title=Susan Kare Archive at MOMA |publisher=i-programmer.info |last=Conrad |first=David |date=March 8, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Mac OS Icon sketchbook" />

In August 2012, she was called as an [[expert witness]] by Apple in the patent-infringement trial ''[[Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co.]]''.<ref name="BusinessWeek">{{cite web |url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-08-07/former-apple-designer-kare-testifies-at-samsung-patent-trial |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909213255/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-08-07/former-apple-designer-kare-testifies-at-samsung-patent-trial |archive-date=September 9, 2014 |title=Former Apple Designer Kare Testifies at Samsung Patent Trial |last=Rosenblatt |first=Joel |date=August 7, 2012 |work=[[Businessweek]] |publisher=[[Bloomberg LP]] |access-date=February 7, 2016}}</ref>

In 2015, Kare was hired by [[Pinterest]] as a product design lead<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/7/31/9080511/susan-kare-pinterest-hires-as-product-design-lead|title=Pinterest hires early Apple designer Susan Kare|work=The Verge|access-date=March 10, 2018}}</ref> as her first corporate employment in three decades.<ref name="Iconic Designer"/> Working with design manager Bob Baxley, the former design manager of the original [[Apple Online Store]], she compared the diverse and design-driven corporate cultures of Pinterest and early 1980s Apple.<ref name="Pinterest Apple">{{cite web | title=Q&A: Susan Kare On Why Pinterest Feels Like Apple In The '80s | date=August 19, 2015 | first=John | last=Brownlee | work=Fast Company | publisher=[[Fast Company]] | url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3050038/qa-susan-kare-on-why-pinterest-feels-like-apple-in-the-80s | access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref> In February 2021, Kare became Design Architect at [[Niantic Labs]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Susan Kare's LinkedIn Profile |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-kare-92058951/ |url-status= |website=LinkedIn}}</ref> {{As of|2022}}, she concurrently heads a digital design practice in San Francisco and sells limited-edition, signed fine-art prints.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kare.com/about/|title=About – Susan Kare|website=kare.com|language=en-US|access-date=April 20, 2018}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

===Design philosophy===
Kare's design principles are meaning, memorability, and clarity.<ref name="2019 NDA"/> She echoes the advice of [[Paul Rand]], "Don't try to be original, just try to be good".<ref name="2019 NDA"/><ref name="Designboom"/> She focuses on simplicity in creating visual metaphors for computer commands.<ref name="Iconic Designer"/> Designing for the fullest range of users from novice to expert, she believes that the most meaningful icons are instantly easy to both understand and remember.<ref name="Iconic Iconographer Priceonomics"/><ref name="Kare AIGA"/> She said "an icon is successful if you could tell someone what it is once and they don't forget it."<ref name="nyt96"/> She said "good icons should function somewhat like traffic signs{{mdash}}simple symbols with few extraneous details, which makes them more universal"<ref name="This is how"/> and notes that there is no impetus to continuously modernize a [[stop sign]].<ref name="Pixel Perfect">{{cite magazine | first=Armin | last=Vit | title=Pixel Perfect | magazine=How Magazine | date=February 2004 | pages=76–81}}</ref> Using the same philosophy through the pixel art era and beyond, she has placed a "premium on context and metaphor", hunting the streets of San Francisco for inspiration from "catchy symbols and shapes".<ref name="Kare AIGA"/> When stuck on a design, she resourced inspiration from the books ''Kanji Pictograms'' for its table of the real-world origins of Japanese characters, and ''Symbol Sourcebook'',<ref name="Symbol Sourcebook">{{cite book |title=Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols |last=Dreyfuss |first=Henry |date=1984 |orig-date=First published 1972 |publisher=Van Nostrand Reinhold |location=New York |isbn=978-0-471-28872-5 |oclc=40650573}}</ref> especially its reference for [[Hobo#Hobo signs and graffiti|hobo graffiti]].<ref name="hom_su" />

{{quotation|I like to think that good icons are instantly recognizable{{mdash}}even if someone's never seen it, you can ask them what it does, and they get it{{mdash}}or it's so easy to remember that if someone tells you what it is once, it's easy to remember when you look at it. I think that's a lot to ask of a symbol, that if you tested it everyone would all have the same one-word response as its function. But I think I had then, and still have, more of a common sense than a scientific approach to that kind of thing.<ref name="hom_su" /> It's solving the little puzzle of making an image fit a metaphor. It's fantastic when an icon becomes meaningful shorthand, when you can create a pothole-free environment for users. After all, who wouldn't rather see an icon of a light switched on instead of the words 'lights on'?"|source=Susan Kare<ref name="I.D. Forty"/>}}

Her primary objective with the Macintosh was to humanize it, make it seem less like a machine, and give it "a smile".<ref name="Kare AIGA"/> She intended to bring "an artist's sensibility to a world that had been the exclusive domain of engineers and programmers" and "hoped to help counter the stereotypical image of computers as cold and intimidating".<ref name="Iconic Designer"/> Her Macintosh icons were inspired by many sources such as [[art history]], wacky gadgets, pirate lore, Japanese [[logogram]]s, and forgotten [[hieroglyphics]].<ref name="hom_su" /><ref name="Kare AIGA"/> On the Mac keyboard, her concept for the command symbol was taken from the [[Looped square|Saint Hannes cross]], which is a symbol for a place of cultural interest used by Scandinavians of the 1960s such as at Swedish campgrounds.<ref name="Iconic Iconographer Priceonomics">{{Cite web|url=http://priceonomics.com/the-woman-behind-apples-first-icons/|title=The Woman Behind Apple's First Icons|website=Priceonomics|date=3 April 2014 |language=en|access-date=March 16, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Kare Explains">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/02/iconic-iconographer-susan-kare-explains-how-%E2%8C%98-came-to-be/|title=Iconic Designer Susan Kare Explains How ⌘ Came to Be|last=Gonzalez|first=Robbie|date=February 4, 2016|magazine=Wired|access-date=March 16, 2019|language=en-US|issn=1059-1028}}</ref><ref name="Kare AIGA"/>

She thrived in the problem-solving approach to severe technological constraints of the 1980s,<ref name="hom_su"/> drawing heavily upon her fine art experience in [[mosaic]]s, [[needlepoint]], and [[pointillism]].<ref name="Kare AIGA"/><ref name="How Susan"/> Considering {{nowrap|32 × 32 pixels}} to be generous for icons, this improvised mastery of "a peculiar sort of minimal pointillism"<ref name="Iconic Designer"/> made her an early pioneer of [[pixel art]]. For example, her original fonts are constrained to {{nowrap|9 × 7 pixels}} per character, yet she solved the problem of the typical jagged look of existing monospaced computer typefaces by using only horizontal, vertical, or 45-degree lines.<ref name="Kare AIGA"/><ref name="How Susan"/> Veteran designers at Apple had previously thought it impossible to convey personality and accuracy in a human portrait of only {{nowrap|32 × 32 pixels}} until Kare did it.<ref name="Steve Icon"/>

Since the late 1980s, she uses [[Adobe Photoshop]] and [[Adobe Illustrator]]<ref name="This is how">{{Cite web|url=https://lifehacker.com/im-susan-kare-graphic-designer-and-this-is-how-i-work-1646211826|title=I'm Susan Kare, Graphic Designer, and This Is How I Work|last=Orin|first=Andy|website=Lifehacker|date=15 October 2014 |language=en-US|access-date=March 16, 2019}}</ref> using a grid-like template to simulate the constraints of the target device and user experience.<ref name="Kare AIGA"/> She has said that she would still prefer {{nowrap|16 × 16 pixel}} monochrome pixel art.<ref name="hom_su"/>

===Reception===
The [[Smithsonian Institution]] called her design language "simple, elegant, and whimsical".<ref name="Iconic Designer"/> In 2015, the [[Museum of Modern Art]] exhibited the first physical representation of her iconography, including her original Grid sketchbook,<ref name="Mac OS Icon sketchbook"/> saying "If the Mac turned out to be such a revolutionary object––a pet instead of a home appliance, a spark for the imagination instead of a mere work tool––it is thanks to Susan's fonts and icons, which gave it voice, personality, style, and even a sense of humor. Cherry bomb, anyone?"<ref name="Macintosh Smile">{{cite magazine | magazine=[[The New Yorker]] | url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-woman-who-gave-the-macintosh-a-smile | title=The Woman Who Gave the Macintosh a Smile | date=April 19, 2018 | first=Alexandra | last=Lange | access-date=May 6, 2020}}</ref> They called her "a pioneering and influential computer iconographer [whose icon designs] communicate their function immediately and memorably, with wit and style."<ref name="WoI"/> The [[American Institute of Graphic Arts]] characterized her style as a "whimsical charm and an independent streak" with an "artistic sleight of hand" and awarded her with its medal in April 2018.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dormehl |first=Luke |title=Mac icon designer Susan Kare honored with award |publisher=CultofMac.com |date=April 20, 2018 |url=https://www.cultofmac.com/542963/mac-icon-designer-susan-kare-honored-with-award/ |access-date=April 21, 2018 }}</ref> In October 2019, Kare was awarded the [[National Design Award]] for Lifetime Achievement by [[Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum]].<ref name="2019 NDA">{{cite web | title=NDA 20 YRS Q&A WITH SUSAN KARE | first=Hannah Maureen | last=Holden | date=September 17, 2019 | url=https://www.cooperhewitt.org/2019/09/17/nda-20-yrs-qa-with-susan-kare/ | access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref> On [[International Women's Day]] of 2018, ''[[Medium (website)|Medium]]'' acknowledged Kare as a technologist who helped shape the modern world alongside programmer [[Ada Lovelace]], computer scientist [[Grace Hopper]], and astronaut [[Mae Jemison]].<ref name="Celebrating">{{cite web | title=Celebrating Women in Tech: Susan Kare, Designer Of Apple's Most Iconic Icons | date=March 8, 2018 | author=Appsee | url=https://medium.com/@Appseecom/celebrating-women-in-tech-susan-kare-designer-of-apples-most-iconic-icons-5ce4f5988ba2 | access-date=May 6, 2020 | work=Medium}}</ref>

In 1997, [[I.D. (magazine)|''I.D.'' magazine]] launched its I.D. Forty list of influential designers including Kare and Steve Jobs.<ref name="I.D. Forty"/> In October 2001, she received the [[Chrysler Design Award]].<ref name="WoI">{{cite web | title=Women of Interest—Susan Kare | date=June 29, 2018 | first=Barb | last=Godin | url=https://www.voicemagazine.org/2018/06/29/women-of-interest-susan-kare/ | work=The Voice | access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref>

===Legacy===
Susan Kare is considered a pioneer of [[pixel art]] and of the [[graphical user interface]],<ref name="Acid">{{cite web | title=Designers on acid: the tripping Californians who paved the way to our touchscreen world | date=May 11, 2017 | first=Oliver | last=Wainwright | url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/may/11/design-museum-california-designing-freedom-tech-design | work=[[The Guardian]] | access-date=May 6, 2020}}</ref> having spent three decades of her career "at the apex of human-machine interaction".<ref name="Kare AIGA"/>

In co-creating the original [[Macintosh]] computer and documentation, she drove the visual language for Apple's pioneering graphical computing. Her most recognizable and enduring works at Apple include the world's first proportionally spaced digital font family of the [[Chicago (typeface)|Chicago]], [[Geneva (typeface)|Geneva]], and [[Monaco (typeface)|Monaco]] typefaces, and countless icons and interface components such as the Lasso, the Grabber, and the Paint Bucket.<ref name="Kare AIGA"/><ref name="WoI"/> Chicago is the most prominent user-interface typeface seen in [[classic Mac OS]] interfaces from [[System 1]] in 1984 to [[Mac OS 9]] in 1999, and in the first four generations of the [[iPod]] interface. This cumulative work was key in making the Macintosh one of the most successful and foundational computing platforms of all time. Descendants of her groundbreaking 1980s work at Apple are universally seen throughout computing and in print.<ref name="Iconic Designer"/><ref name="Celebrating"/>

For decades, she seeded this visual language practice throughout the industry via industry giants such as [[Microsoft Windows]], [[IBM OS/2]], [[Facebook]], and [[Pinterest]].<ref name="Kare AIGA"/>

Her icon portfolio has been featured as physical prints in the [[National Museum of American History]], the [[Museum of Modern Art]] (MoMA), the [[San Francisco Museum of Modern Art]], and the [[New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science]]. In 2025, MoMA's [[Paola Antonelli]] included over a dozen of Kare's icons (some displayed as original drawings on graph paper) alongside the work of [[Shigetaka Kurita]] and [[Milton Glaser|Milton Glazer]] in [[Pirouette: Turning Points in Design|''Pirouette:'' ''Turning Points in Design'']]'','' an exhibition featuring "widely recognized design icons [...] highlighting pivotal moments in design history."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heller |first=Steven |date=2025-03-10 |title=The Daily Heller: MoMA on Quintessential Design |url=https://www.printmag.com/daily-heller/the-daily-heller-moma-on-quintessential-design/ |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=PRINT Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Susan Kare {{!}} MoMA |url=https://www.moma.org/artists/38483-susan-kare |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=The Museum of Modern Art |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-23 |title=NASA Worm as Art, Museum of Modern Art Opens Exhibition Featuring NASA Worm |url=https://www.nasa.gov/get-involved/art-program/museum-of-modern-art-exhibits-nasa-worm/ |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=[[NASA]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>[https://press.moma.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/MoMA_Pirouette-Viewing-Checklist_Final.pdf Pirouette: Turning Points in Design]</ref>

Kare's work has a [[cult following]], and large print versions of her digital portfolio are sold privately and at MoMA.<ref name="Kare AIGA" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Diaz |first=Jesus |date=2025-02-24 |title=I just fell in love with Susan Kare's new icons |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/91282585/susan-kare-new-icons-asprey |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250401030628/https://www.fastcompany.com/91282585/susan-kare-new-icons-asprey |archive-date=2025-04-01 |access-date=2025-04-17 |work=Fast Company |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Personal life==
She was married to Jay Tannenbaum. Their marriage was dissolved in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Susan Kare vs Jay Tannenbaum |url=https://trellis.law/case/FDI10773470/SUSAN-KARE-VS-JAY-TANNENBAUM |website=Trellis Legal Intelligence |access-date=28 March 2022}}</ref> She has three sons with him.<ref>[https://wallma.wordpress.com/culture-site/susan-kare-biography/ Susan Kare, Biography] wallma.wordpress.com</ref> Her brother was aerospace engineer [[Jordin Kare]].<ref name="hom_su"/>

==See also==
* [[List of Apple typefaces]]
* [[Typography of Apple Inc.]]
* [[:Category:Typefaces designed by Susan Kare]]
{{Portal bar|1980s|1990s|Biography}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite news | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1995/01/25/BU30113.DTL | title=Art That Clicks: Icon designer strives for simplicity | first=Michelle | last=Quinn | date=January 25, 1995 | newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] }}
* {{cite news | url=http://www.computerarts.co.uk/features/design-icon-mac-icons | title=Design Icon: The Mac Icons | first=Mark | last=Penfold | magazine=Computer Arts Magazine | date=September 30, 2005 }}

==External links==
{{Commonscat}}
* {{official website}}
* {{MoMA artist|38483}}
* [https://www.moma.org/audio/playlist/344/3569 ''Susan Kare. Sketches for Graphic User Interface Icons. 1982–83''], audio recording of Kare from ''[[Pirouette: Turning Points in Design]]'', Museum of Modern Art
* ''{{YouTube |id=4lx9Wtd2P48 |Notes on Icons and Design with Susan Kare}}''
* ''{{YouTube |id=1kcxcVr3Css |Twiddling Bits with Susan Kare — First of Kind}}''
* ''[https://www.imprimerie.lyon.fr/sites/micg/files/2022-05/livret_anglais_print.pdf Icons by Susan Kare]'', exhibition catalogue from ''Icônes by Susan Kare'' exhibition at the [[Musée de l'Imprimerie|MICG]] in Lyon, France
* [http://www.myfonts.com/person/kare/susan Fonts created by Kare]{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515203444/http://www.myfonts.com/person/kare/susan/ |date=2008-05-15 }}

{{Original Macintosh Design Team}}
{{Apple celeb}}
{{NeXT Computer}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kare, Susan}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:AIGA medalists]]
[[Category:American digital artists]]
[[Category:American graphic designers]]
[[Category:American women digital artists]]
[[Category:American women graphic designers]]
[[Category:Apple Inc. employees]]
[[Category:Artists from Ithaca, New York]]
[[Category:Artists from San Francisco]]
[[Category:Facebook employees]]
[[Category:Harriton High School alumni]]
[[Category:Interface designers]]
[[Category:Mount Holyoke College alumni]]
[[Category:NeXT people]]
[[Category:OS/2 people]]
[[Category:Pinterest people]]
[[Category:Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development alumni]]
[[Category:Typefaces designed by Susan Kare| ]]

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