Susan Kare: Designing Icons & Graphics For the Original Mac
Categories: VC, Startup, Design
Summary
Susan Kare transformed computer design by embracing severe constraints—16x16 black-and-white pixels—proving that limitations breed creativity rather than inhibit it. Her philosophy of making interfaces meaningful and memorable (learned from Paul Rand) shaped the original Mac's usability, demonstrating how non-technical founders with clear vision can lead transformative product design.
Key Takeaways
- Hire for mission alignment over credentials. Kare had no computer experience and brought typography books to her interview, yet got hired because she understood the goal: making computers accessible to anyone.
- Reframe constraints as creative fuel, not limitations. 16x16 black-and-white pixels forced elegant design decisions (horizontals, verticals, 45° angles) that became iconic and timeless across decades.
- Design for clarity over features. The Mac team deliberately avoided manual-dependency by making every icon/interface element self-explanatory and friendly, reducing cognitive load for new users.
- Preserve your early work. Kare's original notebook of bitmap graphics sketches on graph paper is now in MoMA's permanent collection—early iterations have historical and archival value.
- Collaborate across disciplines with domain experts. Kare (art major) partnered with Andy Herzfeld (systems programmer), creating synergy where art and engineering informed each other iteratively.
Related topics
Transcript Excerpt
Hello, I'm Susan Care and now for something completely different. Um, I've been an iconographer and designer of um, worked on a lot of tech projects and I want to talk about a tech startup I worked for when even though the Macintosh group was part of Apple, but I think a lot of the experiences resonate with some of the um, topics that I've heard here today. So, I've been doing this for a while and love it. Here's a few things that I designed over the years. And it's funny because this was really a north star for the Macintosh group. But when I reread it in the last couple of days, it just kind of reminded me of AI and so many things that are being developed now. And Paul Rand is a celebrated graphic designer, no longer with us, who did the UPS logo and IBM logo and so many images that have…