The boldest font, Chicago, was used as the Macintosh system font from 1984–1997.ĭesigning the icons proved to be more of a challenge. The Macintosh shipped with an original, custom-designed font set, which was intended to provide a screen legibility as well as variety. I made it easy on myself by limiting the letterforms to vertical, horizontal or 45-degree lines, and the capital letters were nine pixels tall. “The boldness of the verticals inspired its original name, Elefont. “The first typeface I designed was Chicago because we needed a bold system font,” she says. Because of the limited resolution of early computer screens, Kare made sure the design was basic and easy to read while being stylish and eye-catching. She quickly learned what she needed to know and set about creating the first font family for the Macintosh system. Kare had never designed a typeface before, but she didn’t let her unfamiliarity stop her.

She was a young sculptor when she received a call from an old friend asking if she would be interested in applying for a job creating graphics and typefaces for the new personal computer Apple was planning to release in 1984. Known today as “ the woman who gave the Macintosh a smile,” Kare had little experience with computers when she first went to work for Apple in 1983. She receives the honor October 17 at the 20th Annual National Design Awards in the Arthur Ross Terrace and Garden at the museum. Patent and Trademark Office-for Apple, Facebook, IBM, Microsoft and other clients have earned her the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Her icons and graphics-many of which were patented through the U.S. They are so recognizable that they are legendary. Kare’s breakthrough designs for the Macintosh, which included the smiling computer at startup, trash can for recycling and a computer disk for saving files, are now commonplace in the digital era. I was lucky to have had a mother who enjoyed crafts.” “The process reminded me of working needlepoint, knitting patterns or mosaics. “It just so happened that I had small black and white grids to work with,” she says. Pioneering designer Susan Kare was taught by her mother how to do counted-thread embroidery, which gave her the basic knowledge she needed to create the first icons for the Apple Macintosh 35 years ago. If it wasn’t for needlepoint, the computer graphics we have come to know and love today might have looked a lot different.

Mac paintbrush bomb