She is the notsoknown face behind many of the interface elements and typefaces for apple. Chicago was the star, with a certain cool approachability that would make it macintosh s default for years. Kares few years at apple set a tone for how people were able to relate to computers. And now shes turning that classic cairo typeface into something your dog. Susan kare s design of chicago for apple is among the first typefaces made for a computer operating system image. Meet susan kare, the pioneer who created the macs original icons. When it comes to the most famous icon designers of all time, susan kare is, frankly, the most iconic. That decision meant there would also need to be an alternative logo, a duty that fell to susan kare, apples resident bitmap artist at the time. Chicago, new york, geneva and the other city fonts were all designed by kare although the current truetype versions were. New york 2019, a new design unrelated to the earlier typeface of the same name. The original macintosh, released in 1984, featured a series of fonts designed by susan kare, all named after famous cities.
Apple the monospace typeface was designed as a bitmap, and later transformed into a truetype form. Sep 18, 2014 here was a typeface created explicitly for the macintosh, part of designer susan kares strategy to customize everything from the characters to the iconsthat happy computer, the wristwatch. Susan kare is now sixtyfour and she has been honoured with the prestigious aiga medal this year. Tasked with finding a symbol to represent the very abstract notion of command, kare came upon the current nowiconic pretzelshaped design, a shape used in nordic countries to indicate a. Sep 17, 2018 in the early 1980s, karethen a sculptor and techworld outsiderpivoted to a graphic designer role at apple. This list of sansserif typefaces details standard sansserif fonts used in. Designers at tech companies today, on the other hand, work with much more sophisticated displays. Throughout her career, she has adapted to the everchanging flow of technology and digital design software. Made using the fonts designed by susan kare for the original macintosh during the early 80s.
Susan kare project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. The woman who had the task of putting typography into the heart of the mac was susan kare. Kares most notable works from her time with apple are the chicago typeface. Susan kare, iconic designer lemelson center for the study of. Sketches of the early apple logo icon, courtesy of susan kare. In facts, it was originally released in 1984 for the new macintosh by susan kare, probably best known for creating the mac icons among the other things new york is part of a series of fonts all named after famous cities, together with san francisco, chicago, geneva and more. A few notable symbols lived on into later operating systems including the cursor and watch. Susan kare designed pictorial symbols that enabled nontechnical users to operate a computer, a great contrast to previous screens with command line interfaces that required knowing code. Adobe illustrator need for speed most wanted project hd bat,very simple mac os x skin pack available for. Happy mac, designed in the 1980s, is the bootup icon of apple macintosh computers with older versions of the mac operating system. Mosaic portraits of steve jobs and susan kare made out of the typefaces of the first mac.
Hoefler text 1991, jonathan hoefler, still included with every mac. Characters are distinct, and it is difficult to confuse. Susan kare s design of chicago for apple is among the first typefaces made for a computer operating system. Millions of people around the world are familiar with the artwork of susan kare, but few would be able to connect that name with apples early computer icons. Mac icon designer susan kare explains the inspiration for. In 1998, kare opened her own firm, susan kare design which she still operates until this day. But few mac users computing in the 1980s knew at the time how much of their visual experience traced back to one woman. Apple has recently released a new free font called new york. Susan kare is an artist and graphic designer who created many of the interface elements for the apple macintosh in the 1980s. Susan kares icons and fonts for the original macintosh were revolutionary.
Susan kares original apple mac font chicago via susan kare, regional rail and the original macintosh fonts technical. At that time, digital typefaces were monospaced, which means that a narrow i and a wide m occupied the same bitmap space, that is, the same amount of horizontal space, as in a write machine. Susan kare designed the distinctive icons, typefaces, and other graphic elements that gave the apple macintosh its characteristicand widely. Mac icon designer susan kare explains the inspiration for her. She was actually one of the original employees at next, the company steve jobs founded after he. She was the person behind the mac s cairo typeface and followed steve jobs to apple from next. Besides her leading work in icon design, kare was also a trailblazer for creating the userinterface digital typefaces for apple. Kare was also charged with designing original fonts for the mac. Original macintosh icons designer susan kare to receive. That is often when the phone rings at susan kare s san francisco studio. Chicago, new york, geneva and the other city fonts were all designed by kare although the current truetype versions were developed by bigelow and holmes. Her work was revolutionary, bringing a sense of ease for the average person using computers. Susan kare is an artist and graphic designer best known for her interface elements and typeface contributions to the first apple macintosh in the 1980s.
In the early 1980s, apple asked a young artist named susan kare to design some graphics for its first personal computer, the macintosh. In 2010, haley fiege remastered the font with kares blessing. You may not have heard of susan kare either, so let me give you a quick history lesson. In 1982, kare was hired to design typefaces and screen elements at apple, where she created the iconic chicago typeface as well as the icons featured on the original macintosh computer. Monaco typeface wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. When kare designed chicago for apple back in the 80s, it was displayed on some of the earliest pixelbased screens. Taking its name from the hieroglyphics of ancient egypt, each symbol was drawn by hand using the bitmap grid. How susan kare gave apples mac its personality april 28, 2020 april 29, 2020 by editor 2019 the idea that one of the most influential women in the history of tech is best known for designing icons sounds, on the surface, a bit surprising. Apples new york font by susan kare is now free to download. Kare had never worked in the tech industry and didnt have any experience with computers. Ten years later, when we were designing the first macintosh computer, it all came back to me. May 04, 2018 graphic designer susan kare is the woman who gave the macintosh a smile. Apple just released a longlost font from the original macfor free its been 34 years since susan kares new york typeface first debuted. In the early 1980s, susan kare joined apple computer to design fonts and user interface graphics.
In 1984 the first apple mac computer was released featuring pixelated icons and new typeface chicago created by susan kare. The story behind susan kares iconic design work for apple the. As creative director at apple from 1982 to 1985 she was largely responsible for the cute look n feel of the macintosh user interface, designing numerous icons and bitmap fonts for it. Toronto 1984, susan kare athens 1984, susan kare, slab serif. Some of her notable creations include geneva, the original monospace monaco, and chicago. Susie is inspired by chicago a custom typeface for apple computer, inc. An art major from mount holyoke college with a masters and doctorate from new york university, kare has enjoyed an unlikely career in technology stretching back almost 40 years. How susan kare designed userfriendly icons for the first. Geneva by susan kare geneva is a realist sansserif that offers a distinct alternative to helvetica born in 1954, susan kare is an artist and graphic designer who created many of the interface elements for the apple macintosh in the 1980s, including the happy mac and the bomb symbol. Written by typographica on february 7, 2004 at, a new site featuring macintosh nostalgia, susan kare, the designer responsible for much of the early mac look and feel, recalls how its first fonts i. Susan kare, iconic designer lemelson center for the. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. May 15, 2017 usan kare born february 5, 1954 is an artist and graphic designer who created many of the interface elements for the apple macintosh in the 1980s.
The designer behind the cairo mac typeface has brought it. Though kare had never heard him mention this during her design process, she says. May 18, 2018 susan kare is now sixtyfour and she has been honoured with the prestigious aiga medal this year. Icons designed in 1982 for an interview at apple, courtesy of susan kare. Kare s few years at apple set a tone for how people were able to relate to computers. Susan kare, iconic designer lemelson center for the study. She was also creative director and one of the original employees at next, the company formed by steve jobs after he left apple in 1985. Susan kare born 1954 is an artist and graphic designer who created many of the interface elements for the apple macintosh in the 1980s. Although it shipped with mac san francisco typeface san francisco was one of the original bitmap typefaces for the apple macintosh computer. Cairo was a fun font that played around with the idea of modern hieroglyphics.
Kare designed the macs first set of proprietary typefaces. Kare, working with only a monochrome pallet and tight resource constraints, created a series of whimsical icons designs, which helped give the original macintosh computer its humanized approach. Graphic designer susan kare is the woman who gave the macintosh a smile. It was the most prominent typeface for the user interface, applied not only in classic mac os but also the first four generations of apple ipod interface. October 7, 2014 typeface designed by susan kare in 1984 for the first macintosh operating system. Jan 28, 2020 when it comes to the most famous icon designers of all time, susan kare is, frankly, the most iconic. Meet susan kare, one of fast companys most creative.
Another one of her recognizable creations were the original monospace monaco typeface and geneva typeface. The designer who made the mac smile the new york times. Her fonts for the mac included chicago the mac s default sanserif typeface through system 7. But it is not just her fonts and contributions to typography that make susan kare a design icon. Apr 20, 2018 kare developed a number of icons and interface elements for the original mac os, and remnants of her work can still be seen in os x today. Years later, in his nowfamous stanford commencement speech, jobs said the mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced font if not for a lone calligraphy class hed taken at reed.
Without susan kares openminded, exploratory approach to design, our. Cairo was one of the early bitmap fonts designed by susan kare and included with the mac in 1984. Susan kare s icons and fonts for the original macintosh were revolutionary. Susie shows a more contemporary look on this bitmap typeface. These features were designed to fit in with the screen.
Kares influence both initially and over the decades that followed is hard to overestimate. Kare s most notable works from her time with apple are the chicago typeface. The latter was a muchbeloved screen font designed by susan kare for the original macintosh operating system. There, she created some of the most recognizable icons, typefaces, and graphic elements in personal computing. The story behind susan kares iconic design work for apple. Susan kare on original mac font names typographica.
She was also one of the original employees of next the company formed by steve jobs after leaving apple in 1985, working as the creative director. The command cmd key works in a similar way to the control key on a pc. She later helped to define the look of microsoft windows 3. The latter was one of the most prominentlyused typefaces in classic mac os interfaces from 1984 to 1999.
Both the smily mac and the chicago font that greeted anyone booting up a mac in the mid 80s were designed by susan kare, and they both captured the friendly, accessible new era of computing that made the mac so revolutionary. Susan kare san francisco designer with a highly developed ability to work creatively with a small number of pixels. The graphic designer is receiving a lifetime achievement award from cooper hewitt for her recognizable computer icons, typefaces and. It ships with os x and was already present with all previous versions of the mac operating system. How susan kare designed userfriendly icons for the first macintosh the graphic designer is receiving a lifetime achievement award from cooper hewitt for her recognizable computer icons, typefaces. Making it easier for people to use both images with text. They gave a lifeless computer a warmth and personality that lives on in the modern. But she had a background in a variety of art forms, from mosaics to needlepoint, and a. Sketches of the early apple logo icon, courtesy of susan kare icons designed in 1982 for an interview at apple, courtesy of susan kare happy mac, designed in the 1980s, is the bootup icon of apple macintosh computers with older versions of the mac operating system.
Dec 29, 2019 and it was apple designer susan kares job to create digital fonts and icons to usher in this new age. Now the iconic designer has recreated her iconic dingbats typeface cairo as a throw design. October 7, 2014 aug 07, 2015 with a system font family of calligraphyinspired typefaces, like chicago and geneva, the mac teams susan kare brought printlike typography and worldclass iconography design to the first version of mac os. Im a huge fan of susan kare s chicago bitmap typeface. Hidden sheep and typography archaeology ben zotto medium. Oct 09, 2019 how susan kare designed userfriendly icons for the first macintosh the graphic designer is receiving a lifetime achievement award from cooper hewitt for her recognizable computer icons, typefaces.
The work at apple as an icon and typography designer. Apple garamond 1983, designed to replace motter tektura in the apple logo. If youre older than about 25, you know it as the macintosh system font from the 1980s into the 1990s, or from its encore run on the. She was actually one of the original employees at next, the company steve jobs founded after he left apple. Stay with me, its worth it it ties directly into apple history. Pinterest hires former apple designer susan kare cult of mac. In 1983, when apple was designing the first commercial mac, they hired susan kare to come on board and design various parts of their operating systems user interface. The fonts i designed at apple in 1983 new york, geneva, chicago. See more ideas about typography, pixel font and retro typewriter. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Essential mac keyboard shortcuts and key combinations. And also a free typeface for users of macintosh macpaint and macwrite. The name susan kare will ring a bell to those who know their apple history. Susan kare designed the distinctive icons, typefaces, and other graphic elements that gave the apple macintosh its characteristicand widely emulatedlook and feel.
This month susan kare was awarded an aiga medal, putting her in the company of design greats like paul rand, charles and ray eames, milton glaser and saul steinberg. One of the first tasks of susan kare was to develop typographies for mac os. Kare created typefaces and icons, along with the original macintosh os. For the macintosh operating system, kare designed many typefaces, original marketing material and icons. A legend of pixel art, kare created the look of the original macintosh, from the chicago typeface. It was especially enjoyable because the macintosh was able to display proportional typefaces, leaving behind the tyranny of monospace alphabets with their narrow ms and wide is. They gave a lifeless computer a warmth and personality that lives on in the modern mac to this day. Jul 31, 2015 as part of the original macintosh team back in the 80s, susan kare created some of apples earliest typefaces and icons, but now the famous designer is ready to bring her iconic skills to. How susan kare designed userfriendly icons for the first macintosh. But she remains perhaps best known for her work at apple as the designer of the icons and bitmap typefaces on the original mac. Monaco is a monospaced sansserif typeface designed by susan kare and kris holmes.
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