03/30/2026
This Women's History Month, we honor Susan Kare and the many women designers whose contributions built the field as we know it. 📖 Check out our Substack and explore more history and the impact of Women graphic designers. https://buff.ly/Kgmvs0y
Susan Kare is a groundbreaking graphic designer whose work shaped the way people interact with computers. She is best known for her role at Apple in the early 1980s, where she designed many of the icons and typefaces for the first Apple Macintosh. At the time, computers were largely text-based and intimidating; she introduced a visual language that was friendly, intuitive, and easy to understand. Drawing from her background in fine art, she carefully crafted pixel-based icons like the smiling Mac, the trash can, the paint bucket, and the command symbol. Kare utilized simple forms to communicate clear functions. Her work helped establish the idea that digital interfaces could be both functional and emotionally engaging.
Kare’s influence extends far beyond her time at Apple. After leaving the company, she went on to work with major technology firms like Microsoft, IBM, and later Facebook, where she continued to design icons and user interface elements. Throughout her career, she remained committed to clarity, simplicity, and usability, often emphasizing that good icon design should be instantly recognizable and meaningful, which still serves as a foundation for contemporary user interface design and iconography.
