Y Combinator · Video summary

Susan Kare: Designing Icons & Graphics For the Original Mac

Susan Kare, the iconographer and designer behind the original Macintosh icons, shares her journey from welding life-sized razorback hogs to designing the user interface for early Apple products and beyond.

Y Combinator · August 14, 2026 · 52-min episode · 4-min read

Susan Kare: Designing Icons & Graphics For the Original Mac

Key takeaways

💡Paul Rand, a celebrated graphic designer, advised focusing on making things meaningful and memorable, emphasizing that a good idea is paramount, and form will follow.01:37
🐷Susan Kare's early career involved welding a life-sized razorback hog for a museum, a solitary artistic endeavor that made her crave collaborative team projects.02:09
💻The original Macintosh design philosophy was to create a computer that anyone could use without a manual, emphasizing friendliness and accessibility, even for those with no prior computer experience.06:46
🎨Embracing design constraints, such as black and white 16x16 pixel graphics, can foster creativity and lead to iconic, memorable imagery.07:44
😊The Happy Macintosh icon, a smiling computer face, was designed to reassure users during the computer's lengthy boot-up process, conveying that "everything was okay."15:50
👤Simpler, more universal imagery in icons allows users to project themselves onto the interface, fostering a deeper connection and broader understanding, as opposed to highly detailed or specific representations.17:03

Chapters

0:07Introduction to Susan Kare
0:54Designing for Humans
2:34How I Got a Job as the Mac Icon and Typeface Designer
9:03The First Design Problem
10:35Goals for the Mac User Interface
12:09Understanding Constraints
16:39Chicago Font (1982-2001)
16:57Shipped with the Mac
17:19Ransom
19:09MacPaint UI Graphics
20:15Text-Free Control Panel
20:45We Didn’t Wait on Tools
24:0532 x 32 Pixel Portraits
25:25Understanding Happy Mac
28:29Understanding Universality
30:24Sick Macintosh
30:54System Failure
33:14MacPaint Application Icon
33:35Application + Document Icons
34:03Alerts
35:03Watch Cursor
35:23Printer (Caution)
35:40Printer (Less is More)
36:59Menu Shortcuts (1983)
38:19Command Symbols
38:59Symbol for Menu Command
40:15Interesting Feature in Sweden
41:39Borgholm Castle
42:00If You Study Art History You Learn There’s Not Much New Under the Sun
42:05Limestone Bison Carving 38,000 Years Ago
42:14Hieroglyphics (c. 3000 BCE)
42:25Byzantine Mosaic (Helvetica c. 320)
43:24Viking Age Story (c. 1200)
43:35Sampler (1760)
43:59Susan Kare Ashtray (Age 7)
45:00“Emojis” in 1984 (Cairo Font)
45:30Craft + Metaphor
45:34It’s Not Just About a Grid of Pixels
45:4020 x 20 Pixels
45:50Alarm Icon for Swatch

The digest

Susan Kare, a celebrated iconographer and designer, takes us on a journey through her career, highlighting her pivotal role in shaping the visual language of early computing, particularly with the Macintosh. Her story is a testament to the power of design thinking, even in the face of technological constraints, and offers timeless insights for creators in any field.

From Art Major to Apple Artist

Kare's path to becoming the Macintosh icon and typeface designer was anything but conventional. A self-proclaimed "total art major" with no prior computer experience, she found herself welding a life-sized razorback hog for a museum in Arkansas before her serendipitous entry into the tech world. This period, though fulfilling creatively, was also isolating, sparking a desire to work collaboratively. Her high school friend, Andy Hertzfeld, a system software programmer at Apple, recognized her artistic talent and invited her for an interview. He needed images for a new computer display, and Kare, despite her lack of tech background, saw an exciting new challenge. Her preparation involved borrowing books on typography and font samples from the Palo Alto library, which she brought to her interview to appear knowledgeable. This unconventional approach, coupled with her innate artistic skill, landed her the job.