
Behind the Icons: ​An interview with Susan Kare - Mz
http://www.lennyletter.com/culture/a486/behind-the-icons/
======
supernintendo
Susan Kare is a pioneer. Laymen might look at those classic icons today and
not think much of them, but UX designers should be able to appreciate the
challenge of conveying explicit ideas through symbolism. Now consider the
limitations of the Macintosh for a single icon - black and white, 32x32 pixels
and little to no prior UX work to draw inspiration from. Kare worked within
these parameters and designed some of the most fun and memorable icons of
computing history in the process.

Not to mention, her playful approach to design is something we don't see
enough of in this modern age of UX. When I look at my iPhone's home screen, I
see a grid of geometrically identical, sterile icons. Generally speaking each
icon is flat, uses a limited color palette and contains a perfect or near-
perfect balance of positive and negative space. Consistent, well-designed and
aesthetically pleasing icons; and yet, lacking the personality that make
Kare's icons so great.

~~~
munificent
> and little to no prior UX work to draw inspiration from

Not just that, but she had to design icons usable by people _who had never
touched a computer or a mouse before in their life_.

UX designers today have the luxury of building on top of a huge pile of
computer knowledge that is _already in most users ' heads_. Kare and the rest
of the Macintosh folks had no such luxury, and it was their great work getting
those early concepts learned that let us take it for granted today.

------
mhurron
> it (the icon on the Command Key) was designed by Susan Kare back in the '80s

No it wasn't. The symbol is very old and all over Scandinavia. Kare offered it
as one of several options presented for the icon of the Command Key.

~~~
derefr
There probably isn't any single symbol-glyph composing five-or-fewer lines
that isn't "very old and all over"; there are only so many possibilities on
the low end of complexity. It's still a matter of original design to think of
using a particular symbol-glyph to visually represent a previously-
unsymbolized thing in a new domain.

~~~
henrikeh
On the contrary, Susan Kare herself mentioned the Swedish origin as the source
for inspiration[0]

> So I said, "Let's try something abstract." So I was pouring through books of
> symbols, and I thought it was a sign on Swedish campgrounds that meant
> "interesting feature," or something to look at that was interesting. So that
> seemed to fit. And it lent itself to being digital without being jagged.
> That definitely came from a symbol book, or an interpretation of something
> in a symbol book that sort of made sense. Because I like the idea instead of
> just drawing some shape and saying "That's the control key," even though
> nobody who ever saw it-- actually, every now and then I hear from someone
> who actually had seen one of the signs. Mainly it is just abstract, but I
> knew it meant something relevant.

[0]:
[http://web.archive.org/web/20150527143227/http://web.stanfor...](http://web.archive.org/web/20150527143227/http://web.stanford.edu/dept/SUL/library/mac/primary/interviews/kare/mac.html)

~~~
derefr
I didn't mean to imply that she wasn't taking inspiration from a thing that
existed already. My point was that, when you're a designer asked to "create" a
symbol-glyph, there's nothing you can do _but_ to draw inspiration from
something that exists already.

Every little squiggle humans can make with a pen already has some connotation
or another; design, then, is about searching the design-space for an existing
squiggle that already has the connotation you want along with the least
conflicting "ownership."

~~~
kuschku
She didn’t draw inspiration.

She literally copied it, 1:1.

~~~
coldcode
Copying from history is a choice, that's what a designer does. There were many
phones before the iPhone. There were computers before the Mac. There were
wheels before Firestone. Knowing what to choose and have it work as a design
in a skill most people do not have. As Steve Jobs said "Good artists copy;
great artists steal" which I believe is also a copy.

------
Animats
Kare designed the look of the Mac, some of the Windows icons, some of
Facebook's icons, and some of PayPal's icons. She's well known in design, and
still active, but few people building software seem to know who she is.

Her web site, www.kare.com, has her portfolio.

~~~
dudeget
she must have gotten that domain early on

~~~
aaronbrethorst
Easily answered:

    
    
        $ whois kare.com
    
        Whois Server Version 2.0
    
        Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
        with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
        for detailed information.
    
           Domain Name: KARE.COM
           Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
           Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 2
           Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
           Referral URL: http://networksolutions.com
           Name Server: NS75.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
           Name Server: NS76.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
           Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
           Updated Date: 02-apr-2016
           Creation Date: 18-feb-1996
           Expiration Date: 19-feb-2024
    

_Creation Date: 18-feb-1996_

Yes.

------
scandox
"Generally, it's a lot easier to represent concrete nouns than abstract
concepts, so "document" is easier to design than "undo."

This is a problem I run into all the time. I was only asking about it
yesterday:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12260700](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12260700)

We need a good standard for abstract concept icons

------
behnamoh
Susan Kare designed the Chicago typeface for Macintosh, which was later used
(with some modifications) in the early iPods. Chicago is indeed one of the
most intuitive and beautiful fonts I've ever seen.

~~~
janoelze
and it was her first project at apple too! bull's-eye.

------
mattkevan
I miss Clarus the Dogcow.

macOS needs more Clarus.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogcow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogcow)

------
merkleme
I must admit I was surprised to read how many women there were working in
prominent positions back in the 80's at Apple. Jobs was truly a pioneer.

~~~
icebraining
A pioneer at getting falsely credited. Susan Kare was invited by Andy
Hertzfeld, when Jef Raskin was still the leader of the Macintosh project.

~~~
Cenk
Not to put words into merkleme’s mouth, but he may not have meant that Jobs
himself personally all the women who worked at Apple, but rather that a
culture of openness, diversity and meritocracy thrived under his leadership.

~~~
merkleme
Thank you, thats exactly what I meant.

