BECOME SUCCESSFUL HOW TO Learning fromLearning SusanKare

1 . HOW TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL 2 Becoming aworldfamousgraphicdesignerinthemale-dominatedtech

3 HOW TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL 4 A PINKMARKER CONVINCING WITH they had.Shealsodidsketchesof of everybookaboutgraphicdesign she went to the library and got hold challenge. Before thejobinterview, herself, shewasready totakeonthe hough shehadneverdesignedafont meant creating anewfont,andalt- of therequirements ofhernewjob come anartisticcreator herself. One she gladlytooktheopportunitytobe- a curatorafterfinishingherartdegree, and control tasks.Having worked as standard ofusingcodetonavigate friendly byeliminatingtheuntil-then was supposed to be much more user- their newestMacintoshmodel,wich king forsomeonetodesignicons Apple in the eighties. They were loo- old high school friend who worked at opportunity. ForSusanKare, itwasan Sometimes, all you need is the right part ofthebeginningspixelart. ArtinNewYorkseum ofModern asa sketches were later bought by the Mu- still commonlyusedtoday. Herpink iconic digitalicons,someofwhichare went ontodesignsomeofthemost into theinterview, shewashired. She sketches payedout:justfiveminutes king asagraphicdesigner. Thepink really hadnoactualexperiencewor what shewastalkingaboutwhen to givetheimpression thatsheknew with alotofbooksandhersketches the day of the interview, she arrived the pixelsofcomputerscreen. At book withapinkhighlighter, imitating different iconsonacheckered note- -

5 CONVINCING WITH A PINK MARKER WITH WITH CREATIVITY CONVINCING CONVINCING

HOW TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL 6 solutions and try tohavea looks right.“ „We always see what range of CONVINCING CREATIVITY sculptor andsometimecuratorwhen ous AIGAmedal.In1982,shewasa fellow designers,withtheprestigi - red forherworkonApril 20th, byher Kare, whoissixty-four, willbehono- sentences from tiny-iconlanguages. municate visually, piecingtogether tionaries havewon:online,weallcom- and gifsisasignthatthevisualrevolu - Pinterest, Instagram,Snapchat, emoji, director. The mainstream presence of now, Pinterest, where sheisacreative icons forMicrosoft, , and, After workingforApple,Kare designed operating system. which greeted crashesin theoriginal ne?” shejoked,referring totheicon sense ofhumor. Cherrybomb,anyo- voice, personality, style,andevena san’s fontsandicons,whichgaveit a mere work tool––it is thanks to Su- spark fortheimaginationinsteadof a petinsteadofhomeappliance, to besucharevolutionary object–– out for Everyone.”“IftheMacturned sketches, inthe2015exhibit“Thisis physically show Kare’s original icon Art,wasthefirstto seum ofModern architecture anddesignattheMu- Paola Antonelli,theseniorcuratorof pictures. that youcouldcommunicatewithin revolutionary—a computer of thesuiteiconsthatmade signed a version of that disk, as part disk means“Save.”SusanKare de- cloud storageisasignofitspower. A icon intotheageofflashdrivesand disaster. Thepersistenceofthatdisk stood betweenyouandterm-paper remembering tosaveadiskoften fore AutoSave,inthedarkageswhen ned touseacomputerintheerabe- my workeverytenminutes.ButIlear as mycomputerautomaticallysaves “Save.” Thisisasuperstitiousmove, crosoft Word toolbarthatindicates thward toclickonthediskinMi- te thisstory, Imovedmycursornor Every fifteenminutesorso,asIwro- communicate with. lutionarya computerthatyoucould icons thatmadetheMacintoshrevo- Susan Kare designedthesuiteof WITH - - based onaSwedishcampground sign there to the left of your space bar, was 2000. Thecommandicon,stillright to Apple,”shetoldaninterviewer, in which Ihadpracticed before going other pseudo-digitalartforms,allof are likemosaicsandneedlepoint and in visual knowledge. “Bitmap graphics computer experience shemadeupfor and metaphor.”What Kare lackedin icon grids,andthemarriageofcraft teen andthirty-two-by-thirty-twopixel nature ofworkinginsixteen-by-six - she said.“ButIlovedthepuzzle-like letterforms usingtheMac,notpaper,” editor soIcoulddesignimagesand Hertzfeld wrote an icon editor and font ment: “AssoonasIstartedwork,Andy Kare told me about this origin mo- lized “MacPaint.”Scissorssaid“Cut.” meant “Paste.”Apaintbrushsymbo- represented apixel. A pointing finger software wouldexecute.Eachsquare sent thecommandsthatHertzfeld’s pink marker, aseriesoficonstorepre - On its pages, she had sketched, in Computer. notebook toherjobinterviewatApple Kareon inCalifornia. brought aGrid a new computer that he was working feld askedhertocreate graphicsfor her high-schoolfriendAndyHertz- that popularizedit.” computers, butitwastheAppleMac icon-based methodofinteractingwith the metaphorof‘desktop’asan bition, said,“TheXerox Star initiated McGuirk, theco-curatorofthatexhi- DesigningFreedom.”lifornia: Justin London DesignMuseumexhibit“Ca- and onewasincludedintherecent museums, San Franciscomodern-art nent collectionsoftheNewYork and Her notebooksare partof theperma- only anine-by-sevengrid. go, andthepicture-heavy Cairo, using Mac fonts,includingGeneva,Chica- also designedanumberoftheoriginal copycat. Neithermadethecut.She le. Kare alsotried a cat in a mirror, for difficult to render acopieratthatsca- drop afileontoittocopyit,butwas of afile,anduserswoulddrag of acopymachineformaking At onepoint,there wastobeanicon hers defythevisual,like‘Undo.’” piece ofpaper, are noproblem; butot- she gotstuck.“Someicons,likethe ics, tohobosignsforinspirationwhen Kare lookedtocross-stitch, tomosa- from abookofhistoricalsymbols. meaning “interesting feature,” pulled

7 CONVINCING WITH CREATIVITY HOW TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL 8 signers. And women are long time.“ have been very good digital de- for avery „A lotof CONVINCING personal style is distinctly unfussy. would beextraneousdetails.”Kare’s nology limitations,”shesaid.“Those even thoughit’s notbecauseoftech- boxes andsuperhero backpacks, crossing signdon’t haveplaidlunch- son thesilhouettesofkidsinaschool Look attraffi csigns:“There’s a rea- inclusive,” shesaid. icons. “Simple images canbemore think detailnecessarilymakesbetter like abigstepup,butKare doesn’t A sixty-four-pixel palettewouldseem kisses, likeadigitalboxofchocolates. to thecrowd: hearts,penguins,and four-pixel grid.Thebest-sellersplayed daily, basedonasixty-four-by-sixty- send to a friend, with new offerings for Facebookthatyoucouldbuyand In 2008,Kare created virtual“gifts” cards Idesigned,”shesaid. WindowsSolitaire usingthe dia, countlesspeoplespenthourswith read that,before there wassocialme- whole familyforChristmas.“It’s funto and diagonals;Iboughtthemforthe napkins with bitmap raindrops, waves, re-designed placemats,coasters,and design brandAreaware débutedKa- ned byKare. Lastfall,thesmallhome- button whenyourefresh, alsodesig- Kare, Pinterest offers youaspinning wait withatinywatchdesignedby While theMacintoshoncemadeyou BOLDNESS WITH Pang, nowaresearcher atInstitutefor 2000 interviewwithAlexSoojung-Kim for macsbecauseOHMYGOD“Ina woman whoinvented the trashicon se ofgoingto1985andmarryingthe time machinefortheexpress purpo- berg madeaproposal: „buildinga and, onTwitter, DanielMalloryOrt- MR-11 BulldozerRobo/Dozer(1982), bots—Monster from Macross (1983), A redditor helpfullyidentifi edthe ro- which resonate across thedecades. brought to the task of making icons, and thehumorthatKare hasalways art, andthesneakersembodyrigor Metropolitan Museum.” Thetoys,the postcards offavoriteimagesfrom the nirs from worktripstoJapan,andIsee leagues brought metoyrobot souve- bok ankle-highworkoutshoes.Col- said. “IlivedinNewBalanceandRee- ‘pre-normcore’ inretrospect,” she outfi t—nothingspecial—butseems on herdesk.“Justaregular 1984work burgundy New Balance shoe propped gray sweatshirt,withonegray-and- ergonomic chair, wearingjeansanda photo, Kare loungeshorizontallyinher subreddit of“oldschoolcool.”Inthe uponRedditinthe ne, hadturned Norman Seeff, takenforRollingSto- ted herthata1984portraitofby son andcolleaguesatPinterest aler- She was bemused last year when her fl uencestotheMac. and bybringingadiverserangeofin- hing from hieroglyphs tostreet signs, med tofi ndinginspiration ineveryt- friendly computer. She wasaccusto- ambition tocreate theworld’s fi rst well-equipped toaidinSteveJobs’ Kare’s artistic background madeher was exactlywhatAppleneeded. out,thisdiversityofexperience turned the useofcaricature insculpture. Asit sity, havingwrittenherdissertationon int, andaPhDfrom NewYork Univer- art forms,from mosaicstoneedlepo- she hadabackground inavarietyof any experiencewithcomputers.But in thetechindustryanddidn’t have the Macintosh.Kare hadneverworked for its forthcoming personal computer, Susan Kare todesignsomegraphics Apple askedayoungartistnamed the smilenow?Inearly1980s, She gavetheMac a smile—where’s deeper levelthanfi ngerprint readers. continue intoourdigitalfuture ona of personaltouchthatonehopeswill and nowhers,onecanseealegacy Steinberg (1963).Through theirwork, Yorker contributorandcartoonistSaul Milton Glaser(1972),andtheNew hand: CharlesandRayEames(1977), warmth, and a sometimes cartoony is knownforbroad appeal,infectious ries ofpre-digital greats whosework saw asinfl uences,andshelistsase- medalists, besides Rand, whom she I askedKare ifthere were otherAIGA logo asiconictheApple. founded NeXT, in1985,andneededa attention ofSteveJobswhenthelatter 1966 andadesignerofI.B.M.)tothe (the AIGA Medal winner in was shewhobrought thelegendary American graphicdesign full circle. It the Future, Kare bringsthehistoryof

9 CONVINCING WITH BOLDNESS Japanese Woodcut for Apple Japanese Woodcut

HOWHOW TO TO BECOME BECOME SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL10 10

what conceptstheyneeded,andI about this.Usuallytheytellme Now itseemssoancient, thinking we wouldhavehadtoadjustit. ted tousetheexactsamethinginMac weren‘t square, evenifonehadwan- can. Since Lisa used pixels that one, thoughIrefined itto makeitour trash can.Ididn‘tinventthat,Lisahad I thinkwhenstartedthere existeda re wasapaperwithfolded corner. much open.Thecursorexisted.- Kare: I recall that things were pretty the designmore uncertain? needed-- atrashcan,files--orwas sense ofwhatkindsiconsthey Did Andyandothershaveaclear side ofitwouldhavebeenattractive. tract, someoneforwhomthegraphical customer thattheywere tryingtoat- me than the Apple II. I was a typical rudimentary Macmore appealingto experience, buteventhenIfoundthat I didn‘treally havemuchcomputer titles andfiles. splayed afloppy, andhaddraggable gy floppydiskdrive.TheFinderdi- Though myfirstMacstillhadthe Twig- Kare: No,onaMac.Always ters byApple? ter, oneofthefirstpersonalcompu- Were youworkingonaLisacompu- letter, before wehadafonteditor. did the fontsthat way, goingletter by was howIdidthefirstones.think nerated thehexundericons.That ter iconeditorthatautomaticallyge- ded in.ThenAndymadeamuchbet- hex equivalentsoitcouldbekeyboar I couldtaketheartandfigure outthe icon editor. Firsttheyshowedmehow the screen, sothere wasarudimentary viously it was much better to see it on off. Ididsomeworkonpaper, butob- there pixelsonand wasawaytoturn there wasn‘t really an icon editor, but job. AswhenIwenttoMacintosh, Kare: Yes. onthe Idefinitelylearned Apple headquartersinCupertino? Were youworkingon-site,atthe HEY, SUSAN... - talked aboutnamingthingsinmenus, those alwayspretty clear. We definitely and MacProject, Ithinktheideas for on theicons.Later, doingMacWrite but Idon‘tthinkthathadmucheffect MacPaint wasfirstcalledMacSketch, placeholder name. called it „Elefont“ at first, that was the did wasverymuchlikeChicago--we that name. I think the first font that I figure outwhatyoudo tohighlight tails ontheside?We were tryingto should ithavelittlearchitectural de- designs forit.Shouldithavestripes, a LOToftimeworkingondifferent always calledthetitlebar, andIspent Kare: WhenIcame,the title barwas ture mightchange. really coolicon,thenameofafea- rent icons;orthat if youdesigned a time, thatyouwoulddesigndiffe- or thenametrashcanchangesover an elevatorratherthanascroll bar, I imagine that if you call something is called the „elevator“ for a while. with Lisa,forexample,thescroll bar the interfacechangedovertime: I knowsomeofthemetaphorsfor third-party fontdevelopment. med thatnumberwouldaccomodate nous-- weusedonlyafew, andassu- for fonts,andthatjustseemedcaver There were 256numbersetsavailable many iconsthere wouldeventuallybe. cation.We neverimaginedhowmany, that wouldassociateitwithanappli- the documenticonincluded an image was abrushthatpainting,where on theearliestMacPaint icon, which cuments andapplications.Iworked could easilydistinguishbetweendo- cil againstadiamond.Withthat,you icon thathasahandholdingpen- tive. That‘swhenIcameupwiththe applications neededtolookmore ac- look likedocuments;butIthoughtthat thought itwasgoodthatdocuments paper withthefoldedcorner-- andI The documentsiconexisted--the would evolvefrom there. try themout,andthefinaldesign of thingsthatmight work. We would would trytocome up withaselection - done whatneededtobedone. cube [Panglaughs],andtryingtoget ly what I remember was being in my see howpeoplelikethatwork.Most- graphics itwasinteresting formeto was very good, and because I‘m in ting. TheRollingStonephotographer photo shoots,andthatwasinteres- out it.Iremember beinginacouple I don‘t even remember that much ab- have different suggestions. and see what works.People would provide arichselection of choices, trying-- andIstilldotothisday-- would work.Idoremember always hing, andIwoulddowhatthought proach. Peoplewouldaskforsomet- We took a very common sense ap- ideas thatwere notpractical. „copy cat“ [Pang laughs]-- I tried a few as acopier. Idrew acatinmirror, like you coulddrawthatpeoplewouldsee out washardturned tofigure outwhat for awhile,butthenitwentaway. It file ontoittocopyit.Thatwasvisual a file,andyouwoulddragdrop a a copymachineformakingof lasso.For whilethere wasgoingtobe lasso. Irefined hisimagetothe„final“ with the little slip knot, to make it like a did callita„lasso,“andhadtheform this?“ Nowthelasso,IthinkmaybeBill ask,“ What do youthink we shouldcall times withfeatures forMacPaintand and BillAtkinsonwouldcomeinsome-

11 HEY, SUSAN... Solitaire Card for Microsoft Card Solitaire

HOWHOW TO TOBECOME BECOME SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL12 try togetamore systematic sample just showthemtopeople,ordidyou user testing. With the icons, did you Some peoplewere bigadvocates of of thing. than ascientifi capproach tothatkind still have,more ofacommon sense function. ButIthinkhadthen,and the sameone-word response asits you tested it everyone would all have that‘s alottoaskofsymbol,thatif remember whenyoulook atit.Ithink tells you want it is once, it‘s easy to so easytoremember that ifsomeone what itdoes,andtheyget-orit‘s ne‘s neverseenit,youcanaskthem stantly recognizable -even ifsomeo- I liketothinkthatgoodiconsare in- a selectionandgetpeople‘sopinions. „This isit.“AsIsaid,triedtomake Kare: It‘snotusuallymywaytosay, would looklike? of whatyouthought a goodicon some sensegoingintotheproject really successfulicon?Didyouhave So what was it that would defi ne a at touseMacPaint. could only toggle pixels, so it was gre- I thinkwiththefi rsticoneditor you to drawcircles andlineserase. size atthesametime,andbeingable to seetheimageenlarged andactual sic MacPaintfeatures ofbeingable make theicons,andithadallclas- ter awhile,IstartedusingMacPaintto that toggledfrom blacktowhite.Af- now, but it was a grid with squares even remember verymuchaboutit Kare: That‘spretty muchit.Idon‘t squares todrawanimage? graph paper, andyouclickedonthe tor worked?Was itlikeapieceof Can you explain how the Icon Edi- days. Kare: Sometimeshours,sometimes or trashcan? selection of possibilities for acopier How longwouldittaketodesigna one, ratherthanthese?“ said, „Let‘s defi nitelygo withthis At whatpoint,orwhowasit in. people from thegroup wouldwander Steve Jobswouldwanderin--Lotsof the Macgroup whomight wanderin. software group, andotherpeoplein Kare: I‘d say most of the people in the your workto? So whodidyouinformallyshow something todowithspeed. time betweenmouseclicks,Ithink- and theysignifi ed„fast“and„slow“ Kare: There wasarabbitandtortoise, What didtherabbitstandfor? phone from theoriginalcontrol panel. the rabbit(formyfaxnumber)andtele- Andy. Istillhaveonmybusinesscard , I worked on those with and someoftheotherthingsin Kare: Thepuzzle,andthenotepad, Macintosh. I remember thatfrom myveryfi rst the graphicsforthat. wanted todoanumberpuzzle,soIdid and Itweakedit.Anothertime,Andy that functionalitycameupwiththat, square marquee, whoeverdesigned I didn‘tdesignthecoupon-looking details camefrom theprogrammers: and waseasytoaimwith.Andsome things toseewhatfunctionedwell, have onehotpixel:wetrieddifferent with afewthingsthatare cursorsthat to people.Thenthere are constraints ring paintcanmadethemostsense other concepts,butIguessthepou- in MacPaint, I tried paint rollers and choosing aniconforthefi llfunction asking themwhattheythought.When ting, showingalotofpeopleandjust what Imeantwasinformalusertes- as -whenIsaid„notscientifi c,“ really to testthings,Ijustthinkofitmore Kare: Oh,defi nitely-Ithinkit‘sgreat from them? with groups ofpeople. Kare: I‘dhadlotsofother jobs working rent asopposedtodiffi cult. I wasthinkingasmuchaboutdiffe- cult inadjustingtothejob. remember anythingparticularlydiffi - ted to.Lotsoflonghours,butIdon‘t Kare: There‘s wasnotingtogetadjus- dependently. graphic work,youworkedpretty in- sounded likeinsomeofyourearlier the stuff you‘dbeendoingbefore? It with software people,compared to kind ofcollaborativeenvironment Was itabigchangeworkinginthis to mockupgoodideasfrom anyone. tings. Hehadideas,butIwashappy But Idon‘tremember anyformalmee- te andagoodsenseforvisualdetails. new, andhe‘salwayshadgoodtas- He‘d alwayswanttoknowwhatwas ally cameinattheendofeveryday. Kare: Ithinkhedid,becauseusu- „Yes thisone,notone.“ would lookattheiconsandsay, from hisaccountasifSteveJobs nely Great lastnight,anditsounded I wasre-reading StevenLevy‘sInsa- lots ofpeople‘shelp. be. It more orlessevolved, thanks to to decidewhattheiconswere goingto about anyofthat,orbigmeetings sus. Idon‘tremember anybigfi ghts mory -itwassomewhatofaconsen- that, butalso-andthisismyhazyme- Kare: IsupposeStevehadsomesayin

13 HEY, SUSAN... HOWHOW TO TOBECOME BECOME SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL14 hing isever history, you really new.“ „If youever know not- study art ORIGINALITY CONVINCING king intechinstead.Withoutherinflu- stroke outwor ofluckthatsheturned greeting cards forHallmark.It’s areal Apple, Kare haddreamed ofdesigning pushpin.Before landingthe job at her things,thebrand’s signature red her markbydesigning, among ot- tive designer, where she’s made Today, sheworksasPinterest’s crea - offered from 2007to2010. book’s virtualgifts,whichtheplatform addictive gameofSolitaire toFace- playing cards forMicrosoft’s famously giants, designingeverythingfrom the clever styletoanumberofothertech debut, Kare hasbrought herwarm, a lit fuse. In the years since the Mac’s of choice,apluckycherrybombwith was somewhatmediated by hericon horror ofencountering a systemfailure was playfulandreassuring. Eventhe the computer.” Kare’s overall aesthetic infuse apositivespinontheiconof smile just seemed like a good way to know somethingwashappening.A ked todesignaniconsopeoplewould for thesoftware tolaunch,Iwasas- email. “Becauseittookabitoftime non-technical users,”Kare saidinan puter shouldbefriendlyandappealto Macintosh project wasthatthecom- ters. “Oneofthestatedgoalsfor smile as they booted up their compu- Mac” greeted userswithareassuring plication loaded, while Kare’s “Happy users tohavepatiencewhileanap- ve symbols.Atinystopwatchurged nal computer—withhelpfrom intuiti- an unfamiliartechnology—theperso- tonavigate 1984 helpedpeoplelearn te of icons forthe original Macintoshin work, evenifyoudon’t knowit.Hersui- You’re probably familiarwithKare’s downright fun. to Kare—made usingacomputerlook serious business,”theMac—thanks to looklikea“seriouscomputerfor World’s BenjEdwards putit,designed IBM PC,released in1981,was,asPC puter looktrulyunique.Whereas the Kare’s joyfulicons made thecom- all wasexcitinginitsownright.But Mac hadagraphicaluserinterfaceat feel decidedlyfamiliar.The factthatthe She madethebravenewdigitalworld WITH - was excerptedinFastCompany. “If to the book Susan Kare Icons, which Steve Silbermanintheintroduction out to make a great painting,” she told to makeapainting,butyoucan’t set Mac wouldbecome.“You cansetout exciting, butunaware of how bigthe king togetheronsomethingnewand people whowere happy tobewor was surrounded bysmart, creative bers the period as a time in which she Cupertino headquarters.Kare remem- designs onaniconeditorinApple’s Soon shegraduatedtocreating her to imitate Apple’s pixelated displays. squares withapinkmarker inorder and begansketching,fillinginthetiny graph paperfrom theartsupplystore Duly intrigued,sheboughtsome new project. want tocreate somegraphicsfortheir and hegotintouchtoseeifshemight working onApple’s Macintoshteam, from highschool,AndyHertzfeld,was for amuseuminArkansas.Herfriend life-sized razorback hog”asastatue Alto andinthemidstof“weldinga other in1982,shewaslivingPalo When AppleandKare foundeachan- might bealotlessfriendly. approach todesign,ourdigitalworld ence andopen-minded,exploratory - guide oneanotherontheirtravels. hobos leftbehindonbuildingstohelp astrological signs tothemarkingsthat symbols thatincludeseverythingfrom Sourcebook, a1972guide tographic and folklore, andfrom theSymbol ancient hieroglyphs, books oncraft She alsodrew inspiration from pirates, . a 2000 interview with Alex Pang for tal withoutbeingjagged,”shesaidin locations. “Itlentitselftobeingdigi- campgrounds todenoteinteresting example, onasignusedSwedish Macintosh “command”symbol(⌘),for computer culture. Kare based the range ofcultures intooureveryday way hericonshaveintegratedawide Among Kare’s enduringlegaciesisthe can’t setouttomakeagreat painting.” set out to make a painting, but you ce’—that’s justfoolhardy.”“You can ‘Now I’mgoingtocreate amasterpie- you lookatthatblankcanvasandsay,

15 CONVINCING WITH ORIGINALITY HOWHOW TO TOBECOME BECOME SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL16 see themsel- tooney, an- „When you somebody of detail,it ves inthat more car have alot looks like yone can when it‘s else. But image.“ CONVINCING - she toldQuartz.“It’s justgoodtoun- don’t necessarilyhamper creativity,” white, orlimited screen real estate) traints (suchasworkinginblackand work withinthem.“Technical cons- limitations, she understands how to While she’s notnecessarilyafanof black andwhitedots?”shetoldPang. do youmakeaconceptin16-by-16 resting tosolvethatproblem of,how if solvingapuzzle.“Ifindit really inte- that Kare hadtoapproach herworkas ty.”All of these considerations meant don’t necessarilyhamper creativi- one thought.“Technical constraints idea; punsdidn’t translateas well as “copy,” but quickly relinquished the in amirror (“copycat”)astheiconfor rimented withusinganiconofacat English language.Kare brieflyexpe- users withiconsthatdidn’t rely onthe bering toaccommodateinternational An additionalchallengewasremem- explained. symbolize: sort,save,inspire,” Kare ber ofotherperennially toughverbsto pulling out anail?) along with a num- an unsolvedproblem (clawhammer nicate abstractideas.“‘Undo’remains her findimaginativewaystocommu- The diversityofhersources helped WITH EMPATHY a ransomnote),andCairo—a dingbat cause its collage of letters looked like cisco (originallynamedRansom,be- York, ,thewackySanFran- as onearlyversionsofiPods),New ce through system7.6in 1997, aswell go (theMac’s defaultsan-seriftypefa- Her fontsfortheMacincludedChica- Company excerpt. Steve Silberman writes intheFast as it does in the pages of a book,” as naturallyontheMac’s whitescreen Kare’s fonts “allowedtexttobreathe gether fonts that prevailed at the time, ced.” Incontrasttothesmooshed-to- lier computerfontswere monospa- widths,” Kare toldQuartz. “Mostear “i” and an “m” could have different proportionally spacedcharacters—an path-breaking technology enabled terrific opportunity because thenew (pixel) fontsfortheMacintoshwasa “The chancetocreate asetofbitmap designing originalfontsfortheMac. project.”Kare wasalsocharged with don’t needtousethemallinevery of colors and hundreds of fonts, you that just because you can use millions projects, notjustdigital.Istillbelieve from there. That’s trueinmostdesign derstand what’s possible,andwork - tion ofasmileyface. more lovable,naturally, withtheaddi- Pinterest’s signature pushpin—made rabbithole.Anothershows an internet to signifythejoyofgettingsuckedinto pin showsapairofbunnyears,meant mugs, stickers,andenamelpins.One ters in2018sellingKare-designed a cafeatitsSanFranciscoheadquar heat. More recently, Pinterest opened se it’s slightlymeltedintheimaginary green popsiclegainscredibility becau- a scatteringofcrumbs,whilelime- delectable because it’s surrounded by Facebook: a nutbrownie looksmore sider thevirtualgiftsshedesignedfor gives themmovementandlife.Con- our screens, herattentiontodetail ingenuity. Thoughherimagesliveon are atestamenttoKare’s continued signs, likeherearlyworkfortheMac, Her more contemporarydigitalde- inspiration from Pinterest.” random imagesandoftengetgraphic my dailytriparound Isave theinternet Kare told Quartz. “And of course, on labelsontrucks,” ging, orwarning handmade signs,interesting packa- of imagesstenciledonthesidewalk, myself takingphotos,forexample, her travels,onlineandoff. “Ioftenfind and from thesightssheencountersin Kanji pictograms is another favorite— ration bothfrom books—atomeon Today, Kare continuestodawinspi- selected toprint.) scape orportraitmode,thatusershad orientation ofthepage,ineitherland- software usedhimtoillustrate the ing in the late 1980s, when Apple’s ter whogainedcelebritystatusstart- the dogcow, asweetandspottedcrit- The mostfamousdingbatinCairo was the keyboard. tens, andtreble clefswithastroke of to insertimagesofpalmtrees, mit- pre-emoji era,whichallowedpeople font that was particularly useful in the -

17 CONVINCING WITH EMPATHY HOWHOW TO TOBECOME BECOME SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL18 simple your mom could „Make itso use it.“ CONVINCING a machineandmore like aneasy-to- to maketheMacintoshfeellesslike daunting task:touseiconographies at Apple,Kare wasentrusted witha from thattoworkingat Apple.”Once so itwasinteresting for me tosegue sculpture; butitwaskindofsolitary, ty in2000.“Ireally enjoyed makingthis in aninterviewwithStanford Universi- that withthiscommission,” Kare said art full-time.Ihadthechancetodo time. “Myideallifewouldbetomake seum in Hot Springs, Arkansas at the back hogasacommission for a mu- a weldedsculpture ofalife-size razor- An artistatheart,shewasworkingon had Kare inmind. Apple, waslookingforadesignerand members oftheMacintoshteamat 14. Hertzfeld, then one of the early friend whomshe’s knownsinceage call from AndyHertzfeld,ahighschool Valley giants.In1982,Kare received a birthplace of Apple and otherSilicon soon migrateddowntoPaloAlto—the Arts MuseumsofSanFrancisco.She to takeacuratorialjobattheFine York University, she went westward a Ph.D. fromart. After earning New Early on,Kare foundasanctuminfi ne des later. that are instantlyrecognizable deca- vas ofapproachable visualmetaphors dots onascreen, Kare created acan- Dogcow.” With little more than a few brush, and,ofcourse,“Clarusthe (⌘), thesystem-failure bomb,thepaint nal computing: the command symbol faces, andgraphicelementsinperso- of themostrecognizable icons,type- role atApple.There, shecreated some sider—pivoted toagraphicdesigner then asculptorandtech-worldout- of pixelart.Intheearly1980s,Kare— ses, andushered inanewgeneration user interfaceaccessibletothemas- iconography, shemadethegraphic tion. Through her intuitive, whimsical the apex of human-machine interac- has spentherthree-decade career at man whogavetheMacintoshasmile,” hand. SusanKare, knownasthe“wo- succeed withoutanartisticsleightof No great technological revolution can WITH HUMOR instance, wasconceivedwhenKare metaphor. Thecommandsymbol,for zed thejargon intoadigestiblevisual hieroglyphics, Kare thenconceptuali- ranging from piratelore toancient Utilizing aneclecticpoolofsources ter function,like“boot”or“debug.” Each sketchbeganwithacomp- pixel bypixel. sketch manyoftheearlyAppleicons, interface. Sheproceeded tohand- bit-mapped displayoftheearlyApple represented apixel,mimickingthe by-32 grid.Eachofthe1,024squares art supplystore, Kare drew outa32- lest graphpaper”she could fi ndin an pointillism. Afterprocuring “thesmal- rience withmosaics,needlepoint,and digital realm, shedrew from herexpe- had scantexperiencedesigninginthe sally invitingandintuitive.SinceKare ve thattheMacintoshiconsbeuniver- technical consumers,itwasimperati- low-cost personalcomputerfornon- use, relatable workstation.Asthefi rst than jointhenavy.” tional quote:“It’s bettertobeapirate ode totheteam’s infamousmotiva- nature rainbow-colored eyepatch,an with a pirate fl ag, complete with a sig- She oncefestoonedApple’s offi ce cal charmandanindependentstreak. Kare alwaysoperatedwithawhimsi- cades.Through allofherchallenges, tosh andiPodformore thantwode- ce, , was used on the Macin- 45-degree lines.Oneresulting typefa- enlisting onlyhorizontal,vertical,or monospaced computertypefacesby to avoidthejagged,pixelatedlookof 9-by-7 dotsperletter, Kare wasable Operating undertheconstraintofonly tionally spaceddigitalfontfamily. Kare alsopioneered thefi rstpropor- locations ofculturalinterest. Scandinavians inthe1960stomark cross, anancientsymbolalsousedby for hoursandsawtheSaintHannes pored through oldsymbologybooks

19 CONVINCING WITH HUMOR HOW HOWTO BECOME TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL20 job, andthat could domy was notany problem or „I feltasifI CONFIDENCE kind of issue.“ CONVINCING meaning andclaritytotheplatform’s terest, where shefocusesonadding works asacreative director atPin- sell herprintsonkareprints.com, and at Apple.Today, Kare continuesto mensional pixel art she’d designed ckies thatdepartedfrom thetwo-di- cupcakes, penguins,andrubberdu- book—a brilliant, full-color suite of hundreds ofvirtualgiftsfor Face- ween 2006and 2010, shedesigned ever-shifting tides of technology. Bet- she hassuccessfullyadaptedtothe tains today. Intheensuingdecades, Susan Kare Design,whichshemain- In 1988,Kare launchedherownfi rm, icon foritsmanyfans. that Kare stillproduces printsofthe Clarus gainedsuchacultfollowing signed as a partofApple’s Cairo font. guous-looking animaliconKare de- was “ClarustheDogcow,” anambi- red in pixel art form. And then there himself -wassafefrom beingrende- No colleague-notevenSteveJobs WITH only beeasytounderstand,but Each icon,shecontends,mustnot user willviewhericons. constraints ofthedeviceonwhichher rator—a tooltohelphervisualizethe a grid-liketemplateinAdobeIllust- inspiration strikes,sheworkswithin for catchysymbolsandshapes;once San Francisco,sheintrepidly hunts text andmetaphor. Onthestreets of continues toplaceapremium oncon- graph papertodesignsoftware, Kare though she’s upgradedhertoolsfrom of simplicity, clarity, andbeauty. And philosophy thatrests onthetenets Kare hasstrictlyadhered toadesign res.But throughout theyears, , IBM,, andSonyPictu- 50 major clients, including Microsoft, She’s donedesignworkformore than History andScienceinAlbuquerque. the NewMexicoMuseumofNatural rican History, MoMA,SFMOMA,and tured attheNationalMuseumofAme- feed. Hericonographyhasbeenfea- sentences from tiny-iconlanguages. municate visually, piecingtogether tionaries havewon:online,weallcom- and gifsisasignthatthevisualrevolu- Pinterest, Instagram,Snapchat, emoji, director. The mainstream presence of now, Pinterest, where sheisacreative icons forMicrosoft, Facebook, and, ter workingforApple,Kare designed in theoriginaloperatingsystem.Af- to theiconwhichgreeted crashes bomb, anyone?”shejoked,referring and evenasenseofhumor. Cherry which gaveitvoice,personality, style, is thanks to Susan’s fonts and icons, nation insteadofamere worktool––it home appliance, a spark for the imagi- volutionary object––apetinsteadofa outtobesuchare-“If theMacturned for Everyone.” sketches, inthe2015exhibit“Thisis to physicallyshowKare’s original icon Art,wasthefiMuseum ofModern rst tor of architecture and design at the res. PaolaAntonelli, the seniorcura- you couldcommunicatewith in pictu- intosh revolutionary—a computerthat the suiteoficonsthatmadeMac- ned aversionofthat disk, aspartof disk means“Save.”SusanKare desig- cloud storageisasignofitspower. A icon intotheageoffl ashdrivesand disaster. Thepersistenceofthatdisk stood betweenyouandterm-paper remembering tosaveadiskoften fore AutoSave,inthedarkageswhen ned touseacomputerintheerabe- my workeverytenminutes.ButIlear- as mycomputerautomaticallysaves “Save.” Thisisasuperstitiousmove, Microsoft Word toolbarthatindicates northward toclickonthediskin I wrote thisstory, Imovedmycursor te with.Everyfi fteenminutesorso,as computer thatyoucouldcommunica- made theMacintoshrevolutionarya Kare designedthesuiteoficonsthat her ownright,Kare doestoo.Susan heightened relevance. Nowaniconin simplicity-driven philosophyenjoysa re visualpollutionclogstheWeb, her to remember.In thedigitalera,whe-

21 CONVINCING WITH CONFIDENCE Icons for Apple

HOWHOW TO BECOME TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL22 her inventivedesigns. received theAIGAmedal in2018for crosoft, Facebook, and Pinterest. She many companies,includingApple,Mi- In her career, Susan Kare worked for Kare DingbatsFontsforApple CONVINCING WITH re are only8%femaleCDs,just3% creative sectorgoeswell. But:The- MKH is84%.Gettingstartedinthe studying communicationdesignatthe situation: Theproportion ofwomen cation coach.InFebruary2020.The tion withMargitta Dunkel,communi- of conceptanddrafting,incoopera- vision: Prof. SilkeJuchter, subjectarea versity ofFineArtsandDesign.Super strong Women“ attheMuthesiusUni- „Bringing into Light - Portraits of was created aspartofthe workshop design: Theresa Günther. Thiswork ning From SusanKare“, conceptand „How To BecomeSuccessful.Lear PIXELS - - * andboys ten/?type=stud muthesius-kunsthochschule.de/arbei- 35 cm. https://konzept-und-entwurf. With bigformats,infoldersof50x achievements, showtheirpotentials. find yourheroines, shed lightontheir get tothetop.Thetask:Heyladies*: of strong womenshowit is possibleto down socialroles. Thesuccess stories ted inleadingpositionsandbreaking couraging women to become interes- about femaleartists?Thisisen- female agencyowners.Why?How

23 CONVINCING WITH PIXELS „Don’t try to be original, just try to be good.“ try „Don’t

HOW TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL24