Bound sketchbook, ink and felt-tipped pen on paper
Not on view
Kare’s icons for the Macintosh System 1, Apple’s first computer-operating system, changed the communication interface between humans and machines, making it easier and friendlier in tone. To design them, Kare used the decidedly analog method of pencil and pen on graph paper, each square representing a single pixel. Her icons are perfect translations of various word-processing and operating functions—a pair of scissors for cutting text and a trash bin for deleting files. These pictograms were designed to be a language intelligible to users in any country—a fully intuitive graphic user interface (GUI) whose influence remains evident in today’s devices.
Pirouette: Turning Points in Design, January 26, 2025–November 15, 2025
Gallery label from Never Alone: Video Games and Other Interactive Design , September 10, 2022–July 16, 2023
Kare designed the graphic user interface icons for Apple during the early years of the company. Her process is documented in graph-paper sketchbooks. Using one square to equal one pixel, Kare produced icons for various functions the computer user might undertake (for example, a pair of scissors symbolized the cutting of text, and a trash bin, the deletion of files). The pictograms were designed to be intuitive and understandable by Apple users across the globe. At the same time that Kare mined history and visual culture for existing icons that could be appropriated—from wristwatches (to mark the passing of time) to globe bombs (to indicate a system failure)—she created a visual language unique to the original Mac OS.
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