Susan Kare
Designer who created the original Macintosh icons and fonts
- Age
- 72 yrs
- Birthday in 91 days
- Works listed
- 3
- Icon set, Typeface
- Honours
- 1
- Most recent 2018
- Profile views
- 2
- 0 followers
Susan Kare is an American artist and graphic designer who created many of the icons and typefaces for the original Apple Macintosh in 1984, including the smiling “Happy Mac”, the trash can and the command-key symbol. Her pixel art helped make computers friendly and has influenced interface design ever since.
Biography
Education
Kare studied art at Mount Holyoke College and earned a PhD in fine arts at New York University. She worked as a sculptor and at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
The Macintosh
In 1982 her school friend Andy Hertzfeld invited her to Apple to design fonts and graphics for the Macintosh. Working at first on graph paper, she designed icons within a 32-by-32 grid, including the Happy Mac, the paintbrush, the watch and the trash can. She chose the looped-square command symbol from a Swedish sign for places of interest.
Fonts
She designed the Chicago, Geneva and Monaco fonts, often naming them after cities. Chicago was used in Mac menus and later on the first iPods.
Later work
Kare followed Steve Jobs to NeXT, then worked for Microsoft (designing the card deck for Windows Solitaire and icons for Windows 3.0), IBM, Facebook and Pinterest. She received the AIGA Medal in 2018.
Timeline
-
1954
Born in Ithaca, New York, United States
-
1982
Joins Apple
-
1984
Macintosh launches with her icons
-
1986
Joins NeXT
-
1990
Windows 3.0 icons and Solitaire cards
-
2007
Facebook virtual gift icons
-
2018
AIGA Medal
Notable works
-
1984
Macintosh icons Icon set
-
1984
Chicago Typeface
-
1990
Windows Solitaire card deck Design
Awards and honours
-
AIGA Medal
2018
Did you know?
-
1
She sketched her first icons in a grid notebook bought at an art store.
-
2
Her original icon sketches have been shown in museum exhibitions.
-
3
She designed virtual gifts for Facebook in 2007.
Connections
Related people
Frequently asked
Who is Susan Kare?
Susan Kare is an American artist and graphic designer who created many of the icons and typefaces for the original Apple Macintosh in 1984, including the smiling “Happy Mac”, the trash can and the command-key symbol. Her pixel art helped make computers friendly and has influenced interface design ever since.
How old is Susan Kare?
Susan Kare is 72 years old, born on 5 February 1954 in Ithaca, New York, United States.
Where is Susan Kare from?
Susan Kare was born in Ithaca, New York, United States.
What is Susan Kare known for?
Susan Kare is best known for Macintosh icons (Happy Mac, trash can, command key); Chicago and Geneva fonts; Windows Solitaire cards.
What awards has Susan Kare received?
Notable honours include AIGA Medal (2018).
References
- Susan Kare — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Susan Kare — Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Susan Kare — Goodreads author page. Goodreads. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Official website. kare.com. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Susan Kare (Q48971) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Susan Kare”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Susan Kare.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/susan-kare
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