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The Story Behind Susan Kare’s Iconic Design Work for Apple

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Re: The Story Behind Susan Kare’s Iconic Design Work for Apple

#4

It's seen on Swedish road signs because it was copied from Swedish road signs. Did anyone really think it might be the other way round?

I don't think anyone is confused that the origin is swedish road signs. to quote from the article:

"I was just not sure what a ‘feature’ looked like … so I was thumbing through a symbol dictionary and I came across this symbol (⌘). In the back of the book, it said it was for an ‘interesting feature’ at Swedish campgrounds. I thought it was maybe a little abstract, but it worked."

Re: The Story Behind Susan Kare’s Iconic Design Work for Apple

#5
These basic designs pretty much stayed the course all the way through OS 9, and some even in OS X. It's gotta be surreal to think something she designed is on millions of devices. Reminds me of someone I met who wrote video drivers for Intel. It's something small you don't think about, a tiny piece that is essential in bringing the whole thing together.

Too often we think about the captains of the ships, the Gates and Bezos and Musks of this world. People attribute so much to them, when all they really did is convince other people with actual skill to make the things they wanted. I doubt Elon could design the engine of a rocket. There are no Tony Starks outside of the movies. There are 60 ~ 150 engineers who carefully design and check each others work.

It's like when we see Columbus discovering the new world, even though so many other civilizations had discovered it before him, ignoring all the ships and crews that got him there, and the fact that the new world was named after Amerigo Vespucci, the cartographer who actually mapped it out.

There are hundreds or thousands of engineers and designers like this one, who are the people who really make these products real.

Re: The Story Behind Susan Kare’s Iconic Design Work for Apple

#6
post #2

What is the source of these quotes? If it's an original interview, you should say so. If from somewhere else, you should say where and link to it.

It doesn't look like it is an original interview. One quote is from here, for instance.

https://www.salon.com/2012/01/04/the_architect_of_apple_icon...

Some of the sketches seem to come from the work of the person who wrote the introduction to her book.

http://blogs.plos.org/neurotribes/2011/11/22/the-sketchbook-...

Re: The Story Behind Susan Kare’s Iconic Design Work for Apple

#7
For the lazy: the symbol (⌘) has apparently been used at Swedish campgrounds and parks for decades. It's used to denote interesting features, both natural and man-made. It was inspired by the way Swedish castles look from above (a central building with a turret at each corner).

Re: The Story Behind Susan Kare’s Iconic Design Work for Apple

#9
post #5

These basic designs pretty much stayed the course all the way through OS 9, and some even in OS X. It's gotta be surreal to think something she designed is on millions of devices. Reminds me of someone I met who wrote video drivers for Intel. It's something small you don't think about, a tiny piece that is essential in bringing the whole thing together. Too often we think about the captains of the ships, the Gates an…

Gates was quite heavily involved in making Microsoft's early products, long before they had '60 to 150 engineers'. In the case of Jobs, the really enduring mystery to me is that despite some seemingly disqualifying personality flaws, he managed to both surround himself with very talented people and get them to do outstanding work together. Once, you could chalk it up to luck but somehow he did it repeatedly.

Re: The Story Behind Susan Kare’s Iconic Design Work for Apple

#10
post #2

What is the source of these quotes? If it's an original interview, you should say so. If from somewhere else, you should say where and link to it.

To my recollection having just watched it a few months ago, the quotes and figures are all pulled directly (and uncredited), from the talk she gave at the Layers Design Conference, 2015. [1] Of course she's maybe given this same talk on other occasions but the OP is a shoddy piece of work. The video's worth your time if the topic interests you, she had some other interesting anecdotes about the Apple days and her work after also. Just don't waste your time with John Gruber's Q&A at the end, he wasn't on the same page as her at all.

1. https://vimeo.com/151277875

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