Susan Kare, 2018 AIGA MedalistSusan Kare created the icons for the Macintosh computer. "..at Apple, Kare was entrusted with a daunting task: to use iconographies to make the Macintosh feel less like a machine and more like an easy-to-use, relatable workstation. As the first low-cost personal computer for nontechnical consumers, it was imperative that the Macintosh icons be universally inviting and intuitive. Since Kare had scant experience designing in the digital realm, she drew from her experience with mosaics, needlepoint, and pointillism. After procuring “the smallest graph paper” she could find in an art supply store, Kare drew out a 32-by-32 grid. Each of the 1,024 squares represented a pixel, mimicking the bit-mapped display of the early Apple interface. She proceeded to hand-sketch many of the early Apple icons, pixel by pixel."