Susan Kare: a computer begins with a square

MoMA holds a Susan Kare notebook dated 1982: ink drawings on graph paper for Macintosh icons. Each square represents one pixel, a tiny point making up an image on a screen. Paper allowed her to work within that exact constraint. [1]

Try this editorial exercise: draw a cup using only sixteen squares along each side. First make the rim and the handle. Then add a pattern to its side. Hold the sheet farther away and ask which detail actually helps you recognise the cup. We are not reconstructing a Kare icon. We are testing a choice of our own, within a limit that everybody can see and discuss. [1]

In her 2019 Cooper Hewitt interview, Kare explains her focus on the meaning of images. She describes studying a problem, trying alternatives and revising, and recalls the contribution of colleagues making the software. The drawing therefore belonged to a collaboration, connected to how the computer worked. [2]

Continue our imaginary workshop: should the cup mean a break, or open a list of drinks? Show the drawing to someone without telling them the answer first. If they understand something else, write down their words. Then add a short label and compare the two attempts. In this exercise, we are not rewarding whoever guesses the designer’s thoughts. We are finding the point where the message got lost. [2]

Speaking to Smithsonian in 2019, Kare connects black and white grids with the embroidery she learned from her mother. She also recalls software for editing icons and viewing them enlarged or at actual size. These are two ways of looking at the same drawing, each useful for a different question. [3]

Here is our final suggested test: keep three versions of the cup instead of immediately throwing away the least successful one. Under each, write what you changed and why. You may prefer a wider handle, but explain which uncertainty it solves. The sheet becomes a record of decisions. Our aim is not to declare a shape understandable to everyone. It is to practise asking for feedback before calling a drawing finished. [2]