Xerox PARC essentially pioneered “pixel art:” Adele Goldberg and Robert Flegal, both of PARC, coined the term in 1982, and it existed as a concept as early as 1972, when the company developed SuperPaint. This was followed by the Star in 1981, which featured rudimentary icons. The computer incorporated a mouse-driven cursor and a multiple-window platform to work on hypertext.īy the early 1970s, Xerox PARC had utilized this technology to create the Alto personal computer, which was fully equipped with a bitmapped screen, and menus - and was the first computer to integrate a GUI. In the 1960s, Doug Engelbart, an engineer obsessed with human-computer interaction, pioneered the oN-Line System (NLS) at SRI international in Menlo Park, California. When Apple launched the Macintosh in 1984, they touted its simple, user-friendly GUI - but in order to create it, Apple pulled from a long lineage of innovation in the computing industry. It wouldn’t be fair to write about digital design without first paying homage to the development that made it possible: the graphic user interface (GUI). We had a chance to interview her this is her story.Ī 1984 Ad for the Apple Macintosh (Macintosh 128k) Source: Pinot Dita Equipped with few computer skills and lacking any prior experience with digital design, Kare proceeded to revolutionize pixel art.įor many, Susan Kare’s icons were a first taste of human-computer interaction: they were approachable, friendly, and simple, much like the designer herself. Today, we recognize the little images - system-failure bomb, paintbrush, mini-stopwatch, dogcow - as old, pixelated friends.īut Kare, who has subsequently done design work for Microsoft, Facebook, and Paypal, has also become her own icon, immortalized in the annals of pixel art. Susan Kare “was the type of kid who always loved art.” As a child, she lost herself in drawings, paintings, and crafts as a young woman, she dove into art history and dreamed of being a world-renowned fine artist.īut when a chance encounter in 1982 reconnected her with an old friend and Apple employee, Kare found herself working in a different medium, with a much smaller canvas - about 1,024 pixels. Thirty years ago, as tech titans battled for real estate in the personal computer market, an inconspicuous young artist gave the Macintosh a smile.

Jef raskin paper models