# Susan Kare's Macintosh Icons

Type: Clipping
Date: 2026-06-02
Tags: Icon design, Pixel art, Interface, Macintosh, Grid
Source: It's Nice That
Source URL: https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/susan-kare-apple-macintosh-icons-california-designing-freedom-design-museum-240517
Hero image: /content-assets/clippings/clipping_images/susan-kare-brush.jpg
Hero image alt: Susan Kare's hand-drawn 'brush' icon in pink marker on gridded paper, each filled square standing for one pixel.
Canonical: https://www.aaronroot.net/clippings/susan-kare-icons

Susan Kare designed the icons and typefaces for the original Apple Macintosh. Working with the monochrome, low-resolution display, she drew each icon on gridded paper with one square per pixel, including the trash can, the save disk, and the smiling Mac. Shown here is her drawing for the brush tool. The set established much of the visual language of point-and-click computing.