Susan Kare

  • Pioneer of pixel art and graphical computer interface
Susan Kare

Website Links

Artist and graphic designer Susan Kare was born in Ithaca, New York, wanting to be a fine artist or teacher. In 1983, Kare designed the visual core language for the first Macintosh computer and was an integral member in the prerelease marketing campaign. 

When Steve Jobs left Apple in 1986, Kare followed him to NeXT, Inc. to become the creative director and the new company’s 10th employee. 

As an independent designer, Kare has worked with Microsoft, Motorola and Sony Pictures. In 2003, she was recommended by Nancy Pelosi to fill one of four appointments to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee to design coins for the United States Mint. In 2015, the Museum of Modern Art exhibited the first physical representation of her iconography.

Class year: 1975
Major: art; Doctor of Science honorary degree, 2001

Happening at Mount Holyoke

Recent Campus News

A question of morality: when intentions matter

Mount Holyoke student Chiara Hodge ’29 was shortlisted for the John Locke Institute’s Global Essay Prize for an argument exploring whether good actions can be morally wrong when motivated by bad intentions.

MHC leaders named among Washington’s most powerful women

Three members of the Mount Holyoke College community were named to Washingtonian’s 2026 list of the 300 most powerful women in Washington, recognizing their leadership in philanthropy, government affairs and education.