Famous graphic designer Susan Kare recently spoke at Startup School 2026, where she shared stories from her time at Apple and explained the design ideas behind some of the original Macintosh’s most recognizable visual elements.
Y Combinator has now published the full talk on its YouTube channel, giving viewers a closer look at Kare’s work, her design process, and the challenges that came with creating graphics for an early graphical user interface more than four decades ago.
Kare helped shape the visual identity of the original Macintosh through icons, fonts, symbols, and interface elements that influenced personal computing for years. Several ideas connected to her work still appear across Apple software today, including the Command key symbol, the hand pointer, and the broader visual language used throughout macOS.
Don’t miss the best of The Mac Observer
Set us as a preferred source and our Apple reporting ranks higher in your Google Search results and Discover feed — one tap, no account changes.
Susan Kare looks back at her work at Apple
During the talk, Kare explains how she joined Apple, discusses the limitations designers faced while working with bitmap graphics, and shares examples from projects she worked on after leaving the company.
She also talks about Apple’s early culture and includes lessons from other well-known designers, making the session useful for anyone interested in design, Apple history, or the development of modern computer interfaces.
You can watch Susan Kare’s full Startup School 2026 talk on Y Combinator’s YouTube channel.
Discussion