After watching the short clip about Susan Kare (the iconographer), I felt compelled to learn more about the history behind icons and logos (smaller designs). While surfing through the web, I came across an image of a former Apple logo (top left), which has virtually no resemblance to the one we know and love today.
To me, the most interesting part is the change in detail over the years. The first rendition was incredibly detailed, depicting Newton under a tree and shadows on the ribbons around it. Over the next two decades, it simplified to focus on the apple itself, even polishing to add dimension and highlights to it. However, the recent design actively removed detail, reminding me of Susan Kare’s quote during her talk: “when you see a detailed face, you see someone else. When you take the detail away, you see something more universal.”
2 Comments
Christine Zhang · February 5, 2021 at 10:41 am
Wow that first logo is so detailed. I also find it interesting how today’s Apple logo is essentially the same as the 1998 version, just a different color.
Mandy Chuang · February 7, 2021 at 3:21 pm
This visual timeline is so cool! They’ve also played with light with the logo. I remember the apple on the old Macbooks used to light up when they were turned on but now they don’t. I wonder if the change was due to structural redesign or an intentional doing away with the light.
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