My contribution for Ada Lovelace Day is dedicated to Susan Kare.

Susan Kare, the “Mother of GUI”:

Have you ever used a Macintosh computer? If yes, do you know the key on the bottom left of your keyboard that says  “command”. Can you picture the cloverleaf-like “infinite loop” symbol beside that? Or how about the the “Happy Mac” icon image to the left? Kane designed them.

OK, so you’re not a Mac user. Do you know the fonts Geneva, Chicago and Monaco? Kane created them.

How about Facebook – have you ever received or given a “gift” on Facebook? You know the pixel images that you can send to a friend? Kare designed many of the icons for the Facebook Gifts application.

So, you don’t use a Mac, you haven’t heard of those fonts and you’ve never been on Facebook?! Have you played Solitaire? Kare designed the graphics for the computer game. (more…)

I stumbled upon this discovery earlier today while reading “Video Game Design Between 1990-2008” on Webdesigner Depot. While there are numerous debates over what the first video game was, the answer depends largely on how you define “video games”. The first truly interactive video game was “Tennis for Two” and this was also one of the first electronic games to use a graphical display.

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