Rockstar Icon Designer - Kate McInnes [3]
Icons from OPENSTEP (1996), the last GUI by NeXT Computer before acquisition by Apple Computer in 1997. The original NeXTSTEP icons were monochrome.
1991 Macintosh System 7
Macintosh System 7 introduced color icons, but this feature was optional for machines capable of displaying it. On older computers, or ones that were set to monochrome, System 7 defaulted back to the black and white design of System 6. System 7 also included TrueType fonts for the very first time, which along with typesetting and printer output, were used to replace some of the bitmap GUI fonts from previous Macintosh systems.
Macintosh System 7 saw the introduction of colored icons.
1992 Windows 3.1
Susan Kare, who had previously made icons for Apple, was employed by Microsoft in 1988 to design icons and interface elements for Windows 3.1. Kare used her keen eye for pixel illustration to further refine the colors and design of the Windows icon set. Windows 3.1 was also the first Windows platform with pre-installed True Type Fonts and support for 256 colors. Along with improving the interface, Kare also created the memorable illustrations for Windows Solitaire.
Windows 3.1 icons designed by Susan Kare.
1994 Apple “Copland”
Announced in 1994, Copland was intended to be released by Apple as System 8 in 1996. After holdups in the development schedule and a host of feature changes the project was cancelled. Hired during the Copland project, Chief Technology Officer Ellen Hancock halted development in favor of a third-party solution. Hancock was instrumental in the purchase of NeXT which brought Steve Jobs back to Apple Software in 1996. Other operating systems considered for the new Mac OS were the BeOS system, Solaris or Microsoft's Windows NT[3].
Copland reached beta in 1995, and had a new theme for the operating system, called Platinum. The Platinum interface was the first GUI to be in full color with 3D shading on the icons and interface. Copland also included innovations such as spring loaded folders and a theme-able interface. The theme-able interface meant that software developers could make custom skins for Copland, which came bundled with two additional themes, Gizmo and High-Tech. Gizmo was a bold geometric theme for children and High-Tech which was a dark theme with a space-age feel, presumably for young men.
Copland prompted users to log into a personal account at startup which was given varying levels of access from the administrator account. This feature wouldn't be seen in Windows until Windows 98 (1998) and Mac with OS9 (1999)[4]. The distinctive style of the Copland icons live on through a 6 part series of icon sets released by IconFactory in 1996.
Icons from Copland, including icons for the P Theme (High-Tech) and Z Theme (Gizmo).
1995 Windows 95
Windows 95 was the first version of Windows to integrate MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows into a single product. A resounding success, Microsoft sold a record 7 million copies of Windows 95 in the first five weeks of its release[5]. The popularity of Windows 95 was due to both the faster system that was internet-ready, and a 300 million dollar advertising campaign that ran before the official release date. At the time, the advertising campaign was thought to be the largest advertising campaign for a product ever. The campaign included music by the Rolling Stones and advertisements starring Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Mathew Perry. Microsoft even lit up the Empire State Building in Red, Green and Yellow to match the Windows logo[6].
With the advancement of virtual memory to improve graphics rendering, Windows 95 introduces more colors to the interface and additional isometric icon designs. The Windows 95 design is a complete re-build and includes elements that are still part of Windows designs to this day. The elements include the taskbar, the menu and Microsoft's famous Start Button.
Similar to the icon designs of Windows 3, Windows 95 has added