Susan Kare is the artist best known for creating the original Macintosh iconography which played such an important role in making the computer appear friendly to non-tech users. The Happy Macintosh, Dogcow, and error bomb were among her creations.
She already offered a range of prints and other artworks based on those pixelated memories, and has now added to them with some similarly-styled keycaps in silver and gold …
The keycaps are not Mac icons, but rather all-new low-res images in the same style. This includes two dogs, but no dogcows.
FastCo reports that the idea came from Alastair Walker, the founder and creative director of Asprey Studio, an London art gallery where the late Queen apparently bought gifts.
Walker says he thought Kare was the perfect person to design his idea of the “escape keys”: Meaningful symbols that would represent things people might want to do away from their keyboards, physical reminders of the joys of physical life. “There’s hidden meaning on each one,” Walker says, “and the whole idea is that they’re literally in front of you on the keyboard or on your chest. It’s a reminder not to be a keyboard warrior. So it’s kind of almost antithetical itself.”
“It’s a little ironic, but it resonated with me and I loved the idea,” Kare says. Walker initially asked if she would be interested in designing roughly 10 icons that would be on keyboard keys or mechanical keyboards with universal attachments.
The keycaps are suitable for mechanical keyboards with interchangeable keycaps, so not suitable for any of Apple’s current keyboards. They are also not cheap.
Each icon is a limited edition, from 30 to 120 pieces depending on the icon, with prices ranging from $650 to $2,000 depending on the type of object: You can buy the computer key in enameled silver for $650 or in gold vermeil (a 19th-century technique in which you apply a thicker layer of gold to sterling silver, resulting in a finish that is five-times thicker and more durable than gold plating) for $1,010. The necklace pendant in silver goes for $1,390 while the gold vermeil version is $2,020.
I have a MacBook Pro, and my external keyboard is Apple’s Magic Keyboard, so I’m safe from temptation. I must say if I were choosing from her site, it would have to be this absolutely beautiful hand-painted woodcut of the MacPaint demo graphic.
But if you want a keycap or two, you can order here.
Via Macworld. Photo: Asprey Studio.
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