Susan Kare, “Sketches for Graphic User Interface Icon” (detail) (1982), ink on graph paper, on view in ‘This Is for Everyone’ at MoMA (gift of the designer, 2015, photo by the author for Hyperallergic ...

Ever since we started controlling our computers with a mouse, icons have been central to our operating systems. By clicking on small, simple images representing a folder, trash can, or magnifying ...