A pioneer of digital design looks back on a defining era

When Apple introduced the Macintosh in 1984, it was the dawn of an era. Personal computing was ascendant. The World Wide Web was on its way. Screens would soon begin to take over people’s lives — an early precursor to the always-on, Zoom-to-Zoom world we’re living in today.

Men, especially ones named Steve and Bill, get a lot of credit for heralding this modern era of information technology. But behind the scenes, at tech and design firms around the world, the look and feel of those screens was defined by lesser-known graphic designers — people who created the windows, dialogue boxes and icons taken largely for granted these days.