Why Do Graphic Artists Prefer Macs?

Why Do Graphic Artists Prefer Macs?

After questioning a bunch of designers why they thought like the Mac was the medium of preference in the design industry, we was able to perceive a range of different feedback points. The Mac has a history that goes back to the 80’s, when it was traditionally seen as a better design method. It’s proven to make fonts stronger. It’s been a superior customer interface for years. And ultimately, it’s consistent, well-made and good-looking. But maybe most significant of all, Mac and Windows users all decided that there isn’t much of a gap today. It’s all down to a question of personal interest.

We see Mac computers all around; studios, universities, technology firms. Etc used by graphic artists, illustrators, UX designers. No matter where you go and no matter what kind of style you practise, Macs are widely used as a tool of preference. So why is it? How precisely did the Mac earn this prized title? We set out to find the answers to those concerns by specifically questioning a lot of designers why they thought the Mac was a superior tool. What we ended up with was a mixture of humorous, frank, and informative remarks.

Legacy and Tradition:

This was the first and most famous response we got. It all began in the 1980s. The competition to create a functional personal computer was ongoing, and by 1984, Apple replied to the call with the first Macintosh, which was followed by one of the largest ad efforts in history. Macintosh sold well, consumers liked GUI (Graphical User Interface) and businesses loved their desktop publishing capability. In reality, it was proposed that, by exploiting PostScript, PageMaker, and LaserWriter, Apple was largely responsible for developing the desktop publishing industry as a whole.

By the early 1990s, Apple had cornered the luxury and consumer industries. With the introduction of Device 7, they applied colour to the user experience and implemented modern networking features. It will remain the architectural base of the Mac OS until 2001. When Apple started to build a more design-centric product and OS, tech developers followed suit and began developing design software specifically for Macs. In reality, Adobe goods were initially only accessible on the Mac. This further highlighted the need for designers to use Macs, particularly as studios and universities continued to become Mac-only operations. The Mac was intended for artists, the design programme was created for the Mac, and the designer was educated on the Mac.

Rendering Font

From a hardware standpoint, the Mac has always been better at making fonts. Whether or not there is indeed a problem today is up for discussion. Although in the past, Microsoft and Apple were having a very different path to how they wanted to produce fonts, and that created a fairly significant impact on artists. The basic principle is that Windows is made for readability (resulting in a sharper form style) whereas Mac OS is rendered for visual appearance (resulting in style more similar to what you might see on a printed page). The Mac was also the first multi-faceted device to be integrated into the OS.

From a hardware standpoint, the Mac has always been better at making fonts.
From a hardware standpoint, the Mac has always been better at making fonts.

More recently, Apple has displayed a tendency to use classic typefaces in their OS, while Microsoft has continuously commissioned “knock-off” typefaces such as Arial (from Helvetica) and Segoe (from Frutiger). In this regard, the designers we talked with thought that Apple has always appeared to be more supportive of the design group than Microsoft.

User’s Insight

Apple’s System 7 (released in May 1991) was deemed much more user-friendly than Microsoft’s Windows 3.1 system (released in April of 1992). It provided a significantly enhanced user experience and functionality that was built by UX processes that Apple had placed in motion before other businesses really understood what UX was. The “Pink and Blue” conference organised by Apple managers in March 1988, shortly after the introduction of Device 6. In this brainstorming session, proposals were written on index cards; functionality that appeared easy enough to incorporate in the short term (like introducing colour to the user interface) were written on blue cards, longer-term ambitions (like true multitasking) were written on pink cards, and “far-out” ideas (like an object-oriented file system) were written on red cards. This started with Apple’s high-level task prioritisation for Device 7. It is no wonder that these early UX activities were present in the creation of a technology that was respected for its User Interface.

In more recent years, designers have fallen in love with smaller features that are very well tailored to design workflows and enable them complete their tasks with ease. The Mission Control functionality (formerly known as Exposé) is an outstanding illustration of this. It was previewed for the first time in 2003 and appears to be a central component of the Mac product more than 10 years later. Apple also retains a very pleasant motion and short-key suite that is seamless throughout its various items, giving an incredibly intuitive and reliable experience. One of the smallest but most strong features I’ve come across, however, was the truth. PSD files (Photoshop Documents) may be previewed in the thumbnails of the file. This isn’t available “out of the package” for Screens, so it’s a huge time-saver for programmers.

Beyond the applications created by Apple, it has also been noticed that even third party apps tend to be more user-friendly on the Mac. Apps that are unique to the Mac, such as Draw, Skala Preview, and Affinity Creator, have all been cited as outstanding examples of UX-enabled third party applications. And in certain situations, like Sketch, proprietary Mac software is essential to the workflow of artists. Many UX teams rely on Sketch during their mockup process, claiming that they are glad to use it because “it was developed by people who put a lot of thought and consideration into their work.”

Macs work with efficiency and they are appealing

Designers seem to admire the business model of Apple, where they construct not just an operating system, but also the hardware that operates it. Although PCs are great but you don’t a lot of information when picking out Macs. This makes for a completely smooth interface, where Apple monitors what happens to the customer from the first encounter to the last. Microsoft may not have this privilege which often results in a full disconnect between a real product and intangible tech, where two organisations with conflicting goals, philosophies and even target markets may collaborate together towards a common product.
Interested in learning graphic design? Join Blue Sky Graphics one-to-one graphic design online course today and learn graphic design at your own pace in the comfort of your own home!