These two incomplete sticker sheets feature multiple multicolor Apple logo stickers. Each sheet measures 9 x 6 inches.
Each sheet has four different size logos that are die cut. Due to the “bleed” design of each sticker, the logos appear disproportional until removed from the sheet.
Unfortunately, neither of the sheets are complete and both have stickers removed.
This mousepad was likely released around the same time as Apple released the mid-1980s TV commercial with the tagline, “The Power to Be Your Best.”
The commercial features a man standing behind a window pensively looking at office workers wondering which computer is most powerful. A co-worker suggests that the answer can be found in system specifications, but the man concludes, “I think the most powerful computer is the one that people actually use.” A voiceover ends with the multicolor Apple logo and the words, “Macintosh, the power to be your best.”
This white mousepad doesn’t quite deliver on the ideal of “the best” because the “T” in the tagline at the top is in a different font (a sans serif font) than the rest of the phrase, “The power to be your best.” (Although this may be an intentional design choice.) In addition, the tagline font is not Apple’s corporate font of the time, Apple Garamond, and clashes with the font below it.
The lower-left corner features a large multicolor Apple logo and the logotype Apple Computer, Inc. (Apple’s official company name from 1977 until 2007 when it dropped “Computer” from its moniker).
This mousepad is 9 inches wide, 7.75 inches tall, and 0.25 inches thick. The mousepad has rounded edges and uses a thick, black, textured rubber pad. The bottom is also printed with the manufacturing company, COMPUTER EXPRESSIONS, Philadelphia, PA.
This Apple Desktop Publishing brochure from 1986 is titled “To find out how people like you are improving their looks….” The title is followed by black-and-white portraits with the captions Publisher, Graphic Director, Senior Designer, and Consultant. When opened, the phrase is completed by the words “just look.” along with more portraits.
The brochure follows a pattern showing each two-panel spread with a portrait, headline, quote, short story of how Apple is used, and a full color image. Many images span across the two panels and the text wraps around them. The back panel specifies that “Portraits in this brochure were created using Macintosh, LaserWriter, and MacVision. Additional hardware may be required.”
MacVision was a third-party hardware product. According to 32by32, “Koala MacVision was a $400 combination hardware/software interface to digitize still frames from a video camera or VCR. The MacVision box plugged into either the Printer or Modem port.” The software was written by Bill Atkinson, one of the original Macintosh creators and developer of HyperCard.
Folded, this brochure measures 3.75 x 8.375 inches.
The Apple Desktop Bus Mouse was redesigned and named for its new ADB connector that was used in Macintosh computers from 1986–1998. This mouse featured low-profile blocky design with a flattened pentagonal side profile and a flat rectangular (slightly trapezoidal) bottom. It had a single button and tracked using a rubber ball.
I have three different variations of the ADB Mouse in my collection. One has a dark ring supporting the trackball, another has a light ring matching the color of the body of the mouse, and a third model uses a ring with an arrow.
The ADB port was a round, 4-pin plug that was used on the Apple IIGS (1986), Macintosh computers, and licensed for use on NeXT computers. The Apple Desktop Bus system was created by Steve Wozniak as a single connector for input devices that was inexpensive to produce. The Macintosh II and Macintosh SE were the first Macintosh computers to use the ADB port.