Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 6: Personal Computer Era (1980s)
1989
Kid Pix Empowers Young Creativity

Digital creativity witnessed a revolution with the invention of Kid Pix. Developed by Craig Hickman and published by Broderbund Software in 1991, Kid Pix marked a paradigm shift in computer software designed for children. lerandom.art:
“Kid Pix is a drawing program written for children. It was made as a direct response to MacPaint (1984). And it includes a lot of generative drawing tools. You can drag your mouse across the screen and things drip down or you drag your mouse across the screen and all of these concentric circles emerge from that point.”
lerandom.art “I think the huge disappointment in Mac Paint, it’s an extraordinary piece of software but all it, is that it emulates existing tools. This is the airbrush tool. This is the Eraser tool. This is the Pen tool. Kid Pix branches out from there and makes drawing tools that are unique, and that can only be made with code. It really encouraged a generation of children to play with drawing in software.”
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random.
Sources
People
Movements
computer art, digital art, generative art
Filed under
- Ideas
- code as material, digital art, drawing, education, generative art, playfulness, tools
- Technologies
- computer art, Kid Pix, MacPaint
- People
- Casey Reas, Craig Hickman
- Organisations
- Brøderbund Software
Echoes across time
- 1959 · CalComp 565 Drum Plotter Released
- 1960 · William Fetter Creates the First Computer Graphics
- 1951 · Edmund C. Berkeley Begins Publishing Computers and Automation
Le Random editorials
- Casey Reas on the History of Generative Art - Part 1, Peter Bauman, June 22, 2023
- Casey Reas, Lauren Lee McCarthy & Chandler McWilliams on Expanding Software, Peter Bauman, August 20, 2024
- Casey Reas on the History of Generative Art - Part 2, Peter Bauman, July 5, 2023
Le Random podcast
- Elevating the Generative Art Space (Launch Episode) with Casey Reas, ciphrd, Anne Spalter, Anika Meier & Georg Bak — listen with transcript on Le Random (28 Jun 2023, 52 min). Featuring Casey Reas. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 8—Tooling Era (2000s) with Christiane Paul, Casey Reas, Christa Sommerer & Golan Levin — listen with transcript on Le Random (15 May 2024, 64 min). Featuring Casey Reas. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 6—Personal Computer Era (1980s) with Mark Wilson, Copper Giloth, Dan Sandin, David Em, William Latham, Stephen Todd, Darcy Gerbarg & Geoff Davis — listen with transcript on Le Random (08 Feb 2024, 85 min). Chapter 6’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify