Clarus the Dogcow

“Moof!” 🐶🐮

Clarus the Dogcow is one of Apple’s oldest and quirkiest mascots — a pixel-art dog / cow hybrid originally designed by Susan Kare. It appeared in classic Mac print setup dialogs to show page orientation, later became an inside joke across Apple, and eventually gained cult status among Mac fans. Its signature sound is “moof.”

Highlights

• Created in the 1980s for the Macintosh’s printing interface.
• Designed by Susan Kare; later named Clarus in an Apple technical note.
• Apple engineers embraced it as a company in-joke — spawning documentation, QuickTime demos, T-shirts, pins, beer labels (“Moof Bräu”), and Easter eggs.
• Largely disappeared after Steve Jobs returned and Mac OS X modernized the UI.
• Made occasional comebacks — returning to the Page Setup dialog in macOS Ventura and appearing in newer Apple developer materials, even as a (controversial!) walking Dogcow.

In short: Clarus is a beloved piece of classic Macintosh culture that symbolizes Apple’s early playful, engineer-driven personality. “Moof!”