Since its unveiling at the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, Apple's new user interface for iOS 7 has proven somewhat controversial with pundits and fans debating whether the direction is a good or bad one. Earlier this week, it was reported that Jony Ive had put Apple's marketing team in charge of the look and color palette for the iOS 7 icons, bringing new blood and a fresh perspective to the operating system.

Network World spoke to original Macintosh icon designer Susan Kare and was able to get her thoughts on the new design:

Generally a good direction--am a fan of simple, meaningful symbols that fill a space, such as Music and Weather. It's better -- more iconic, less illustrative.

Kare's thoughts somewhat echo Jony Ive's comments made during the iOS 7 introduction video, in which he noted that simplicity, clarity and efficiency are some of the goals behind iOS 7.

Kare created many of the original interface elements for the Apple Macintosh in the mid-1980s, including the Chicago sans-serif typeface and the "Happy Mac" symbol that greeted early Mac users at startup. She now works as an independent artist.