HumanForms (found image library; 1985)

The software's cover design.

Status: Found

Date found: 27 Feb 2024

Found by: Ziggy Cashmere, Bert Monroy

HumanForms was a clipart image library produced by The Reference Corporation for use with the Apple Macintosh computer in MacPaint.^[1] Contained on a single floppy disk, it contained 26 pages^[2] of drawn body parts for both the male and female bodies designed to be attached at the joints for technical illustrations.^[3] HumanForms was designed to be used by many professions but those who it was more precisely marketed to were choreographers, hospitals, and educators. ^[4]

History

HumanForms was released in October of 1984 and retailed at $59.95^[4] (the equivalent of around $175 today). HumanForms was created by computer artist Bert Monroy with his partner at the company The Reference Company, with the artwork itself being drawn by Bert Monroy exclusively in MacPaint. ^[2] HumanForms was meant to be part of a larger series of software under the RealWare title and be expanded with facial expressions and further details, however, this seems to have never come to fruition.^[4]

Availability

Advertisements for HumanForms seem to end in mid-1985, with no sign of being rereleased or repackaged elsewhere. It's unknown how many copies were initially sold and there have been no records of copies being sold online secondhand.

Three pages from the collection have been shared on Bert Monroy's page on the website MacPaint.org

On February 26th, 2024, creator Bert Monroy sent a copy of the library to user Ziggy Cashmere. It was then uploaded to the Internet Archive On the 27th of February.