Which 1962 McDonald’s logo designer merged the arches into a letter M?

Jim Schindler merged McDonald’s arches into a letter M for the 1962 logo.

The original restaurant buildings used two separate golden arches as architectural elements. In 1962, McDonald’s designer Jim Schindler combined the visual impression of those arches into a single symbol resembling the capital letter M.

This change transformed an architectural feature into a compact corporate mark that could appear on packaging, signs, uniforms, and advertising. The symbol retained a connection to the restaurants while becoming easier to reproduce in many formats and locations.

Stanley Clark Meston is associated with the original architectural design, so the two names are often confused. Meston created the building concept’s arches; Schindler adapted that visual idea into the logo. The Golden Arches later became closely identified with McDonald’s even when no restaurant building was visible.