Which architect designed McDonald’s original Golden Arches restaurant design in the early 1950s?

Stanley Clark Meston designed McDonald’s original Golden Arches restaurant design in the early 1950s.

Meston was an architect based in Southern California. Working with sign designer Charles Fish, he developed the tall, parabolic yellow arches that became a visible feature of McDonald’s buildings. The arches were intended to make the restaurants recognizable to passing motorists, not merely to function as a corporate logo.

The design first appeared on McDonald’s restaurant architecture before the arches were combined into the familiar connected “M” mark. That distinction causes a common mix-up: Meston designed the building arches, while Jim Schindler created the connected-arches logo used by the company in 1962.

The arches eventually outgrew their architectural purpose. They became one of the world’s most recognizable corporate symbols, even when no restaurant building was visible. Their development illustrates how McDonald’s branding began with roadside architecture and later expanded into logos, packaging, advertising, and uniforms.