Which architect designed the original Golden Arches for McDonald’s first franchised restaurant in 1953?

Stanley Clark Meston designed the original Golden Arches for McDonald’s first franchised restaurant in 1953.

Meston was an architect based in California who worked with restaurant operator Richard McDonald on the building’s roadside appearance. The design used two large yellow arches at opposite sides of the restaurant, intended to be visible to passing motorists.

The arches were architectural features before they became the company’s best-known logo. In 1962, designer Jim Schindler combined the two forms into the stylized M-shaped symbol used in McDonald’s branding.

A common mix-up is crediting Ray Kroc with designing the arches. Kroc expanded McDonald’s through franchising, but Meston created the original restaurant architecture, while Schindler later developed the logo treatment. The first arches were associated with a restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona.