Stanley Meston designed the original McDonald's restaurant arches that inspired the Golden Arches symbol.
Meston worked with McDonald's to create the distinctive architecture used for the chain's early restaurants. The buildings featured large yellow arches on either side of the structure, making the restaurants visible to passing motorists and giving the brand a strong roadside identity.
The physical arches later influenced the graphic logo. In 1962, designer Jim Schindler combined the two architectural forms into an M-shaped emblem. This distinction matters because Meston created the architectural inspiration, while Schindler created the modern graphic mark.
The arches were not originally intended simply as a letter M. Their initial purpose was architectural and promotional: they made the restaurant recognizable from a distance before the symbol became one of the world's most familiar corporate marks.