Jim Schindler created the joined Golden Arches symbol used by McDonald's from 1962.
McDonald's had already used physical arches as architectural features on its restaurants. In 1962, company design work turned that building motif into a simplified graphic emblem. Jim Schindler, a McDonald's engineering and design employee, combined the two arches into an M-shaped symbol that could function independently of a restaurant building.
The graphic mark was crucial to the development of McDonald's visual identity. It worked on signs, paper packaging, advertisements, employee materials, and later digital media. Because the symbol reduced the brand to a simple shape and color combination, it could be recognized even when the company name was absent.
Schindler is sometimes confused with Stanley Meston, the architect associated with the earlier restaurant buildings. Meston designed the architectural arches; Schindler created the joined graphic logo. Ray Kroc expanded the business but did not design the symbol.