Who created McDonald’s familiar “M” logo from the restaurant’s original arches?

Jim Schindler created McDonald’s familiar “M” logo by combining the restaurant’s two original Golden Arches.

The arches began as physical architectural elements on McDonald’s buildings, designed to make the restaurants noticeable to passing motorists. As the chain expanded, the company needed a graphic mark that could appear on signs, packaging, advertisements, and other branded materials.

Schindler’s 1962 design turned the two arches into a single stylized symbol. A diagonal line was initially included in the logo, reflecting the arches’ architectural origins, but later versions simplified the form. The resulting golden “M” became much more than a building feature: it became a global corporate identifier.

Stanley Clark Meston is associated with designing the original restaurant arches, which is why the two names are often confused. Meston created the architectural concept; Schindler adapted it into the iconic graphic logo.