Who created the original architectural design of McDonald's Golden Arches restaurants in the 1950s?

Stanley Clark Meston created the original architectural design of McDonald's Golden Arches restaurants in the 1950s.

Meston was an architect who worked with the McDonald brothers on the distinctive restaurant design. The buildings used large yellow arches as roadside visual markers, helping motorists recognize the restaurants from a distance.

Those physical arches later inspired the corporate logo. Jim Schindler created the 1962 logo version by combining the arches into a stylized M, but Schindler was not the architect responsible for the original building design.

This distinction explains a common branding-history mix-up. Meston is linked to the restaurant architecture, while Schindler is linked to the later logo. Together, their work connected McDonald's buildings with the symbol that eventually appeared on signs, packaging, and advertising worldwide.