Who created the overlapping “M” logo used by McDonald's from 1962?

Jim Schindler created the overlapping “M” logo used by McDonald’s from 1962.

The symbol developed from the physical golden arches on McDonald’s restaurant buildings. The original arches were separate architectural elements, but Schindler’s design brought them together into a single graphic mark. The result resembled a capital “M” while preserving the distinctive curved forms that customers already associated with McDonald’s restaurants.

This change mattered because a graphic logo could travel beyond the building. It could appear on signs, wrappers, menus, advertisements, and later on digital media. The logo therefore helped transform an architectural feature into a flexible corporate identity.

A frequent mistake is attributing the design to Stanley Clark Meston. Meston designed the restaurant arches as an architect in 1952; Schindler created the later logo treatment. Ray Kroc was central to McDonald’s expansion, but he was not the credited designer of this mark.