Who designed the 1962 McDonald’s logo by joining the restaurant’s two arches?

Jim Schindler designed the 1962 McDonald’s logo by joining the restaurant’s two arches.

The arches themselves came from the building design developed for McDonald’s restaurants, especially the modern roadside restaurants created with architect Stanley Clark Meston. Schindler, a company engineer, saw that the two separate arches could be combined visually to form an M. That interpretation became the basis of the enduring Golden Arches logo.

This distinction matters because Meston is often credited with the arches’ architectural origin, while Schindler is associated with turning them into the unified corporate mark. Ray Kroc, meanwhile, expanded the franchise system but did not design the logo.

The 1962 mark helped McDonald’s move toward a consistent visual identity as the chain expanded across the United States and internationally. The logo’s basic idea survived later changes to lettering, restaurant architecture, and advertising style.