Who designed the 1962 McDonald's logo that shaped the Golden Arches into an “M”?

Jim Schindler designed the 1962 McDonald's logo that shaped the Golden Arches into an “M.”

By the early 1960s, the company had physical arches on many restaurant buildings, but it needed a consistent graphic symbol for signs and other brand materials. Schindler combined the two architectural arches into a single emblem that read visually as the letter “M.”

This design helped transform a restaurant feature into one of the world’s most recognizable corporate marks. The logo was introduced during a period when McDonald’s was standardizing its appearance as the chain expanded under Ray Kroc’s leadership.

The 1962 mark is often confused with the original arches designed by Stanley Clark Meston. Meston created the early building architecture; Schindler adapted the idea into the iconic logo. Later versions changed details such as lettering and layout, but the central yellow-arch concept remained.