Architect Stanley Meston designed the Golden Arches used on McDonald’s first franchised restaurant building in 1953.
Meston worked with architect Charles R. Fish to develop the distinctive building for franchisee Neil Fox in Phoenix, Arizona. The design used two large yellow arches on opposite sides of the restaurant, making the building visible from the road.
The arches were initially architectural features rather than the standalone corporate emblem familiar today. Their bright color and unusual form made them effective roadside identification, especially as car-based dining expanded in the United States.
Jim Schindler is associated with the later 1962 logo, which combined the arches into an “M.” Ray Kroc was McDonald’s major franchising leader, not the architect who designed the original arches.