Stanley Meston designed the McDonald's restaurant building associated with the original Golden Arches.
Meston was an architect who worked with McDonald's to create the distinctive restaurant design used during the company's early expansion. The building featured two tall yellow arches placed at the sides, making the structure highly visible from the road and giving the restaurant a strong architectural identity.
The arches were initially functional design elements rather than a standalone abstract logo. In 1962, McDonald's combined the visual idea of the arches into the familiar “M” mark used for corporate branding. That later symbol is why the architectural design and the logo are often discussed together.
Stanley Meston is sometimes confused with Jim Schindler, who created the 1962 logo, or with Ray Kroc, who expanded McDonald's franchising system. Their roles were different: Meston designed the building form, while Schindler developed the logo treatment.