Who designed the original 1950s McDonald’s restaurant buildings whose yellow arches inspired the brand symbol?

Stanley Clark Meston designed the original 1950s McDonald’s restaurant buildings whose yellow arches inspired the brand symbol.

Meston was an architect working with McDonald’s when the company was developing a recognizable new restaurant design. The buildings used two large yellow arches on opposite sides of the structure. Viewed from an angle, the arches created a striking visual outline above the restaurant.

The architectural arches came before the familiar corporate logo. In 1962, the arches were combined into the stylized “M” associated with McDonald’s, giving an architectural feature a new life as a graphic identity. The logo designer was Jim Schindler, a different person from Meston.

This distinction causes a frequent mix-up. Meston designed the restaurant architecture, while Schindler created the later logo form. Ray Kroc was the businessman who expanded the franchise system, not the architect responsible for the original arches.