Stanley Meston designed the original McDonald's restaurant buildings that featured the famous arches.
Meston was an architect whose work for McDonald's helped create the visual form of the early drive-in restaurants. The buildings used large yellow arches as prominent architectural elements, making the restaurants visible from the road and giving the growing chain a consistent appearance.
Those physical arches later supplied the visual idea for the corporate logo. In 1962, designer Jim Schindler combined the arch forms into the M-shaped Golden Arches symbol. This distinction matters: Meston is credited with the architectural arches, while Schindler is credited with the modern logo design.
Ray Kroc is another frequent wrong answer because he transformed McDonald's through franchising and national expansion. He was central to the company's business history, but he did not design the original arch buildings. The branding story therefore involves both architectural design and later graphic design.