Jim Schindler designed the stylized Golden Arches “M” used in McDonald's corporate branding in 1962.
Schindler was an engineer and designer connected with McDonald's restaurant development. He combined the two golden architectural arches used on restaurant buildings into a single interlocking form that read as the letter M. This transformed a physical design feature into a portable corporate mark.
Ray Kroc was central to McDonald's expansion and business development, but he was not the credited designer of the stylized logo. The arches themselves also predated the logo: they had been used as roadside architectural elements during the 1950s to make restaurants visible to passing motorists.
The 1962 mark helped standardize McDonald's identity as the company expanded beyond its original California restaurants. Later versions changed color combinations, typography, and accompanying wording, but the basic two-arch silhouette remained the essential visual idea.