Who redesigned McDonald's Golden Arches into the recognizable letter M in 1962?

Jim Schindler redesigned McDonald's Golden Arches into the recognizable letter M in 1962.

The arches began as architectural features on early McDonald's restaurant buildings. Their form was later combined into a two-arch symbol, and Schindler's redesign made the arches overlap visually to create the familiar “M” shape.

This change helped turn a building feature into a compact corporate logo that could work on signs, packaging, uniforms, and advertising. The logo is therefore related to the restaurant architecture, but it is not simply a drawing of one standalone arch.

The Golden Arches name remains widely used for McDonald's branding. The design has also gone through variations in color, proportions, and surrounding presentation, while the paired yellow arches have remained the central visual identifier of the company.