Who Designed the I ❤ NY Logo?
It has been printed on more mugs, t-shirts and tote bags than almost any design in history, and it started life as a scribble on the back of an envelope in a New York taxi. The designer was Milton Glaser, and he never earned a penny from it.
In 1977 New York was in serious trouble. The city was nearly bankrupt, crime was rising and tourists were staying away, so the state commissioned a campaign to boost morale and bring visitors back. Glaser, already famous as the co-founder of Push Pin Studios and the designer of the psychedelic Bob Dylan poster, took on the job pro bono.
His first concept was approved, but the idea would not leave him alone. Riding in a taxi a few days later, he pulled out a red crayon and sketched something better on a scrap of envelope: the word I, a red heart, and the letters NY, stacked in a chunky slab serif. He convinced the state to switch, and that scrap of paper now sits in the Museum of Modern Art.
Why it works
The genius of the design is that it isn't really a logo, it's a rebus, a little puzzle your brain solves in half a second. Reading it makes you complete the thought yourself, so the sentiment becomes yours rather than the state's. That's why people didn't just see the campaign, they wore it.
Glaser expected it to run for a couple of months. Instead it became a global pop-culture phenomenon, imitated by nearly every city on earth, and after 9/11 he returned to it with a new version, "I ❤ NY More Than Ever", once again for free.
Why it matters
Glaser spent over sixty years honing his craft, and the work that defined him took seconds to draw. That's not a contradiction. The idea came fast because the thinking behind it ran deep, built on decades of practice in stripping a message down to the point where anyone on earth could understand it.
The taxi, the crayon and the envelope are all long gone, but the idea is still everywhere. Great tools didn't make this design and great thinking did, which is why it will comfortably outlast all of us.
This is part of our Who Designed series, where we explore the people behind the world's most iconic design. Follow along on Instagram for more.
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