story 014 · design · milton glaser, 1976
the i ♥ ny logo began in a taxi.
the short, written out
this logo began in the back of a taxi, on a torn envelope.
in 1976, with new york city nearly bankrupt, new york state asked the designer milton glaser for a logo to win back tourists.
his first design, just lettering, was approved. days later, doodling in a cab, he had a better one.
the man from the state said forget it. getting everyone to approve a new one would be too complicated.
he showed it to them anyway, and they took it. i. a heart. n. y.
he did it for free. he thought it would last a couple of months.
today it’s on souvenirs everywhere. the state owns it, and has filed thousands of trademark objections against imitations.
as for the heart, he said it came from lovers’ initials carved in trees. he just left out the arrow.
the print that goes with it
red spiral
single coil in dry oil stick strokes on a chalky beige ground, modern graphic drawing
no. 432 · 8″×10″ or 16″×20″ · from $20.00 · see the print
sources
- milton glaser, art is work (2000), as quoted in creative review
- glaser on big think, 2009
- the museum of modern art, i ♥ ny concept sketch (388.2009)
- cooper hewitt, “a heart in the right place”, 2013
- bloomberg businessweek, “new york loves its trademark”, 2005
pictures
- the sketch, the museum of modern art
- daily news, 30 october 1975
- “welcome to fear city”, council for public safety, 1975
- taxis, 1973: dan mccoy, epa documerica (national archives)
- milton glaser, 2014: christina horsten, dpa / ap images
- souvenirs, 2013: jason kufer (cc by-sa 2.0)
- everyman espresso, 2011: jkwoo (cc by-nc-sa 2.0)
- the carved heart: glenn carstens-peters (cc0)
every sentence of the short was checked against its sources before it went out.
