84. Milton Glaser, I ♥ NY

It didn't always exist.

All good ideas seem so obvious in retrospect that we cannot remember life before them. This is certainly true of what is possibly the most frequently knocked-off design of the 20th century.

It was 1976, and New York badly needed to change its reputation as a crime-ridden, hostile and near-bankrupt city. They needed a tourism campaign! The state hired agency Wells Rich Greene, who came up with the phrase “I Love New York.” Designer Milton Glaser was tapped to come up with a visual equivalent for the words, something punchy and memorable. His design was approved.

A week later, doodling in the back of a taxicab and thinking about Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculpture, Glaser was hit with a better idea. “Forget it,” a state official said, “Do you know how complicated it would be to get everybody together to approve it again?” Glaser implored. The official came down to the office, nodded, took away the new sketch, and had it approved.

This simple typographic puzzle collapses words into a graphic that reads directly as emotion. It’s become so instantly recognizable, so much a part of the vernacular, it’s hard to imagine that it was actually designed by someone. That it didn’t always exist.

Glaser donated his services, never imagining his design would last longer than a few weeks. He never received royalties. As with all great ideas, he could not fully explain it, saying, “Why and how this ever came about is a mystery to me.”

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Links:

• Milton Glaser, I Heart NY Concept Sketch - Museum of Modern Art

• What You Don’t Know About Milton Glaser’s “I ♥ NY” – Steven Brower, AIGA Eye on Design, February 12, 2015

• Robert Indiana, LOVE

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This post is part of The American 250, a series featuring 250 words on 250 objects made by Americans, located in America, in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary. Through December 31, 2026.

I’m looking for ideas for this series — have something you’d like me to consider for inclusion? Please feel free to leave a comment!