I Love New York logo
“I did the bloody thing in 1975 and I thought it would last a couple of months as a promotion and disappear.”
Milton Glaser
In this short video Milton Glaser answers the following questions: Are you ever annoyed by the prevalence of the “I Love New York” logo? Are you upset you don’t have the trademark to the image?
Image from Wikipedia
New York loves its trademark
“New York officials show no mercy in their bid to protect the “I ♥ New York” logo. The trademark, supplied free of charge by graphic designer Milton Glaser in 1976, helps beckon 140 million tourists to the Empire State each year. As others tried to tap the design over the years, state legal eagles have filed close to 3,000 trademark objections.”
Excerpted from Business Week.
3,000?
Image from Milton Glaser
Image from MR38
Image from geirarne
Image from Spare type
Image from Is There Life After New York?
Without doubt one of the most iconic logos of our time.
Here’s an excellent six-minute video titled Milton Glaser: Art is Work.
32 appreciated comments, click here to add one
Daniel
Don’t forget to love the original York: http://www.specialdayfilms.com/t_shirts/
:D
Sep 18th, 2009
David Airey
Good point, Daniel. Lest we forget Old York.
Sep 18th, 2009
Carl Smart
Great short video, I like Milton’s attitude about the trademark bit and how it being a pleasure just to have designed the logo.
Sep 18th, 2009
Andrew Kelsall
Ah that takes me back to my I♥NY tee in my wardrobe that I bought on my last trip there, which I never wear due to it being 3 sizes too small ;)
Sep 18th, 2009
juli
I love that I’m wearing my I♥NY right now.
Sep 18th, 2009
Victor Zuniga
There’s going to be a film shown about him September 25 in Santa Barbara, California if anyone is interested.
Sep 19th, 2009
David Airey
You can keep it for the kids then, Andrew. Or for a Hulk impersonation.
That’d be good to watch, Victor. Here’s some info about the Glaser documentary for anyone else who’s interested.
Sep 19th, 2009
Adam
Are you trying to get us sued, Daniel??
PS: The official link we try to use is http://www.i-heart-y.co.uk
Sep 19th, 2009
Nicola
Such a timeless and iconic logo. It’s simplicity has made it so adaptable as a design ‘tool’ to associate so many things with New York. The typeface choice adds a lot of weight to it’s character – American Typewriter – giving it that personal edge even though it has become so ubiquitous.
I can’t imagine this image, or the thousands of parodies, ever not being part of the New York visual landscape – can you? You can’t go far without seeing somebody wearing the classic tee in England, especially in London. Though I’ve not worn mine for a few months, one of my friends regularly flaunts her ‘I Feel Relatively Neutral About New York’ version.
Sep 22nd, 2009
Abbas
I prefer my I ♥ CMYK t-shirt!
Sep 22nd, 2009
Jason Schwartz
I love how all of the classic graphic designers are so critical of their classic logos and identity systems. These are CLASSICS!
Milton Glaser thought his logo would only last a few months. Paul Rand always used to regularly discuss how his UPS logo (and others) still needed refinements.
There are some awesome videos of Paul Rand on YouTube if you haven’t seen them.
Current designers can learn a TON from watching this masters in action.
Sep 22nd, 2009
Loren
great video and post! i wanted to spread my “love” for this iconic design by creating a t-shirt based on it:
http://walkietalkietees.com/?page=tee/ilovegouda
Sep 25th, 2009
Kendall
The great thing is that this story has enabled Glaser to gain more notoriety than he probably ever would’ve had if he’d kept ahold of the trademark.
The trademark infringement seems to go against the whole philosophy behind Glaser’s logo.
Sep 26th, 2009
Jeremy Bolton
What a great video find. Love hearing the thoughts from designers about logos we see all the time in our day to day life. It just goes to show that simple, yet effective designs can stand the test of time.
Sep 27th, 2009
Rob
One of the reasons this logo has lasted so long and remained as popular as it has, is that the New York tourism board (or whatever it is, had the good sense not to much it up, change it, add things, make it look “more contemporary,” etc. How many logos don’t change AT ALL in 30 years? Someone in this thread mentioned Paul Rand’s brilliant UPS logo… which the company has recently thrown in the trash and replaced with a generic, meaningless shield/gradient/bevel-thing that looks like the “Raid” insecticide package.
It’s not all up to the designers… a great design results from a collaboration with clients who are not idiots. Which seems to be more and more rare.
Sep 27th, 2009
budhi d dwijaatmaja
wow… this is my idol.
thk david.
Oct 5th, 2009
David Airey
Good point, Rob. It’s not a designer who defines iconic design, but a combination of the designer, the client, and the client’s customers.
Oct 8th, 2009
judy eisner
what a great guy. modest, generous… that was an inspiring watch. but i wonder…does anyone know whether ANYONE owns rights to this logo? i’d like to use it in a you tube video in a grant application. can anyone tell me if they know whether this would be a problem?
thank you!
Aug 3rd, 2010
Joy
I have a few “I Love NY” poster from the Catskills, by Milton Glaser and some signed by him. Does anyone know how much they are worth? I can not find a good web site to find out,
love, peace, Joy
PS In “RE:” please put “poster”
Thanks
Jul 27th, 2011
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