The I ‘Heart’ NY Logo Designer Used Visual Communication To Inform And Delight

Milton Glaser was a household name among visual designers, but even those who don’t know his name have probably seen a version of his iconic logo:

I (heart) NY

Glaser died on Friday, his 91st birthday.

As a communication specialist, I’ve been intrigued by Glaser’s logo for years. It’s simple and puzzling. In Glaser’s words, it “informs and delights.”

The logo is a powerful reminder that a simple visual can transform the mindset an entire city.

According to Glaser’s interview for a documentary on his work, New York City in the mid-1970s was feeling “a collapse of well-being and morale.” In an effort to reinvigorate the city and its tourism industry, city and state officials asked Glaser to create a visual around the line, “I love New York.”

The new logo created “a shift in the city’s consciousness, from being indifferent to itself to realizing that we love this place.”

Glaser’s logo offers several lessons for any communicator who has an idea to get across. Apply these tips to your next presentation to make it engaging and memorable.

1. Think visually

The heart in Glaser’s logo is a symbol for a feeling. One image can evoke powerful emotions.

During the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin drew a sketch now called the JOIN OR DIE cartoon. You’ve seen it. It’s the snake cut into eight pieces. Each section symbolized the British colonies. The image was republished in colonial newspapers and, like Glaser’s logo, created a shift in consciousness.

If you want to get your idea across—especially in a presentation—use more pictures than words. It’s okay to blend text and images (I is a word and NY is an abbreviation), but don’t forget the images that people remember.

2). Create a puzzle

“A puzzle is better than answer,” Glaser once said.

One of the most amazing design elements of Glaser’s logo is that it creates a puzzle for the brain to solve. A simple puzzle, of course, but a puzzle nevertheless.

“The creation of a puzzle is one of the tools you have in communication to make people understand things,” Glaser once said. “When they activate the mind to try to figure something out, the likelihood is that they will remember and respond to it more than if they are told something differently.”

Think about the JOIN OR DIE cartoon. Find it online and you’ll see that it takes a few seconds to realize that each section of the snake represents a colony and that each of the sections are positioned next to each other as they were in their physical locations along the coastline.

Puzzles don’t have to be complicated, extensive or take long to solve. And yes, it requires work and creativity to come up with one. But it’s worth the effort.

3. Be ready for inspiration to strike

Writers and artists know that creative ideas are gifts that are often sent suddenly and unexpectedly.

Once Glaser was given the project to visualize the motto, he let his mind wander to find the best solution. Inspiration struck in the back of a taxi. Glaser, knowing that ideas could leave as quickly as they came, pulled out an envelope and sketched it: a letter, followed by a heart, followed by an abbreviation.

Sometimes, the best ideas really do fit on the back of an envelop.

Glaser once said that the “glory” of any creative activity is transforming an idea you hold in your mind to one that becomes real.

Make your ideas become real by studying great designers and communicators. Put Milton Glaser at the top of your list.