I Love NY Lives On
We’ve all seen that iconic I Love NY logo, haven’t we? It started in 1977 as an advertising campaign for the state of New York, but it became a meaningful if not pivotal phrase that saved New York City in the 1970s. Some may say that ‘I Love NY’ helped bring the city back to life.
The decade was the lowest point in New York’s history. Fires destroyed sections of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Harlem and the Lower East Side, crime was rampant, and then there was the ballooning deficit. The city was broke and New Yorkers were fleeing in record numbers.
The Design That Became World-Renowned
Though the city had hired Wells Rich Greene to helm the ad campaign to promote New York as a destination, it was Native New Yorker and graphic designer Milton Glaser––also the cofounder of New York magazine––who sketched the “I Love NY” design with a red crayon on an envelope while riding in a cab. When Glaser offered to do the work pro bono, he had no clue how popular his idea would be, nor the influence that three simple letters and one symbol would have on a city that no one wanted to love.
The logo is an excellent example of how perception and image can influence us and our opinions. Not only did the heart become one of the most imitated emblems around the world, but the I Love NY campaign helped transform the city’s tourism industry, which still thrives today.
Despite the destruction, crime, and desperation in the ’70s, eventually, New York recovered and came back stronger. Decades later, the legendary design is printed on everything from t-shirts to hats to mugs to buttons and sold in souvenir shops and on the streets of New York City.
A Fresh Design Post 9-11
In the wake of the September 11 attacks, visitors purchased and wore the famous white t-shirt with I Love NY as a sign of their support for NYC. But after 9-11, Glaser designed an updated version of the original logo. He blackened a piece of the heart in the corner, symbolizing the location of the World Trade Center site, and added the phrase “more than ever.” New Yorkers and people from all over the world responded once again to support New York and the city’s rebirth after the terror attacks.
Regarded as the logo and branding for the state of New York and not just the Big Apple, the heart design lives on and people continue to replicate it around the world. The original “I Love,” though, will always be linked to one extraordinary place: New York City.
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