Milton Glaser produced this gem of an idea in 1976. He compares this rudimentary rebus to a declaration of love carved into a tree trunk. At a time when fear of crime was depressing tourism in New York City, the New York State Department of Commerce (in particular Deputy Commissioner Bill Doyle), with input from Governor Hugh Carey, commissioned the advertising agency Wells Rich Greene to develop a positive campaign about the city and Glaser a well known designer, to capture it graphically. Designed pro bono for a three month campaign the widely successful design has been copied and interpreted millions of times all over the world. Glaser’s rebus has become a particularly strong icon for New York City and one of the most frequently imitated logos in history, a template for declarations of love for multitudes of other people, places and things. The design was copyrighted after about ten years of open use.

Images and text courtesy of MoMA, New York