I ❤️ NY

Milton Glaser’s simple yet powerful identity that he sketched in crayon on a taxi ride is part of the very fabric of The City. It’s his gift to NY, created for free to help NYC tourism which was struggling in the 70s.

The revamp to We ❤️ NYC misses the point on several levels. Craig Elimeliah does a beautiful job (link) describing the power of the “I” in the original identity.

I’ll add, using NYC instead of NY creates unnecessary division. NYC and NY are one and the same. That’s why it’s New York, New York. As the saying goes it’s “so good they named it twice”. It literally is the same name for the city and state. To isolate NYC from the state and treat it as an island onto itself (or more than island given the 5 boroughs that comprise it) alienates it from the broader context.

As a teen growing up in Nassau County on Long Island, I wasn’t from NYC. This didn’t matter to me. My identity was shaped by The City. I’d go all the time. It’s where I truly felt myself. Wandering the streets of The Village, navigating the subway like a pro, selling concert tee shirts outside Rolling Stones concert at Madison Square Garden, going to Keith Haring’s Pop Shop, playing arcade games in Penn Station, getting my hair cut at Astor Place, and record shopping on St. Mark’s were my defining experiences growing up. I loved NYC not because it was NYC. But because it was my city too, even if I wasn’t technically from there. A city of belonging for those brave enough to dig a bit deeper.

NYC already has its own identity. It’s right there on the tee shirt made famous by John Lennon and shouts with confidence “NEW YORK CITY”. How about amplifying that one?

Let’s leave Milton Glaser’s legacy and New York fully intact.

#tagline #brand #logo #brandidentity