Milton Glaser, designer of of ‘I ♥ NY’ logo, dead at 91

Milton Glaser, a graphic designer who created the iconic “I ♥ NY” logo, died Friday on his 91st birthday.

Glaser died from a stroke, his wife, Shirley Glaser, told The New York Times. He also had renal failure.

Glaser’s 1967 poster of Bob Dylan with psychedelic hair was also a pop culture statement during the Summer Love.

Glaser was the co-founder of New York Magazine. The magazine’s current city editor, Christopher Bonanos, said that “Around our office, of course, he will forever be one of the small team of men and women that, in the late sixties, yanked “New York” out of the newspaper morgue and turned it into a great American magazine.”

In 1954, Glaser and several classmates formed Push Pin Studios and caught the attention of magazines and advertising agencies with his colorful style, the Times reported.

Glaser created the poster of Dylan for the singer’s 1967 album, “Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits.” He created an outline of the singer’s head based on a silhouette and added thick, wavy bands of color to represent psychedelic hair, according to the Times.

A decade later, Glaser designed the “I ♥ NY” logo as part of a tourism campaign for New York State, NPR reported. According to New York Magazine, Glaser created the logo while in the back seat of a cab. Glaser drew the logo on the back of an envelope with red crayon, with a cherry red heart substituting for the word “love,” the Times reported.

Glaser did the design free of charge, and the logo has become a marketing tool for the state and for New York City, NPR reported. The logo has appeared on T-shirts, bumper stickers, mugs and keychains nationwide.

“I’m flabbergasted by what happened to this little, simple nothing of an idea,” Glaser told The Village Voice in 2011.

Cox Media Group