The cause was a stroke, and Glaser also suffered from kidney failure. Glaser, born in 1929 in the Bronx, New York, was one of the world’s best-known and most celebrated designers. He was one of the founders of New York Magazine, designed the emblem for the Brooklyn Brewery, and created more than 400 posters that can now be seen in museums around the world.
In 2009 Glaser received the National Medal of Arts, the most important art award from the US government. Until recently he had worked in his office near the Empire State Building – and after decades he had even tried his hand at the computer on the sketchpad.
“We have lost a brilliant designer and a great New Yorker,” wrote Andrew Cuomo, the state governor, on Twitter on Saturday morning. “What Milton Glaser gave New York will long outlive him.” The “I love New York” logo is still the perfect emblem for the city. The “New York Magazine”, co-founded by Glaser, wrote: He loved the city and celebrated it with the magazine, the posters and the logo.
Glaser visualized the “I love New York” slogan in the 1970s for the State of New York. The black lettering with the red heart and the abbreviation “NY” is said to have occurred to Glaser during a taxi ride. The first sketch he made on the back of an envelope is now in the “Museum of Modern Art” in Manhattan.
New York symbol
Glaser received just $ 2,000 for the logo in the 1970s. The emblem became part of a marketing campaign aimed at attracting more tourists to New York State. But it soon developed into a symbol for the city of the same name – and brought Glaser the worldwide breakthrough.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, thousands of T-shirts printed with the logo were sold. The porters showed their solidarity with the metropolis. Today the lettering can be found on mugs, postcards and key fobs in all New York souvenir shops.
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