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<\/p>\nThe graphic designer revamped his world-famous emblem in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The updated design underscored the city\u2019s resilience in the face of tragedy<\/p>\n
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Meilan Solly<\/a><\/p>\n | Senior Associate Digital Editor, History<\/p>\n September 11, 2026 7:00 a.m.<\/p>\n A man in New York City reads a copy of the September 19, 2001, issue of the\u00a0Daily News, featuring Milton Glaser’s updated “I \u2665 NY More Than Ever” logo. Eight days after 9\/11, a familiar image greeted New Yorkers picking up a copy of the Daily News<\/a>, the city\u2019s self-proclaimed \u201chometown newspaper.\u201d Emblazoned on the front page was Milton Glaser<\/a>\u2019s \u201cI \u2665 NY\u201d logo\u2014but as readers realized when unfolding the issue, the artist had made some changes to his ubiquitous design<\/a>. It now proclaimed that Glaser loved New York City \u201cmore than ever,\u201d with a bruise added to the red heart for emphasis.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the same way that we feel more deeply toward a loved one who has been hurt, all of us suddenly realized how deeply we feel about this city,\u201d Glaser later told<\/a> art director and journalist Steven Heller<\/a>. \u201cA confident giant is hard to love; a vulnerable one is not.\u201d<\/p>\n An American graphic designer also known<\/a> for creating an iconic 1966 illustration<\/a> of Bob Dylan<\/a>, Glaser came up with his \u201cI \u2665 NY More Than Ever<\/a>\u201d variant shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks<\/a> on the United States. \u201cLike all of us, I felt the need to respond to this incomprehensible tragedy,\u201d he said to Heller. \u201cI woke up \u2026 with the words and image completely formed in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n A 2014 photo of Milton Glaser in his New York City studio<\/p>\n Neville Elder \/ Corbis via Getty Images<\/p>\n Twenty-five years after 9\/11<\/a>, \u201cI\u00a0\u2665 NY More Than Ever\u201d serves as a poignant reminder of how New Yorkers came together in the aftermath of the destruction of the World Trade Center. Glaser \u201cwas compelled to reach out and offer a statement to the city\u2019s residents that, in spite of the tragedy, they still had each other,\u201d Dan Bates, studio manager at Milton Glaser Inc.<\/a>, tells Smithsonian magazine. The updated logo \u201cwas a declaration that the people and the affection they have for the city, and one another, endures.\u201d<\/p>\n Glaser debuted the original \u201cI \u2665 NY<\/a>\u201d design in 1977, as part of an advertising campaign for New York State. Governor Hugh Leo Carey<\/a> had averted New York City\u2019s bankruptcy crisis<\/a>, but rising crime rates and a recent garbage strike<\/a> continued to cloud the public\u2019s view of the Big Apple.<\/p>\n State officials \u201chad nothing to help [New York\u2019s] tourist program, no posters, no maps for gas stations, no bumper stickers for taxis and no money to make such things,\u201d advertising executive Mary Wells Lawrence<\/a> wrote in her 2002 memoir<\/a>. \u201cIt was love for New York that brought Milton to our offices with a batch of posters.\u201d<\/p>\n Glaser\u2019s initial proposal<\/a> sandwiched the phrase \u201cI Love New York\u201d inside two diamonds. But he soon came up with a different design: Writing on an envelope during a taxi ride in 1976, the artist scrawled \u201cI \u2665 NY\u201d on a single line in red crayon. (His concept sketch<\/a> is now housed in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art.) A revised version launched the following year, with \u201cI \u2665\u201d now stacked atop \u201cNY.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cIt becomes much more of a shape, much stronger visually, than if it were running horizontally,\u201d says Ellen Lupton<\/a>, a curator emerita at Cooper Hewitt<\/a>, Smithsonian Design Museum. Glaser\u2019s font choice, American Typewriter<\/a>, also adds to the design\u2019s overall visual impact: \u201cThis whole logo would not be as nice if it were Helvetica<\/a>,\u201d Lupton tells Smithsonian.<\/p>\n Glaser was seemingly under the impression<\/a> that the ad campaign would run for just two weeks. Instead, \u201cI \u2665 NY\u201d became \u201cthe most talked-about<\/a> and successful tourism program in the nation.\u201d As Chris Lowery, CEO of Chase Design Group<\/a>, told Adweek<\/a> in 2017, the logo emerged as \u201creally the world\u2019s first emoji. In a diverse, multicultural city like New York, anyone who saw it instantly knew what it meant.\u201d<\/p>\n Need to know: Milton Glaser\u2019s legacy<\/p>\n
New York State\u2019s Department of Economic Development holds the \u201cI \u2665 NY\u201d trademark<\/a> and is zealous in its pursuit of vendors<\/a> who use the design without license. As of 2011, official merchandise bearing the logo brought in an estimated $30 million<\/a> annually, and the state earned<\/a> more than $1 million in licensing fees<\/a> each year. None of this revenue went into Glaser\u2019s pocket during his lifetime, but he didn\u2019t seem to bear any resentment over the situation. \u201cThe truth is, I have enough money to live the life I want to live,\u201d he told the Village Voice<\/a> in 2011. \u201cI don\u2019t think about how it would be if I had another couple million. I have no needs that are not being fulfilled.\u201d<\/p>\n Glaser did, however, run afoul of the state agency when sharing his \u201cI \u2665 NY More Than Ever\u201d design. Initially, the artist asserted<\/a> that \u201cthe state has no interest in using this variation of the logo, feeling that anything that acknowledges the 9\/11 event might be interpreted as a sign of weakness.\u201d Speaking with the Village Voice a decade later, Glaser said that the state \u201cthreatened to sue me [for] infringing on the copyright.\u201d<\/p>\n A lifelong New Yorker, Glaser was deeply affected by the attacks on his city. \u201cExcept for the period he studied in Italy<\/a>, he was thoroughly a New York creature,\u201d illustrator and colleague Mirko Ili\u0107<\/a> told Quartz<\/a> in 2021. \u201cEverything that mattered to him was here.\u201d<\/p>\n An\u00a0“I \u2665 NY More Than Ever” Milton Glaser poster<\/p>\n Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum<\/p>\n The designer also had a personal connection to the World Trade Center. He\u2019d designed<\/a> much of the decor at Windows on the World<\/a>, a restaurant complex that occupied the North Tower\u2019s 106th and 107th floors. Restaurateur Joe Baum hired Glaser<\/a> to create its iconic yellow-and-blue logo<\/a>, menu<\/a> and dinnerware patterns. Today, some<\/a> of the dishes<\/a> used at Windows are housed in the National September 11 Collection<\/a> at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of American History<\/a>. They survived the World Trade Center\u2019s destruction because the restaurant\u2019s owner had brought them home for a private event.<\/p>\n Glaser told the Daily News<\/a> that he came up with \u201cI \u2665 NY More Than Ever\u201d while reflecting on \u201cthe most powerful thing you can say about us, a city.\u201d He added, \u201cThis blow has made us even stronger and more powerful in our passion for New York.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to publishing his updated logo in the Daily News, Glaser recruited<\/a> students at the School of Visual Arts<\/a> to distribute poster copies<\/a> of the design. (One such handout<\/a> is held in Cooper Hewitt\u2019s collections.) The posters, which were soon plastered on storefronts and in public places across the city, served a dual purpose, reminding New Yorkers of the strength of their community and urging them<\/a> to donate to charities supporting those affected by the attacks. A small line of text at the bottom of the page read, \u201cBe generous. Your city needs you. This poster is not for sale.\u201d<\/p>\n I Heart NY and Milton Glaser<\/p>\n Glaser also collaborated with WNYC<\/a> to raise funds to restore the radio station\u2019s antenna<\/a>, which was damaged during the attacks. Listeners who sent in a donation received a free poster<\/a>\u2014an arrangement that netted WNYC $190,000.<\/p>\n Bates says that the \u201cI \u2665 NY More Than Ever\u201d campaign was illustrative of Glaser\u2019s ongoing commitment to \u201cconnectedness.\u201d Shortly before his death<\/a> in June 2020 at age 91, the designer embarked on what would be his final project: a colorful reimagining of the word \u201cTogether<\/a>,\u201d with each letter given its own distinct style, created in response to \u201cthe divisiveness\u201d of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bates adds.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/gettyimages-589008224.jpg\")
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\n Viviane Moos \/ Corbis via Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/gettyimages-523935822.jpg\")
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\n\tAccording to Lupton, Glaser is \u201cone of the most recognizable names in the design world,\u201d revered by graphic designers for helping to \u201cshift the center of [the industry] from Europe to New York.\u201d
\n\tOver a nearly\u00a0seven-decade<\/a>\u00a0career,\u00a0Glaser<\/a>\u00a0designed<\/a>\u00a0whimsical, eye-catching album covers, book jackets, promotional posters, magazine covers, logos and more. He also co-founded\u00a0New York\u00a0magazine<\/a>.
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