We’ve all seen “I Love New York” branded t-shirts, mugs, posters, and other merchandise, but few people know exactly where they came from, and even those who do miss out on some of the trivia surrounding the slogan. The slogan is old enough that most people can take a look at I Love New York t-shirts without wondering where the brand came from, but at the same time it seems modern enough to know that it can’t be any more. of a few decades. .

This intuition about the vintage of I Love New York t-shirts is correct. The design originated in 1977: New York State Department of Commerce Deputy Commissioner William S. Doyle knew that New York had incredible potential to attract tourists. At the same time, he was aware that many tourists did not bother to visit the city; some were worried about crime or upset about the high prices, but most simply never thought to go there. He needed a slogan that wouldn’t convince people that it was a good city to visit; he needed a slogan that would take the millions of people who were already convinced and catalyze his decision to make the trip.

The story of the I Love New York T-shirts takes an interesting turn after that: Doyle hired an ad agency, Wells Rich Greene, to create a new tourism campaign. This was a fairly conventional move: New York has long been a center for the advertising business, and many reputable and major advertising agencies were and are based in the city. But then Doyle did something a little less conventional: he tapped into the design talents of Milton Glaser, a highly respected designer.

Surprisingly, Glaser didn’t think the job was much. Unable to imagine the fact that, decades later, I Love New York T-shirts would be ubiquitous across the country, Glaser created the new logo for free. Glaser had many reasons to keep busy: In addition to being a successful freelance designer, Glaser had co-founded the popular New York Magazine and was involved in work both locally and internationally.

Soon after the first I Love New York T-shirts went to print, Doyle, Wells Rich Greene and New York itself knew they had a hit on their hands. Although the advertising campaign was meant to be one of many temporary attempts to generate tourism revenue for the city, it was a surprisingly long-lasting campaign. The ease with which people could copy the design (occasionally replacing the American Typewriter font with the more common Courier) meant that the design was often referenced and even parodied. Even so, the vast majority of observers were only reminded that the I Love New York T-shirts are the originals.

Surprisingly, the I Love New York t-shirts don’t just refer to the city. Doyle worked for the state, and the campaign was designed for the entire state. But as most I Love New York T-shirt wearers know, it’s a design that reminds people almost exclusively of the city.