22. Milton Glaser: His Heart was in the Right Place.

Milton Glaser was in the back of a yellow taxi in Manhattan when he experienced the “eureka” moment.

He pulled a red crayon from his pocket and began to sketch on the back of an envelope: first an “I”, then the simple outline of a heart,

followed by two letters, “N” and “Y”.

It was 1977 and the american graphic designer was asked to come up with a logo that would regenerate the fortunes of New York State.

That torn envelope is now in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

“That little scrap of paper is probably worth as much as a small Picasso,” Glaser says with a smile.

Just three letters and the symbol for love became the world’s most imitated logo.

At the beginning, it wasn’t even copyrighted, because for the first 10 years the idea was to let everyone use it,

so that it would spread and enter into the culture.