The City of New York gets a post-pandemic rebrand, reworking I ❤ NY

I ❤ NY, one of the most iconic logos ever created (first sketched by Milton Glaser in the back of a taxi in the 70s), has been reworked in a new campaign from Founders. The new slogan swaps out ‘I’ for ‘We’ in effort to reflect the collective spirit of the city following the pandemic – it also departs from Glaser’s original design with a sans serif typeface, and a 3D graphic heart. The logo is unveiled in a campaign rolled out across all five boroughs in New York on TVC, OOH, digital OOH, online and print.

The central concept behind the campaign is centring New Yorkers and community, so Founders asked a selection of locals to visualise what NYC means to them. The result is a collection of wild posters from the agency network By The Network, which can be found printed across the city. Founders is also inviting New York artists to submit their own posters, making the collection ongoing.

A major element of the campaign is the selection of emojis developed by Founders, harnessed for their ability “to transcend language and cultural barriers”, a release explains. It’s a landmark moment for New York, as Founders states the capital is the first city to be represented with its own set of emojis. A folded pizza slice, bagel (lox, of course), Yankees cap, and hot dog stand are among some of the familiar symbols chosen by Founders, soon to become official emojis. New Yorkers can request additions to the collection, which will be developed each week of the campaign, before concluding in May.

“Being able to work on a campaign for the most iconic city in the world is thrilling and I cannot be more proud that Founders is part of this historic moment. There was so much collaboration to bring this to life – from local NYers to global artists – and to now see it all around NYC has been incredible to experience,” shared founder and COO of Founders Tanya De Poli.

The campaign launched across Times Square billboards and executions in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker and New York Magazine.