Milton Glaser's promotional symbol for New York, one of the best known (and most imitated) icons around, is a Design and Business Classic.

One of the most familiar cultural icons of the past half century, the "I Love NY" rebus, designed by the renowned Milton Glaser, almost didn't happen. In 1975, the New York Commerce Commission asked Glaser to create a suitable logo for a public relations campaign aimed at countering New York City's reputation for being a crime-ridden, dirty and hostile place to visit. Told the slogan was "I Love New York," Glaser originally came up with a typographic solution- "two lozenge shapes containing the words 'I love' in one and 'New York' in the other," he reveals. The design was quickly approved by the State Commerce Commission and on its way to being reproduced on everything from billboards to coffee mugs.

That would have been the end of this pro bono assignment, but a week after the design was approved, Glaser says he happened to be "doodling in a cab and another idea suggested itself." He called Bill Doyle, the then-assistant commissioner of commerce, and told him, "I have a better idea."

As Glaser recalls it, Doyle said, "Oh please! Forget it. Do you know how complicated it would be to get everybody together to approve it again?" But Glaser persisted, asking Doyle to just stop by to take a look. Doyle reluctantly came down to Glaser's studio. Glaser remembers that he merely "nodded and took away the new sketch." But shortly after, Doyle reconvened a meeting of the commerce commissioners and the now famous design was approved.

Since 1975, Glaser's "second" logo has appeared on millions of items sold in New York. It's become a favorite tourists' memento of their trip to the Big Apple. Recently Glaser redid the famous logo for a third time. Shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attack, he created a version that inserted the word "still" and added a little smudge to the heart