Some of the most prominent sports logos in America began with a pencil and a railroad.

The pencil was wielded by Patrick McDarby, a graphic designer who died on Saturday at 57.

The railroad was Metro-North, which for years carried Mr. McDarby from his home in Connecticut to meetings with clients in New York. En route, he made preliminary sketches for what would become the ubiquitous emblems of major teams, among them the Rangers, Islanders and Nets in the New York area, as well as the Indianapolis 500, various Major League Soccer events, and what is now World Wrestling Entertainment.

The resulting logos — some still in use, others supplanted — include the red, blue and silver image of Lady Liberty that graced some Rangers jerseys for more than a decade from the late 1990s onward, and the Nets logo, in use from 1997 to 2012, featuring a shield-shaped backboard and a ball that, as it passed through the hoop, resembled the ringed Saturn.