Reactor Art and Design – hand-lettered logo, Karen Cheeseman, 1982

Lettering artist Karen Cheeseman recalls working on the Reactor logo:

Reactor Art and Design in Toronto was started in 1982 by Louis Fishauf and Bill Grigsby – a high-energy, fast-paced, trend-setting design firm, for sure. It was just after they launched that I met with Louis to discuss the logo.

Often, art directors or designers would have a few very rough sketches to show me as a starting point – but not this time. Many clients I’ve worked with kind of, sort of, know what they want but can’t describe it. In this case, it was all words: speed, modern, retro, nuclear, movement, action – plus a lot of expressive hand gestures and arm waving. That’s what I remember.

Louis Fishauf was always great to work with. He gave you enough direction to proceed, but not so much that it restricted your creativity – and I think that often makes for a better end result. That was certainly true here. When I came back with tight, rough drawings, he said my design was far better than what he had envisioned. High praise indeed!  – Karen Cheeseman