Relax Your Mind

Canopy over front yard fire pit
Canopy over front yard fire pit

I can’t say that I miss working. I should say I still work, I just don’t do it for money anymore. It took a long time for us to retire. Some clients were hard to shake. I’ve been cleaning up our work room, putting the cds we used to write as back-ups into boxes that I will shove to the furthest reaches of the basement. And I thought I would round up a few of the logos we did. This took the better part of a day as I came across eps files I couldn’t open, cds that wouldn’t mount and files I just couldn’t find.

I especially liked creating logos. We would present a first round of ideas as sketches, a second round of revisions, re-workings, color choices and then a third round as a b&w, 2 color and four color vector file. People usually got something they liked.

You can charge pretty good for logos and sometimes come up with a winner in a flash. Or you could work all day and still not have anything worth showing. But I found if I walk away, take my mind off the project, hop in the shower or something – bang, there it would be. Sometimes I would get a good one right away, one that I was sold on, even though I wasn’t the client. So I might create a bunch of other clumsy alternatives just so the choice would be clear.

4D Advertising logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

In 1987 Peggi and I started our own commercial art business called 4D Advertising. We did work for big and small companies as well as individuals. “Whatever comes along,” as we used to say. Our work evolved as the graphic arts field did, from paste-up to web design. This is one of many 4D logos we had over the years.

AAA Welding logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

This Rochester company did a lot of industrial fabrication. I’m still hoping you can see “W” unfolding from the three “A”s.

Refrigerator logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

Back in the nineties, before the internet, the Refrigerator was a local zine. Twenty eight print editions were produced before the website was launched. I spotted this lettering in Spain on a sign that read “SEBO.” I constructed the other characters. Thought about making a wood type version with Virgin Woodtype.

Magna Carta logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

Magna Carta is a progressive rock label with artists such as Terry Bozio and Tony Levin.

World Safety Declaration logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

I can’t remember what this organization did but it was connected to DuPont. Clean, corporate, generic.

Print Bid Online logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

Print Bid Online was a short-lived company that helped customers secure competitive printing quotes.

Rochester Contemporary logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

Pyramid Art Gallery moved uptown and changed its name to Rochester Contemporary

Gerry's restaurant logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

Before Atlas Eats and after Rochester Club, Gerry Brinkman ran Gerry’s.

Earring Records logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

Earring Records released albums by Personal Effects, Colorblind James, The Wilderness Family, Absolute Grey, SLT, The Essentials, Pete LaBonne and Invisible Idiot.

Joe Squared Pizza logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

Joe Squared, in Baltimore, Maryland, makes square pizzas! I also came up with the slogan.

Clear Eye Natural Foods logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

Clear Eye was a distributer of wholesale natural foods. It was such a kick to see tractor trailers with this logo on it.

Cylinder Sound Studio logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

Cylinder Sound, a state of the art studio located behind the Bug Jar, became the home of JoyWave.

Bop Shop Records logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

Owner Tom Kohn asked me to base the Bop Shop logo on an old record cover. The “Bop Shop” type face came from a sheet of press type. I used the same font and the same sheet of press type, for the Freetime logo.

Alliance Barter logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

Alliance Barter grew out of the Rochester Trade Exchange. Companies who joined were paid in trade dollars which they could spend at any of the other members’ businesses. Of course the Exchange took a cut. We bought some Oriental Rugs and kitchen appliances with the money.

World Leaders logo by Paul Dodd at 4D Advertising in Rochester, New York

We did a lot of work for Customericity and DuPont. As I remember, this organization was one that many different companies would join for some altruistic reason.

4 Comments

4 Replies to “Relax Your Mind”

  1. Wow. They’re brilliant! 4D is my favorite, and Cylinder and Bobshop… Hope you got a milliion dollars for Exponentially Better. I have to take a photo of the one logo I came up with in commercial arts college Brisbane. I’ll be back with that…

  2. I remember you working on all of these, including the one you did for me for Cylinder. I always loved that name. I actually made a few bucks over the years creating names. Blasts from the past.

  3. Been to your house about 500 tmes . Did not know you did those logos for Bop , Earring and Roco that still exist today ( I believe !? ) .

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