In 1985 Swinghammer did a mural at Toronto's Nutz & Boltz disco, followed by a mural at the Dance Cave, which appears in a scene in 1988's Cocktail starring Tom Cruise. He was associated with a colourful "neo-primitive" graphic style shared by a few other "street artists" and which became part of the visual identity of the Queen Street West scene. Over a period of five years Kurt created popular fundraising T-shirt designs and posters for the legendary community radio station CKLN. Commercial projects of note from this period were posters, shopping bag design, and an in-store font for Sam the Record Man (the largest record chain in Canada at the time), designing the Canada Booth for the New Music Seminar in New York City, and designing the CASBY Award logo and set design for CFNY FM. Additional clients for his illustration and design work included Much Music, The Music Gallery, CBC Variety Recordings, Coach House Press, Environment Canada, The Art Gallery Of Ontario, HMV, BMG, Jane Siberry, and Jell-O Pudding.