Picking good design often involves considering what has stood the test of time, and how it can be given a new twist. Burberry, for example. Okay, I’ve stopped laughing now, but seriously, the way Burberry re-invented its weird sticking-plaster coloured tartan garb is a lesson in how classic design can be brought up to date.

And my pick for today does a similar thing but in a more interesting way. Over on Threadless, Olly has a T-shirt that uses some of the most iconic gaming images of the past twenty-something years and unites them in a T-shirt that uses simple white on black imagery to create a stunning visual effect.

Interestingly, Olly himself is twenty-something years old, which means he’s used elements in this T-shirt that existed before he was born, like the Che Guevara teeshirts worn by kids who don’t know who Che was, what he represented or how unpleasant he was. If you don’t believe me, go read a history book!

Anyway, the point is, reworking this kind of ingrained cultural image can give a really fresh perspective on society – what does it say about us that we have spent the last 20 years finding new things to kill in virtual space? Actually, who cares. What is important is the solid design of this T-shirt which, sociology apart, says interesting things about T-shirt printing and how the simplest, most easily identifiable images, can also be the freshest, when they are treated in a new way.

Post by Mikey who has an itchy trigger finger for Burberry …

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