Sony ICF-SW1 radio

In 1988, if you wanted to know what was really happening in the world, you listened to shortwave. The BBC World Service, Voice of America, Radio Moscow, Deutsche Welle - these broadcasts cut through propaganda and censorship, reaching listeners behind the Iron Curtain, in remote villages, anywhere a radio could pick up a signal bouncing off the ionosphere. Sony made a receiver that could tune them all in, and fit in your shirt pocket.

The ICF-SW1 measured just 120 x 71 x 23mm - about the size of a cigarette packet - yet covered everything from long wave through medium wave to the entire shortwave spectrum up to 30 MHz, plus FM stereo through headphones. A microprocessor-controlled frequency synthesiser let you punch in the exact frequency you wanted via a numerical keypad, then store ten favourites in memory. The LCD showed your precise position on the dial, anywhere from 150 kHz to nearly 30 MHz.

This was a tool for the informed traveller, the foreign correspondent, the business executive who needed to know what governments weren't saying. In hotel rooms from Tokyo to São Paulo, the ICF-SW1 could pull in broadcasts that local media wouldn't touch. Sony marketed it as the complete system - receiver, active antenna, mains adapter, all nested in a compact carrying case. The whole world, packaged for your briefcase.

Gizmo is a collection of design-led art prints built around the machines that shaped how we made music, wrote code, played and connected with the world. Synthesisers and drum machines. Cameras and home computers. Calculators and handheld devices that once felt like the future.

Each print is a carefully constructed illustration that isolates what made an object memorable - its proportions, controls, typography, surfaces, and small acts of engineering intelligence. Not retro sentimentality, but honest observation: what made these machines distinctive, how they looked when they were new, and why their forms still resonate.

Adapted from and inspired by Simon Tyler's forthcoming book Gizmo: Retro-Tech We Loved and Lost, published by Laurence King in May 2026.

All prints are produced to order on 250gsm archival matte paper using pigment-based inks, chosen for colour accuracy and long-term stability.

Each print is rolled in acid-free tissue and shipped in a rigid cardboard tube, sealed for moisture protection, ready for framing on arrival.

Large · 70 × 50 cm · 28 × 20 in

XLarge · 100 × 70 cm · 40 × 28 in

UK: Free · 3-5 working days

Europe: €8.50 · 3-7 working days · No customs charges

USA & Canada: $8.95 / $12.00 CAD · 5-10 working days

Australia: $14.00 AUD · 5-10 working days

Rest of World: £14.95 · 7-14 working days

All prints are produced to order and dispatched within 1-3 working days. Orders placed before 5pm GMT ship the same day. You'll receive tracking information by email once dispatched.

Orders outside Europe may be subject to local customs charges on delivery - these are the responsibility of the recipient.

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Returns accepted within 30 days. Email returns@axisophy.com with your order number and we'll provide return instructions.

Return postage is the customer's responsibility except where the print arrives damaged or there's been an error - in which case we'll arrange a replacement or refund immediately, no return needed.

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