Sony PlayStation 1

In June 1991, Sony announced a partnership with Nintendo to build a CD-ROM add-on for the Super Nintendo. The next day, Nintendo publicly abandoned the deal. Sony's president Norio Ohga was furious. He turned to engineer Ken Kutaragi and said: "Just do it." Three years later, on 3 December 1994, the PlayStation went on sale in Japan. Nothing in gaming would ever be the same.

Kutaragi had been watching his daughter play a Nintendo Famicom when he first saw the potential of video games. He'd secretly designed the sound chip for the Super Nintendo, nearly getting fired when Sony's executives discovered he'd been collaborating with their rival. But Kutaragi had a vision: a console built around CD-ROM technology, capable of 3D graphics that would make cartridge-based systems look primitive. When Nintendo's betrayal gave him the chance, he built it.

The grey box with its distinctive logo - an interlocking P and S - arrived as an outsider challenging two established giants. Within a decade, it had sold 102 million units, becoming the first console ever to break 100 million. Final Fantasy VII. Metal Gear Solid. Resident Evil. Tekken. Gran Turismo. The PlayStation didn't just win a console war; it transformed gaming from a children's toy into mainstream adult entertainment. TIME magazine named Kutaragi one of the 100 most influential people of 2004, calling him "the Gutenberg of video games."

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.

Full delivery information →

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.

Full returns policy →