My website has been hosted by Dreamhost for a long time and I can’t complain about much. Once I moved my mail over to Google, I had even less to complain about. I also follow the official Dreamhost blog, which is amusing at times. One post in particular caught my attention. Not so much the title, which declared the 62nd Birthday of Dreamhost, but the bonus for anyone who designed a retro t-shirt. A lifetime of free hosting is the prize. No asterisks within sight.
I decided to go with a retro 80s theme. The subject fell into place when I was browsing for kitsch: the Rubik’s Cube. Even better was the fact that nine squares (3×3) exactly fits the spelling of DRE-AMH-OST. To finish the design I needed something to indicate, beyond any question of doubt, that this shirt was sent back to the future from the 1980s. A word often used to describe a nerd was “dweeb” which seems to have lost its vogue. All the elements of a radical t-shirt came into place.
What Works?
If the company was named “Dreamshost” I would either wrap the text to another side or move on. The nine-letter coincidence worked in my favor. There’s very little that can’t be identified with the 80s here. The light gray boundary around the design allows for black or white t-shirts to be used without diminishing the impact of the design.
What Failed?
It’s not immediately clear this is a retro design. The individual elements are there but there’s nothing in your face to remind you it’s a retro t-shirt. It also doesn’t tie-in the 62nd birthday or anniversary or whatever Dreamhost is celebrating. But being ironic isn’t representative of the 1980s – that’s something the 00s can claim.
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