19/52: Duel
“Strike me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”
Each week for a year, I’m going to be designing a shirt and releasing it on my Threadless store. This is the design for week 19.
I was two when Star Wars came out in 1977. I don’t know when I saw the movie for the first time. Back then we obviously didn’t have DVDs or video-on-demand. We had to wait for the movie to be rereleased to the theaters. But I remember seeing the lightsaber dual between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, which ends with — SPOILER — Kenobi inexplicably sacrificing himself and disappearing.
Later his disembodied voice reminds Luke to use the force when destroying the Death Star. And of course, we find out later he becomes a “force ghost” and continues to guide and help Luke through the next two movies.
Star Wars (and all science fiction) has been a major influence on my life. Most of my toys growing up were Star Wars toys. And the rest were Legos that I used to make spaceships. But Star Wars — the original — started it all.
This December, the eighth Star Wars Saga film is released — The Last Jedi. I wanted to shirt to wear to the movie that subtly referenced the first film. And so we have Duel. A rough approximation of the lightsaber fight between Obi-Wan and Vader. Each frame is in a 2.35:1 ratio, the proportions that Star Wars was filmed in. And of course it ends with only one red lightsaber.
I’ll be wearing Duel for opening night of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. You can grab one, too, at my Threadless store.
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, creative director, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create. He's currently in the middle of a project to design a new shirt a week for an entire year. Follow Bob on Twitter, Instagram and Micro.Blog.