Joy Division Unknown Pleasures T-Shirt in White: Artwork, Fit and What to Check
The Joy Division Unknown Pleasures artwork is a stack of white lines on black, drawn from radio waves of a dying star. Put it on a white t-shirt and the colours flip: black lines on a pale cotton ground. It looks cleaner, a little more graphic, and it suits warm weather better than the classic black version.
This page covers the white official tee, the history behind the design, and the practical details worth checking before you pick one.
Where the Unknown Pleasures artwork comes from
Joy Division released Unknown Pleasures on Factory Records in June 1979. Peter Saville designed the sleeve with the band, and the image came from a 1970 Cambridge Encyclopaedia entry showing 100 consecutive pulses from the pulsar CP 1919. Bernard Sumner brought the picture to Saville, who reversed it to white on black.
There is no band name and no album title on the front cover. That restraint is why the image works so well on clothing, since the artwork alone tells people what it is.
Today the design is one of the most printed rock images of the last fifty years. It has turned up on everything from market stall shirts to high street fashion, and plenty of those copies are unlicensed.
The white Unknown Pleasures t-shirt: what you get
An official white tee usually carries the pulsar lines in black across the chest, centred and sized close to the original sleeve proportions. Some versions add small print on the back or a neck label with the Joy Division name. Blank white cotton shows ink more sharply, so the lines look crisper than they do on dark fabric.
Typical specifications are worth knowing:
- Fabric: 100% cotton, usually around 150 to 180 gsm
- Fit: regular unisex cut, sizes S to 2XL, sometimes 3XL
- Print: screen printed, with a chest graphic roughly 25 to 30 cm wide
- Price: official versions generally sit from around £20 to £30
If you prefer the darker look, the Joy Division blue t-shirt is a different colourway of the same design, and the Unknown Pleasures t-shirt in the usual black is the version most people picture first. Fans of the band often call it the Unknown Pleasures bestseller tee for a reason: it has been the default Joy Division shirt for years.
How to tell an official shirt from a copy
A licensed shirt has a printed or woven neck label naming the rights holder and the band. The lines on the front should be fine, evenly spaced and sharp at the edges. Fakes tend to blur the thinnest lines into a single dark patch, and the peaks often look flattened or crooked.
Price is a hint, though not proof. A shirt at £6 from an anonymous seller is almost never licensed. Check that the seller names the licence, shows photos of the label, and describes the fabric weight.
Mind the print placement too. On a genuine tee the graphic sits slightly below the collar, usually 6 to 8 cm down, and does not drift towards one shoulder.
Sizing and care for a white graphic tee
Cotton tees of this type can shrink by up to 3 per cent on a first hot wash. Most people size up only if they want a looser, longer fall. If you are between sizes and like a relaxed shape, go larger.
Wash inside out at 30 degrees. Skip tumble drying, because heat is what cracks screen prints over time. White fabric also picks up stains and greying faster than black, so wash it with other light colours and avoid heavy bleach, which can dull the ink.
Iron on the reverse side, never directly over the print. A shirt looked after this way will keep its lines sharp for years.
More from the band
Joy Division made only two studio albums, Unknown Pleasures in 1979 and Closer in 1980, before Ian Curtis died in May 1980. The remaining members went on to form New Order. If you want to see how far the merchandise stretches beyond this one design, the Joy Division collection covers shirts, prints and posters built around the band's artwork, and a good deal of it traces back to the same Saville designs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Joy Division Unknown Pleasures image?
It is a plot of 100 successive radio pulses from pulsar CP 1919, taken from a 1970 astronomy reference book. Peter Saville inverted it to white on black for the 1979 album sleeve. The band name does not appear anywhere on the front.
Is the white version less authentic than the black one?
No. Colourways of the shirt are a merchandise choice, and the artwork is the same. What matters is whether the tee is officially licensed, which you can check from the neck label and the seller details.
Will the print crack or fade in the wash?
A good screen print should last through many washes if you turn the shirt inside out and keep the temperature at 30 degrees. Tumble drying is the usual cause of cracking. Cheap transfers fail much sooner.
Does the shirt run large or small?
Most official unisex tees fit true to size with a slightly boxy cut. Chest measurements for a medium are typically around 51 to 53 cm flat across. Check the size chart on any listing before deciding.