For 40 years, the Elite games have been letting us explore the majesty of space, and with the series’ modern incarnation, Elite Dangerous, treating us to especially beautiful sweeping nebulae and vibrant planets, it’s no surprise that artists are inspired to create Elite artwork. The work we’re showcasing below was made by our community to celebrate the 40-year Elite anniversary, and given that today, December 16, 2024, is the day Elite Dangerous celebrates its own momentous anniversary - ten years! - we thought it was the perfect time to show off the community’s never-ending creativity. The artwork below is as varied as it is impressive, and we hope that you love it as much as we do. 

An epic recreation of the original Elite artwork (and more)

First up, we have our grand winner, CMDR Henckes, who won $100 for their glorious modernisation of the original 1984 game’s artwork. Here’s the iconic original: 

And here’s CMDR Henckes’s 2024 Elite Dangerous version: 

Pretty impressive, right? Well, CMDR Henckes didn’t stop there. 

“I got a little excited in the process, and I ended up recreating more than just the art. I remade the entire box with all the extras that came with it: the poster, the booklets, even the modern disk equivalent of the cartridge.”

We advise you start by checking out the original, which you can find on this awesome website: retro-kit. And now, here’s CMDR Henckes’s reimagining:

‘That must have taken an age!’ we hear you gasp. You’re not wrong. Here are some screenshots showing CMDR Henckes’s creative process: 

CMDR, we salute you 🫡. 

Art in motion

Beetlejude also went above and beyond, creating three different showstoppers that more than earned their second-place prize. Much of their work masterfully combines two of humanity’s oldest pastimes: illustration and storytelling. Take this first piece, a tribute to the Dark Wheel by Robert Holdstock, which is retold over the top of a stunning chalk illustration:

Next up, a piece that combines three media - felt pen, paint, and chalk - to celebrate three games - the original Elite, Elite 2, and Elite Dangerous. It’s a charming video, and the final result left our jaws on the floor. 

Last but not least, a fun time-lapse video displaying a large selection of Beetlejude’s artwork. You can find most of that artwork on Beetlejude’s YouTube channel, to which we strongly recommend you subscribe. 

A painstakingly embroidered 40 years of Elite t-shirt

Have you picked your jaw up from the floor yet? If so, we’d say you wasted your time. Rac went to phenomenal efforts to digitally design and then embroider this t-shirt, a gorgeous artistic tribute to Elite’s ruby anniversary. We’ll start with some shots from their design process, so that you can see the impressive lengths they went to:

“The design for the front was quickly finished and off we went!”

“Only, the programming for the back was cramped, and caused problems later on.”

“Knots formed in the countless single stitches, which led to problems with the embroidery and the machine itself.”

As with so many things in Elite, the effort was absolutely worth it: 

That just leaves one question: Where can we get one?

A multicolour mosaic 

The three entries above won our top three prizes, but the impressive Elite artwork doesn’t stop there. CMDR John Wick travelled across the galaxy to create a cosmic tapestry that combines art and science. Why do we like it? Why, it’s elemental!

“I really appreciate this game being so kind to the community. In celebration of Elite’s 40th anniversary, I went on a journey to discover planets with 100% chemical or compound composition atmospheres. They provide an example of just some of the beauty that Elite Dangerous offers. My journey took me to 13 planets, near and far. Nine of them are presented below, in the following order: methane, nitrogen, ammonia, sulfur dioxide, neon, argon, water, carbon dioxide, and helium." 

They documented their work too. Here’s their research:

Vintage aesthetics with modern appeal

There’s something special about retro artwork, which was especially fitting for an artistic challenge celebrating 40 years of the beloved franchise. LiquidMorkite produced a super-cool poster, with a colour scheme we adore: 

“I’ve always been a huge fan of posters, and those in-game holo ads always look so lively when I'm docking at a station. I hope to see mine there someday! The inspiration was that classic image of the Cobra flying towards a Coriolis station in 1984's rendering tech, paired with a more detailed Imperial Cutter and Federal Corvette, as I interpret them as the two more modernised flagships (sorry ‘Conda, I’ll give you a poster some day). My intention was to celebrate the long way we’ve come so far, from that image of the 1984 Cobra to the game we have today.

“As well as the holo ads, I borrowed the style from Marc Million, so I’d like to thank him for the inspiration. I wasn't even born when the first game was out, and I’m fairly new to Elite Dangerous, but my love for the game has been there since the first day I booted it up, and I find it fascinating that the series has been around for 40 years! Here’s to many more years and celebrations; cheers! o7”

Pencil, meet Python

yan57436's Elite artwork is simple but lovely. Created with a broken-tipped pencil, it shows a Python Mk2 hovering just above the ground. 

Past, meet present

Our penultimate piece of Elite artwork comes from MQC, it shows just how far Elite has come since 1984, from the original 8-bit models to the graphical powerhouse of Elite Dangerous today:  

Layers of Elite 

We’ve saved one of our favourite pieces until the end. The style and creativity of Osiliran's Elite artwork speaks for itself, but here’s their intro nonetheless: 

“I'm clearly not an artist by trade, but I do very much enjoy the artistic process. Art and music are so good for the soul. Below is a snippet of the work-in-progress, just a mess of layers and doodles in the Concepts app. I played around with the sizing and positioning a bit, and I think it turned out okay. Great idea for a reward Just About, thanks!”

It’s us who should be thanking all of the artists who contributed to this article and to all of the other community members who’ve made the Elite franchise so special over the last 40years. We’re proud to be a part of that journey. 

For further examples of the Elite Dangerous community’s imaginative fan-made creations, check out these Elite Dangerous documentaries. Some text has been edited for brevity, clarity, or spelling, punctuation, and grammar. You can find the original wording here, alongside another half dozen examples of artwork celebrating 40 years since the launch of the original Elite. Image credit: Osiliran