Rebecca Robinson
Freelance writer
- February 10, 2010 • 2:42 pm PST
- + responses
Todd Lawton and Jeffrey LeBlanc can sum up their new venture, Out of Print, in just seven words: "Books on shirts. Shirts on a mission."
Lawton and LeBlanc, lifelong friends who first bonded through their love of reading, have created a line of T-shirts that feature stunning vintage cover art from classic works of literature. Recognizing that the digital world is rapidly transforming the reading experience, the duo seeks to celebrate and reflect upon the power of the printed word and its accompanying art before it's gone forever.
Out of Print's mission goes far beyond screen-printing the funky dust jackets of yore. To promote literacy in countries with little or no access to books, Lawton and LeBlanc have embarked on a unique partnership with the international nonprofit Books For Africa. For every T-shirt purchased, Out of Print will donate a book to a community in need through Books For Africa.
I caught up with Lawton and LeBlanc a few days after Out of Print's Jan. 30 launch. We spoke about the inspiration for Out of Print, the challenges of licensing decades-old art, and their vision for a well-read world.
Rebecca Robinson: What's Out of Print's origin story?
Todd Lawton: Jeff and I met when we were in 2nd grade at Westridge Elementary School in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Immediately, we struck up a friendship, and talked a lot about our favorite books. Jeff moved away to Michigan in seventh grade, but we kept in touch about ideas for things we wanted to do.
I came to New York 10 years ago, and Jeff arrived seven years ago. Over time, in addition to talking about books, we talked about how to start a business.
RR: Is this a full-time endeavor for both of you?
TL: We're both 100 percent full-time in this right now. I was working at Nike before, but there was a global layoff and I was part of the reorganization. We'd been talking about doing something before that, and so it became, if not now, then when?
Jeffrey LeBlanc: I'd worked at a hedge fund for five years, but I left in early '09 to become a teacher. I taught accounting at a fashion college, so I kind of inadvertently connected to the fashion world before Out of Print.
RR: Was there a particular "aha" moment or event that led you to get Out of Print off the ground?
TL: The catalyst was seeing Kindles come out, and the iPad. We were thinking, reading is going to be so different in the future. How do we celebrate how it is now?
We're not making an opinion on whether digital is good or bad in the long run; we're exploring, what is the reading experience for us right now, and if that changes, what does it mean?
RR: How did you make the leap from books to T-shirts?
TL: One of the things that's so great about a book's cover art is that it's a visual bridge between readers and authors' ideas and words. It also connects people to each other.
A T-shirt is the ultimate conversation starter. It's what you choose to share with the world. And the book cover art we started looking at lent itself to shirts.
RR: How do you select the art for the T-shirts?
TL: Starting out, we did research looking at different cover art. When you look at our shirts, you see that [the design] doesn't necessarily feel like it came from a book cover. We didn't want to do something boxy; we wanted to do something that blended into the garment.
RR: Do the designs in your launch collection reflect your personal preferences, or did you strive to represent classic works that have shaped our cultural experience?
TL: We've put titles and art out there that connected with a lot of people. We'll be bringing in more cultures and stories that we think add to our library.
We're also trying to do things by the book to get licenses to the titles so we're not ripping anyone off.
RR: On that topic, how long does it take to get the content for your shirts licensed?
JLB: Once we got started, we discovered how convoluted and difficult licensing this stuff really is. There can be multiple license holders, and it can take months. The longest one took five months; we were dealing with a very famous artist. The quickest was a couple of weeks.
RR: Are people excited to give you the rights, or are they reluctant?
JLB: All parties involved are really excited about it. For the artists involved, it's also an exciting way for them to get art out again. One of the artists we're working with is
Paul Bacon. He's done five or six thousand-plus book covers, and he's excited to see his stuff in a different medium.
RR: You say your shirts are on a mission. How so?
TL: We're partnering with Books For Africa, which works with over 45 countries in Africa. For every shirt we sell, a book will be donated to a library or youth center in Africa. It's another piece of our cause to celebrate and raise awareness of literacy.
RR: Why Books For Africa? Why not give books to low-income communities right here in the U.S.?
JLB: I did a lot of the legwork early on to find a series of partners, and while there are plenty of things we want to do in the States, there are already plenty of groups doing that work [in the U.S.] We looked across the spectrum, and saw that we could have the greatest benefit immediately through Books For Africa.
RR: You emphasize celebrating "our individual experiences with great literary art before it is forever changed." But haven't you already changed it by removing it from its original context?
TL: We're saying that books aren't going to be around the way they have been. We're changing the platform for the dust jacket, but it's really to spur that conversation and debate around great art, great books, what we all like about them, whether that's the touch and smell of your favorite books, or the characters you fall in love with.
RR: What's one book that changed your life, and why?
JLB: For me, The Count of Monte Cristo helped me discover what it means to get lost in a story, to lose touch with reality.
TL: The one book I'll remember always turning me on to reading is Treasure Island. I will always remember the texture of what was beneath the worn dust jacket. There were these amazing illustrations on the inside. Those images were ingrained in my mind forever.
Lawton and LeBlanc, lifelong friends who first bonded through their love of reading, have created a line of T-shirts that feature stunning vintage cover art from classic works of literature. Recognizing that the digital world is rapidly transforming the reading experience, the duo seeks to celebrate and reflect upon the power of the printed word and its accompanying art before it's gone forever.
Out of Print's mission goes far beyond screen-printing the funky dust jackets of yore. To promote literacy in countries with little or no access to books, Lawton and LeBlanc have embarked on a unique partnership with the international nonprofit Books For Africa. For every T-shirt purchased, Out of Print will donate a book to a community in need through Books For Africa.
I caught up with Lawton and LeBlanc a few days after Out of Print's Jan. 30 launch. We spoke about the inspiration for Out of Print, the challenges of licensing decades-old art, and their vision for a well-read world.
Rebecca Robinson: What's Out of Print's origin story?
Todd Lawton: Jeff and I met when we were in 2nd grade at Westridge Elementary School in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Immediately, we struck up a friendship, and talked a lot about our favorite books. Jeff moved away to Michigan in seventh grade, but we kept in touch about ideas for things we wanted to do.
I came to New York 10 years ago, and Jeff arrived seven years ago. Over time, in addition to talking about books, we talked about how to start a business.
RR: Is this a full-time endeavor for both of you?
TL: We're both 100 percent full-time in this right now. I was working at Nike before, but there was a global layoff and I was part of the reorganization. We'd been talking about doing something before that, and so it became, if not now, then when?
Jeffrey LeBlanc: I'd worked at a hedge fund for five years, but I left in early '09 to become a teacher. I taught accounting at a fashion college, so I kind of inadvertently connected to the fashion world before Out of Print.
RR: Was there a particular "aha" moment or event that led you to get Out of Print off the ground?
TL: The catalyst was seeing Kindles come out, and the iPad. We were thinking, reading is going to be so different in the future. How do we celebrate how it is now?
We're not making an opinion on whether digital is good or bad in the long run; we're exploring, what is the reading experience for us right now, and if that changes, what does it mean?
RR: How did you make the leap from books to T-shirts?
TL: One of the things that's so great about a book's cover art is that it's a visual bridge between readers and authors' ideas and words. It also connects people to each other.
A T-shirt is the ultimate conversation starter. It's what you choose to share with the world. And the book cover art we started looking at lent itself to shirts.
RR: How do you select the art for the T-shirts?
TL: Starting out, we did research looking at different cover art. When you look at our shirts, you see that [the design] doesn't necessarily feel like it came from a book cover. We didn't want to do something boxy; we wanted to do something that blended into the garment.
RR: Do the designs in your launch collection reflect your personal preferences, or did you strive to represent classic works that have shaped our cultural experience?
TL: We've put titles and art out there that connected with a lot of people. We'll be bringing in more cultures and stories that we think add to our library.
We're also trying to do things by the book to get licenses to the titles so we're not ripping anyone off.
RR: On that topic, how long does it take to get the content for your shirts licensed?
JLB: Once we got started, we discovered how convoluted and difficult licensing this stuff really is. There can be multiple license holders, and it can take months. The longest one took five months; we were dealing with a very famous artist. The quickest was a couple of weeks.
RR: Are people excited to give you the rights, or are they reluctant?
JLB: All parties involved are really excited about it. For the artists involved, it's also an exciting way for them to get art out again. One of the artists we're working with is
Paul Bacon. He's done five or six thousand-plus book covers, and he's excited to see his stuff in a different medium.
RR: You say your shirts are on a mission. How so?
TL: We're partnering with Books For Africa, which works with over 45 countries in Africa. For every shirt we sell, a book will be donated to a library or youth center in Africa. It's another piece of our cause to celebrate and raise awareness of literacy.
RR: Why Books For Africa? Why not give books to low-income communities right here in the U.S.?
JLB: I did a lot of the legwork early on to find a series of partners, and while there are plenty of things we want to do in the States, there are already plenty of groups doing that work [in the U.S.] We looked across the spectrum, and saw that we could have the greatest benefit immediately through Books For Africa.
RR: You emphasize celebrating "our individual experiences with great literary art before it is forever changed." But haven't you already changed it by removing it from its original context?
TL: We're saying that books aren't going to be around the way they have been. We're changing the platform for the dust jacket, but it's really to spur that conversation and debate around great art, great books, what we all like about them, whether that's the touch and smell of your favorite books, or the characters you fall in love with.
RR: What's one book that changed your life, and why?
JLB: For me, The Count of Monte Cristo helped me discover what it means to get lost in a story, to lose touch with reality.
TL: The one book I'll remember always turning me on to reading is Treasure Island. I will always remember the texture of what was beneath the worn dust jacket. There were these amazing illustrations on the inside. Those images were ingrained in my mind forever.
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