I like Out of Print Clothing. Their T-Shirts are cool without being ‘hip’ and anything that encourages people to pick up a book is a good thing. We spoke to Todd Lawton to find out more…..
Is there a criteria before a book can be featured on one of your T-shirts?
We look at a few things when deciding about which book covers to feature. With so many covers to choose from it is often difficult to find the right one.
The book has to relate to our customers—fortunately we have a long list of requests from our customers and we try to pick the ones that are most often mentioned. Secondly, the cover needs to look good on a shirt.We look for art that can stand on its own. Finally we need to make sure we can license the art.
Who does the designs, are they all based on the book covers?
Mostly we work with original first edition book covers. Sometimes they are just rare editions that we like a lot. These are covers that artists have worked with publishers and authors to create. We have also worked with contemporary artists to create re-imagined covers. This has given us some room for creative interpretation of what a cover for a great classic could look like if thought about in a different way.
How many designs do you have for sale at the moment?
We have over 40 designs currently.
What is your best selling T Shirt?
Pride and Prejudice is very popular. So is Brave New World and Slaughterhouse-Five. It’s hard to pick a best seller because the top 15 styles sell at about the same velocity.
Have you got any new designs coming up?
We’re working on some at the moment that we feel are going to great additions.
What is the books for Africa scheme all about?
We work with the non-profit Books For Africa to send books to schools and communities that greatly need them. For each shirt we sell we send one book. So far the program has been very successful and well received.
Together with our customers we have sent over three 40 ft. long ocean containers worth of books to various countries in Africa. The books that are donated vary from literature to text and resource books.
If I read one book in my lifetime, what book do you think I should I read?
That’s impossible to answer and really depressing to thing about…only one book to read?!? You should be open to reading more than one book in your life ;). I think my favorite book is Treasure Island because it is the book that first got me interested in reading.
Find out more on their website, (they also have a pretty cool blog too) www.outofprintclothing.com
We have a competition to win an Out of Print T-Shirt of your choice, just answer the following question…..
** This competition is now closed **
This competition is now closed, for our latest competitions click HERE
Usual competition terms and conditions. Closing date 28st March 2011.