The Shirt
Every Litographs t-shirt is created entirely from the text of a classic book.
We've worked with Sharprint to push the limits of screen printed t-shirts. These are printed "all-over," which means that the design - the text from each book - covers every inch. The text is completely legible.
We managed to squeeze about 75,000 words onto the two screens for each design. Since the screens themselves are larger than the t-shirts, there will always be some portions of the book that don't make it onto the shirts.
About All-Over Printing
Printing all-over is a challenging, manual process. The result is a one-of-a-kind shirt; no two Litographs t-shirts are identical.
The people at Sharprint are experts at printing all-over. Here's what they have to say about the process:
"There’s no doubt all-over printing is awesome. The ability to print anywhere on the shirt is really a liberating aspect for designers, consumers, and vendors alike. It is important to be aware how the quality of these prints differ from screen prints created with a standard press.
Printing over the collar and shoulder seams is really popular, especially with retail inspired designs. If you lay a shirt down flat, you’ll notice how it is not smooth and flat in these areas. For this reason, when the squeegee passes over collars and seams, the ink is not applied smoothly. In these areas, ink has a tendency to skip or pool. This is completely acceptable and expected."
In general, these effects are not noticeable when the t-shirts are worn. You can view lots of user-submitted photos on our facebook page and on tumblr.
In order for the garment to lay perfectly flat, they are starched on the inside before they get printed. Shirts will retain a tack on the inside and should be washed before wearing.
The Mission
Litographs is committed to promoting literacy, both at home and abroad.
We're proud to partner with the International Book Bank to send one new, high-quality book to a community in need for each item we sell.
