Litographs are an attempt to create a tangible form of digital book distribution. Danny Fein came up with the idea of creating word art inspired by classic books using the entire text of the book. Meaning, the image of Alice falling through the rabbit hole is comprised of the entirety of Alice in Wonderland. Fein worked with a series of artists to come up with 50 designs, ranging from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin to Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. The initial illustrations were created by 22 artists. Font size four text was used in various colors to bring the designs to life on poster form.
From there, Fein wanted to branch out to t-shirts as another tangible medium. Litographs, already problematic on the paper because of the tiny designs, would be a greater challenge on fabric. Fabric soaks up ink more than paper. Lines aren't as crisp and size four text wouldn't necessarily read well at all.
Danny Fein put in the legwork to find printers willing to go for the ride. Now, he's asking for help on Kickstarter to create the first production run of the designs on t-shirts.
Litographs have already been funded. The initial run is complete. The reason to even bring it up at this point is the pre-order aspect.
The first four designs available are Alice in Wonderland, On the Origin of Species, Moby Dick, and The Great Gatsby. The project did so well that there will be a fifth design decided by public vote (Sherlock Holmes leads Peter Pan by a handful of votes as of this writing).
A $30 donation gets you the t-shirt of your choice. $40 gets you a print out of the poster of your choice. And $50 gets you the hand-printed poster of your choice. You receive a gift certificate, mailed out in time for Christmas, to choose whatever design you want at your price point. This could be the perfect gift for the lit nerd in your life.
I really am surprised that people don't necessarily want a physical product to go with their digital files. We've embraced the digital licensing format that can all disappear in a minute if a big company decides you broke the rules or they don't want a work out there anymore. Supporting a project like Litographs is a clever way to hang onto that tangible format that no one can legally take away from you.