We Are LxL

A Need To Carry

Wed, 02 May 2012 10:55:00 -0400

HONESTLY

There is something that just needs to be said: These are the best damn pouches out there. “How arrogant…”

We can confidently make this Proclamation not because we made these, but for the reason why we made them. Our search for a functional, well-made pouch constructed out of high quality materials yielded zero results - which is why we were compelled to create these. As designers, we see no need to reinvent the wheel, nor do we get any sort of creative or intellectual satisfaction from such a pursuit. There are plenty of “things” out in the world that could use a re-imagining or redesign (and in some cases a 1st-design) but there are scores of things that do not.

Simply put, most pouches are just fancy Ziploc® bags made out of fabric. If that works for you, then you’re in luck because there are plenty of choices out there. And if you love branding and logos splashed all over, even better.

SPECIFICS

Constructed out of high quality materials such as #10 Duck Canvas, Waxed Canvas and denim, these only get better with age. The stamped versions are all quite unique - STAMPING PROCESS.

AVAILABLE IN SHOP

Fairly busy week starting off with our Of A Kind Wayfarer Pack...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 11:01:03 -0400

TEDx New Haven at Yale

One of the last Symmetry Scarves.

Fairly busy week starting off with our Of A Kind Wayfarer Pack going on sale last Tuesday. If you don’t know already, we have been selling pocket tees to help fund our next big project - more on that here. Speaking of our project, we went to New Haven (our future home) on Saturday for the TEDx New Haven conference, which was held in a beautiful Yale lecture hall.

Lastly, (and on a somewhat sad note) we received one of the final Symmetry Goods scarves. The line will definitely be missed - on a brighter note, Ted from Symmetry has formed a new project and has asked LXL and a handful of other talented folks to join him. We’re really excited about this and all the details will be revealed tomorrow.

*Of Note: Related to our big New Haven project, we are almost there. We have a space ready for us and we may even start building this coming week. Can’t wait to share all the details.

**All images taken from our Instagram feeds. Find us @layerxlayer & @lealjane.

Wayfarer Peak Dot - New Haven

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:02:47 -0400

Shot in New Haven, CT - our past and future home.

*All footage shot with an iPhone 4S - not too bad for a phone, huh?

Of A Kind - Peak Dot

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:52:49 -0400

It’s been a long time in the making, but we finally completed a piece with Of A Kind. We all were in agreement that the Wayfarer would be the perfect “canvas” to use as a starting point.

The Peak Dot Wayfarer is our first backpack made from undyed and unwaxed duck canvas. Since the duck is literally a blank canvas, we made a special print pattern that draws inspiration from a few different places - see if you can spot the references.

Indigo denim is also utilized. As usual, all the materials are top-quality and beautiful in their raw state. Can’t wait to see how this thing looks as it ages, especially the indigo.

There are 20 available so act quick if you’re looking for a backpack that has a little character and is made to last.

OF A KIND

Fairly eventful week: Leah had a birthday and we released a new...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 11:03:54 -0400

Fairly eventful week: Leah had a birthday and we released a new backpack, the Aleutian Pack. We were in New Haven twice last week, the first time to look at a potential workspace/storefront and the other time to look at apartments. Since being in CT means the woodshop is nearby, we built a ladder to hang stuff on.

*Of Note: The Aleutian Pack is available in our shop. And we did find a workshop and have several apartments to choose from which is good, however the whole packing & moving thing is not that exciting.

**All images taken from our Instagram feeds. Find us @layerxlayer & @lealjane.

Not so Simple.

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:53:11 -0400

If you don’t recognize the beard, then you need to become acquainted with the gentleman behind the thoughtful, thorough and always well photographed journal entitled Simple Threads.

Ryan’s mission is highlight quality products, produced by well-intentioned makers, individuals and companies. In that sense, his blog is simple - yet having several (albeit, and unfortunately brief) conversations with him, there is much more to the story.

*We sent him an Aleutian Pack in Field Tan to photograph - no further explanation necessary.

We’ve already mentioned that one of the benefits to doing the work that we do is meeting other creatives that we respect. Getting to work with these folks is pretty much what we initially set out to do and we’re excited to do more of it.

LAYERXLAYER as an entity is about sharing and collaborating.

Aleutian Pack

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:00:00 -0400

INTENTION

We are best at designing “things” that excite us, or that could be useful additions to our lives. Branching off of that, our design philosophy is centered around the idea of clarity - simply, the how & why are the primary focus. Nothing is hidden that shouldn’t be, and there are no random decisions.

SPECIFICS

The Aleutian Pack has many details. One version is Natural duck canvas and the other is a Field Tan waxed canvas. Heavyweight webbing is used in both, as well as solid brass snap hooks, grommets, leather-backed denim rivets - just to name a few.

Every constituent part is of an exceptional quality - as it should be. Available in Our Shop.

Another week, another…something. That tasty looking cake...

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 13:00:24 -0400

Another week, another…something. That tasty looking cake & bread combo was made by Leah and shared with her family. About 20 tags were stamped for a special bunch of bags that will be unveiled on the 21st. Our schedule seems to lend itself well to brunch, which is not really so bad after all.

Lastly, we ended the week by taking a trip to an abandoned rock quarry to shoot a new piece. We hiked, climbed rocks, got some much needed sun and may have heard a few coyotes.

*Of Note: The piece we photographed at the quarry will be in shop this week. It’s really good - at least that’s what we’ve been told.

**All images taken from our Instagram feeds. Find us @layerxlayer & @lealjane.

Last week we shipped our first “Margin...

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:00:25 -0400

Margin Shirt, available in our shop.

Last week we shipped our first “Margin Shirt” and showed of the final version of our “Brimfield Bag”. In anticipation of warmer days, Leah made a very summery flatbread pizza topped with mango. And finally, most of our week has been dedicated to working on a special project, the details of which will be revealed in about a week.

*Of Note: The ‘Brimfield Bag’ was created about a year ago to aid us in our trip to the Brimfield Flea Market in Massachusetts. It has been Patrick’s go to bag for the remainder of last year, so we are refining and releasing it very soon.

**All images taken from our Instagram feeds. Find us @layerxlayer & @lealjane.

Began the week with baking and ended with a trip to New Haven,...

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:00:00 -0400

Beginning of something.

Coffee Cakes - vegan and GF.

Pouch.

New Haven - from the top of East Rock.

Began the week with baking and ended with a trip to New Haven, CT for a photoshoot. You can see how the pouch really comes in handy when traveling - and we ended up putting several more items into it before we hit the road.

Not Pictured: Some very special new pieces we’ve been working on. This coming week we’ll post some details of those and maybe even have some in our shop.

**All images taken from our Instagram feeds. Find us @layerxlayer & @lealjane.

Since last week was unexpectedly warm, Leah used this...

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 12:00:05 -0400

Tempeh tacos - spicy.

New tote - simple and all about utility.

Maple - new side project in process

Maple spoon rest.

Since last week was unexpectedly warm, Leah used this temperature change as an excuse to make a more “summery” meal - because it did feel a bit like Summer. The middle of last week saw us taking a trip to Brooklyn to show off a few of our pieces to a very special shop. Rounding out the week, we got to spend a day in our woodshop, where we began work on a few random pieces. Leah sanded & waxed a piece of scrap to use as a spoon rest.

*Of Note: The tote pictured will be available in shop soon. It’s simple, extremely robust and has a handful of thoughtful details. Pricing is modest and a percentage of the cost will go toward our ‘Untitled Project.’

**All images taken from our Instagram feeds. Find us @layerxlayer & @lealjane.

Stamps on Paper

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:15:44 -0400

EVERYTHING IS ANYTHING

Branding has always been somewhat of a dirty word to us. Although it can help strengthen the overall message of a company or business, it seems that most of the time branding is used as a tool to alter your perception and ultimately put forth an image that can be disingenuous. In fact, the whole idea of a “brand” has never been something that we identified with, but that’s for another day.

We design and create things that are representative of our personalities, morals and ideals. Basically, we want everything we create to feel authentic, whatever that may even mean these days. We don’t have PR people or marketers - all we have is us. The two of us.

FANCY FONTS & LOFTY SLOGANS

We wanted to design packaging (and ultimately branding) that honestly represented our overall mission, but perhaps more importantly was respectful of the product itself. Every word and concept expressed on either our website, blog or packaging is honest - which is probably what most people would say.

We are not “graphic designers.” However, we felt it important to take on the task and have two points to make about such an endeavor:

We believe that to be a “designer” one should not be limited by medium. Design is a way of seeing and interpreting things, therefore it can not be tied to any medium.
Who better to articulate our story than us.

The notion that a branding or marketing team should craft your story is a bit silly to us, that is of course if there is even a story to tell. In our opinion, (and this mostly applies to a creative business) a person should work to discover his or her “brand” or message, the same way they would discover their own creative abilities. This idea of self-discovery somehow doesn’t apply to branding, or is given a pass for some reason. At a time when most things (and ideas) are carbon copies of other things, being unique should have more value. Influence is fine, but cloning is something very different.

BEAT YOU TO IT

You might say, “well not everyone is graphically inclined.” To which we would say, then don’t try to be - or if it is a priority, take the time to learn like you would any other skill. Be yourself, and do what you are capable of.

That’s authentic and that is beautiful.

*Or you can just hire a marketer, slap a fancy (maybe even old-fashioned) logo on your products and call it a day. It’s only your name on your product, after all.

**There are a few exceptions to this idea of self-branding. We’re focusing on “things that are made”, as opposed to places or experiences.

Our week started out with an eclectic brunch, saw us spending...

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 13:07:09 -0400

Brunch, as only Leah knows how.

Clamp, loaded and ready to assist.

Something printed and special.

Classic Mickey, then "Bottle Rocket."

Our week started out with an eclectic brunch, saw us spending more time in the studio than we have lately and concluded with a film screening.

*Of Note: We’re working on a few S.E. Wayfarer Packs - quantities will be extremely limited. Above photo shows a version that has a printed body.

**All images taken from our Instagram feeds. Find us @layerxlayer & @lealjane.

Untitled Project - Location

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:00:00 -0500

HUNT & GATHER

Both Leah and I are from Connecticut, it is where we met and also a place that begun the process of shaping us into the people we are today. But at some point in our late teen years, as is often the case, we wanted to be anywhere else but there. It’s a natural thing of course, to desire new experiences and freedom.

And that is what we found while attending school in Boston. Although we definitely were exposed to many new ideas and experiences, our core values and beliefs have stayed the same.

In fact, they were multiplied and clarified.

BACK AROUND

“Long story, short” - as a good friend of mine regularly says - we are creating a place. In fact, this new place will be close to our hometown, in New Haven to be exact.

New Haven is where Leah spent her childhood and it is where I spent a good portion of my formative years. For whatever reason, it has always been a special place to us. It’s a city that feels just right, not too big and not too small. The air is clean and the food is good.

It almost has everything. We don’t want to say that the city is “missing” something, but there are a few things that we feel could be added to it, things that will hopefully make it an even better place.

WHERE WE FIND OURSELVES

Our decision to take our first big project (hopefully of many) to New Haven relied heavily on a few key components, the first of which is perhaps the most important. From the very founding of LAYERXLAYER our goal has been to be part of a community, both in a creative capacity and also in the most general sense. Fortunately, we already have an inspiring group of friends, collaborators, fellow makers and customers that have been extremely supportive and the main reason we feel confident in our ability to achieve ambitious goals. It’s a great start and will only get stronger as we add to our network by becoming part of a different community in our new home.

The other main reason is that we honestly want to be in a place where we can have a greater impact. New Haven feels like that kind of place, not only because of the relative size of the city but also the open-mindedness of its people. There are so many interesting things happening and the local and state government seems extremely supportive, which can be a rare thing. It really does feel like something is happening.

*This is really only a preview, but for now we’ve posted a few images from random parts of New Haven - it is an old city, with tons of character and history. So much more to come, including the actual details of what we want to create and ways you can help us with this project.

-Patrick

Of Wood & Ink

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:00:05 -0500

FOUNDATION FIRST

While there are plenty of great fabrics available to us, we have always wanted to create our own or at least ‘modify’ existing ones. This is something that we will be doing much more of as the year rolls on.

Starting with a really high quality duck canvas serving as our ‘canvas’, we are continuing the stamping experiments with two new patterns. One is a polka dot that has more spacing and smaller dots than our previous dot stamp. The other is our version of a very simplistic Fair Isle / Floral pattern, which we first used to to create a small number of special edition pieces for some friends of ours.

OF NOTE

The wrap-around piece is Waxed Duck Canvas that is slightly transparent, allowing the printed pattern to show through.

Available now and in LIMITED NUMBERS.

+SHOP+

Meet Stitch & Hammer

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:51:34 -0500

One of the best parts of doing what we do, is discovering other makers & designers that share our ethos as it relates to all things made and/or crafted.

In Amy’s own words: “In a world where so much is mass-produced and nearly as much tossed aside, Stitch & Hammer uses remnants and other sustainably sourced materials, crafting goods that are made to last.”

Three words to best describe the essence of Stitch & Hammer Goods in my opinion: texture, color and scale. I actually wrote a lengthy essay filled with design analysis and praise about the goods we received from Amy, but it seemed more appropriate and keeping with the character of her creations to more appropriately summarize - key word is appropriate, not to be confused with simplified. Because that is the best way to describe the design of these pieces - appropriate.

A quote that most are familiar with goes something like “Simplicity (in design) is more difficult to achieve than complexity.” But in my opinion, “Minimal should not be confused with lack of design.”

S&H finds that balance, in a beautifully understated way.

STITCH & HAMMER GOODS.

This One Goes to 12

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:30:00 -0500

If we’ve accomplished nothing else in 2011, it was a year that provided us with a tremendous amount of insight into how we can make LAYERxlayer into the thing it was always envisioned to be. Up to this point, you probably know Leah & I (Patrick) best by the things we make. And you may also be aware of our propensity toward quality & craft. But that is only a small part of our story.

This new year will be a time of both growth and transition, whereby we’ll be sharing our more ambitious projects and kindly asking for your help to transform those ideas into reality. Our hearts have always yearned for something much bigger than ”just making nice things” - and so that is what we will do. Please join us.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t Thank all of our friends, both new and old, for the humbling amount of support we’ve received thus far. If you’ve ever placed an order, blogged one of our products, sent us an encouraging email, collaborated with us or told a friend about how much you love LxL - you are what keeps us going. We owe you pretty much everything.

*Whether or not the Mayan Calendar is correct, we’re going to work as hard as we can just in case.

We All Win

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:13:28 -0500

As we previously mentioned, a few friends of ours alongside a host of great brands are participating in a Holiday event in NYC. In addition to our hand-stamped bandanas & pocket squares and waxed pouches available at ‘Deck the Halls NYC’, we are also participating in a charity raffle. Event ends on December 22nd.

Each participating brand donated goods to be raffled off and also chose a charity or non-profit to receive the proceeds of the raffle ticket sales. Pretty good deal.

We donated a waxed canvas version of our Early Spring Tote (which has never been released), a Moss Pouch and a Twig.

Our non-profit choice is Seed Savers. Their mission is simple: to preserve and share heirloom seeds. Food is a very important thing to us, especially in terms of preserving bio-diversity (what’s left of it, anyway) and supporting all efforts to keep our seeds healthy and available. This is something we’ll be talking about more in 2012.

Deck the Halls - Stamps

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 11:00:00 -0500

Starting this Saturday Dec. 10th and running until the 22nd, our friends Jahn and Kurt of BKLYN Dry Goods will be at the ‘Deck the Halls” Holiday Event in NYC. There will be a bunch of great makers, designers and brands gathered there - full list available here: Deck the Halls

Unfortunately, we will not be selling our stuff there but we did collaborate with BKLYN Dry Goods on some ‘limited edition’ pieces. You may be aware of our penchant for stamping things with colored dots - we’ve taken it a bit further this time around. Starting with vintage fabric provided by Jahn & Kurt, we made a selection of pocket squares and bandanas. We then stamped each with either polka dots or our Fair Isle / Floral hybrid print.

Each design is limited to a series of 12 so if you are smitten, it would behoove you to head down to Prince St. within the next 12 days. If you can’t make the journey we may have something for you in the near future.

In addition to these printed items, BKLYN Dry Goods will also be selling a few of our pouches - some you may have seen, and one colorway that is brand new.

Mended.

The handprinted nature means that each one is a bit unique. Since the fabric was vintage some mending was required, which actually adds a nice bit of character.

Deck the Halls

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:10:05 -0500

We collaborated on a few limited edition bandanas & pocket squares with our friends Jahn & Kurt of BKLYN Dry Goods. Each piece is handprinted using our wooden stamp technique seen here: Wooden Stamps

There will also be a few random pieces of ours for sale, including some brand new printed pouches.

We’re happy to be included amongst such a great group of designers & makers at this event - do stop by if you find yourself in the city.