Business marries sleep with studies

A former university student's business has transformed naptime to study time, selling study guides screen-printed on soft, cotton pillowcases for the late-night studier.

Barry Weinstein, a New York native, launched his company Pillowcase Studies this summer after realizing most students see one thing before they turn in for the night—their textbooks or their pillows.

"I was studying out of my textbook and I actually fell asleep face first on my textbook," Weinstein said. "It was really embarrassing too, because I actually had a date the next morning and she probably thought I was so weird because I had this giant red mark all across my face, literally from falling asleep on a principles of financial accounting textbook."

He studied for 24 consecutive hours for the exam, and earned a 63 on the test, which he said counted for 30 percent of his grade. Weinstein, who studied at the university his freshman year, transferred to American University during his sophomore year, where the idea for his company was born in a financial accounting class.

"I just decided that, you know, there's got to be a better way to study," Weinstein said.

He is currently studying at the London School of Economics, majoring in entrepreneurship, for his senior year, and he plans to return to the university to pursue his graduate degree.

Before Pillowcase Studies, Weinstein stuck Post-its with practice exam questions scribbled on them to his refrigerator. If he could answer the question on the note correctly, he would allow himself to open the fridge and get a snack or soda. If he got the answer wrong, he would go back to his notes, learn and memorize the material, and try again.

"But then I realized, wouldn't it be interesting if I could take the same principle and apply it to a pillowcase?" Weinstein said. "So every time I would study my textbook, i.e. my pillowcase, I could fall asleep and I'd be sleeping on a pillow."

He called 250 T-shirt printers in New York and Washington, D.C. when he was ready to turn his idea into a business. He refers to this process as one of the most time-consuming endeavors of his life.

The resulting company offers guides covering political science, corporate science, biology, drama, principles of psychology and art history, which are marketed as "homework you can sleep on." They typically cost $19.99, but during this season's holiday sale, Weinstein will sell them at $10.99, according to the company website.

The pillowcases are produced entirely in the United States, with the fabric shipped from a Florida-based wholesale linen manufacturer. The study guides are screen-printed by a fine art printer, as regular T-shirt printing equipment is too small to create the pillowcases. The ink, also from Texas, is formulated to feel extra-soft against the skin.

Weinstein enlisted the help of his friends from high school, who agreed to work on commission and promote the pillowcases at their schools, including the University of Virginia and the University of Miami.

Junior Guthrie Lewis, a close friend of Weinstein's, said math majors could benefit from catching a few winks on a pillowcase full of mathematical formulas because memorization constitutes a significant part of their study methods. He calls it a useful studying tool disguised as a fun gag gift.

"Five minutes every day before you go to bed will be better than three hours before a test," Lewis said.

He said he was unsure of the product's marketability when Weinstein's project was in its infancy.

"We were all hearing it when it was a seed idea," he said. "We kind of thought, ‘That's a totally strange idea.'"

Lewis, a dietetics major, has since purchased a pillowcase featuring a biology study guide.

Weinstein said Pillowcase Studies products will benefit students studying memorization-heavy material.

"You get to see it every time you sit down on your bed, and as you know with Delaware dorms, the bed is the biggest thing in the room," he said. "So every time you sit on your bed, you're getting exposed to the material."

This supplement to a regular study routine also makes learning a little less dull, Weinstein said.

"A huge portion of our education is put into the classroom," he said. "For instance, being a business [major], 99 percent of the corporate finance I would be exposed to is studying out of a textbook, which is unbelievably boring."

Professor Fred Adams, chairman of the linguistics and cognitive science department at the university, stated in an email message that learning cues, combined with sufficient studying time, are crucial when it comes to absorbing course material.

"Studying for smaller amounts of time over many different study periods, not cramming, can have the advantage of adding memory cues that can be accessed come test time," Adams said. "Cramming has then nasty effect of trying to attach too much information to too few memory cues."

Weinstein says the purpose of Pillowcase Studies products can move beyond effective studying techniques as well.

"It's really a tool you can use in order to express your love for your major," he said.