Common
by Nikolai Duffy / Goldsmiths Press
Fictional Objects series
Paperback, 172pp.
Fictional Objects is a series of books at the intersection of fiction and non-fiction, often memoir or autofiction. The brief for the series design requested traditional, type-based covers with eye-catching colour and contrast. Each cover would also leave room for a small illustration that would encapsulate the book’s themes.
The modern serif typeface combines the weight of tradition with the subtle flair of the contemporary: this is a profound series but one which forges a new path. Painted textures and simple, rudimentily cut illustrations drive home the idea that these titles capture the individual human experience. The publisher has the option to continue the series in rust or chose a fitting colour for each new title.
In Common, Robert travels to his childhood home in Hampshire to settle his aunt’s estate but soon finds himself building a hut on the local common and living off the land in self-imposed isolation. Engaging with fiction, auto-fiction, place writing, and visual art, it is a reflective novel about loss, disillusionment, and the attempt to reconnect with both the legacies of the past and the intransigence of the present.
# Cover design, series design, typesetting.