The Weight Of The Night

Ashley Kinnard Studio designed The Weight of the Night, a publication for Cooke Latham Gallery accompanying Francisco Rodriguez’s exhibition of the same name. The book balances documentation with objecthood, allowing it to function both as a catalogue of work and as a publication in its own right.

The typographic approach responds closely to the character of the work. Rodriguez’s imagery often carries a graphic tension, with sharp edges, silhouettes, and cut-out forms recurring across drawings and paintings. Panama was chosen for its subtle angularity and crisp serifs, sitting between something familiar and something slightly off. On the cover, the title becomes the primary visual element, set in an abstract crescent form that echoes the moon, a recurring presence in the work. Printed in silver on deep blue stock, the cover establishes a nocturnal tone that frames the publication as a single environment.

Inside, different print processes distinguish the material. Pencil drawings are reproduced through three-colour risograph printing, preserving their texture and graphic immediacy, while paintings appear in full colour on a slightly coated recycled stock. A limited edition pull-out poster sits at the centre, referencing the role of posters and pasted imagery within the artist’s visual world. The custom format, partly informed by comic book proportions, reinforces the graphic quality of the work. Together these decisions allow the publication to move between document and artwork, holding the artist’s world while also becoming part of it.