Cheap thrills, trashy covers, scandalous titles — the Groschenroman has always been the paperback underdog of pop literature. Enter Narr Groschen: a series of low-budget, high-drama booklets published by Das Narr literary magazine. Borrowing from the formulas of classic pulp genres like horror, erotica, and alpine melodrama, these pocket-sized reads celebrate and subvert the conventions of their predecessors.

We dug deep into the visual language of vintage Romanhefte, using our research to develop a graphic system true to the aesthetics of the originals. The same goes for the adverts inside — designed as tongue-in-cheek classifieds in matching style. The typography was deliberately rough, typeset in justified blocks to stay faithful to the look and feel of the genre.

Seven issues were released, each with a neon-coloured cover and sold individually. For the complete set, we created a screen-printed cardboard front and back, held together with a simple rubber band — a nod to the disposable charm of the format.