Birth of a Book Cover
by Simon Rowe

While working on a screenplay project in 2019, I discovered the artwork of Tokyo-based Canadian illustrator, Jeremy Hannigan. He had been commissioned to create the visual references for yokai (spirits, monsters and goblins) which appear in the script. At the time, I was looking for a unique hand-drawn design to grace the cover of my second collection of short fiction, Pearl City: Stories from Japan and Elsewhere (2020). Jeremy’s linework and rendering techniques were exactly what I was after — so I got in touch and pitched my project. He agreed to take on the job, and over the course of two months, we exchanged a swarm of ideas, sketches, and weblinks, all from which, and under his steady pen, the Pearl City cover image materialised.


The following passage is taken from Jeremy Hannigan’s webpage at http://www.jeremyhannigan.com/pearl-city-2020

Himeji-based author Simon Rowe commissioned an illustration for the cover of his book Pearl City: Stories from Japan and Elsewhere, a collection of short stories set in Japan, Hong Kong, East Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, France, Austria and Cambodia. Driven by characters who are tough, gritty, charming and witty, each of the sixteen tales takes the reader on a trip that ends with a twist. The stories, which carry themes of freedom, family, redemption, justice, courage, corruption, and girl power, are tied together by a single message: triumph over adversity.

Simon wanted the cover to depict the titular story’s protagonists and setting of Kobe Port and Chinatown with a vintage nighttime ‘noir’ mood. Dominating the design would be Mami Suzuki—working mother by day, private sleuth by night, who pursues a suspected pearl thief through the alleys and port precinct of Kobe in western Japan. She needed to be smouldering and sassy, but respectable and businesslike, waist-up only to maximize her presence.

In the background is Kobe Port Tower, the Rokko Mountains, a Chinatown sign, the kanji for ‘Kobe’ and ‘Pearl,’ and Mami’s friend Teizo drinking sake. Various visual references were used, from Kurosawa movies to old noir posters and James Bond stills. For consistency, the typography was laid out in a similar fashion to his previous publication, Good Night Papa, with an embossed title and byline.

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Pearl City: Stories from Japan and Elsewhere is available at Amazon Japan, Amazon, and Mighty Tales.