I am pleased to share my interview with Korean author-illustrator Jinho Jung about Banana Express, translated by Aerin Park. This impeccably designed book takes an in-depth look at many of the invisible jobs that keep our communities running--and it does it in banana yellow! Bon appetit!
About the book:
One quick tap, and bananas appear at your door the next morning like magic. Simple, right? Here's a peek inside that seemingly effortless convenience. Trace the incredible journey of one banana, from phone screen to front door. Bustling trucks, lively market vendors, and dedicated night-time workers are part of the surprising connections that bring the things we need right to us.
Let's talk Jinho Jung!
The idea for Banana Express actually began on a bus. In Seoul, there’s an early Route 8146 bus that departs at 3:50 a.m., and it is always full. I found myself wondering who would be riding a bus at such an early hour.
Later, I learned that many of the passengers were custodians on their way to clean high-rise buildings in the Gangnam area. Even that early bus might not be enough for them to arrive and get their job done on time.
I came across an article by a reporter who had ridden that bus and read through the comments it received. The responses were varied, reflecting different perspectives–some people wrote, “Living in Korea is just too exhausting,” while others spoke about the need to improve working conditions for custodial workers.
As I read those comments, a thought suddenly struck me:
Then what time does the bus driver have to leave home?
That question became my “aha” moment. It made me realize that for some people to begin their day early, others must begin earlier, often unseen. That thought stayed with me for a long time, and when I was invited to participate in a “human rights picture book series” project, it became the starting point for Banana Express.
LTPB: Did you always know Banana Express would be three colors (black, white, and yellow)?
To talk about the colors of Banana Express, I think I need to begin with bananas–the central thread that quietly holds the story together. It might seem like a small leap, but the story that began on a commuter bus eventually found its way there.
In Korea, express delivery has become deeply woven into everyday life. If you place an order at night, it arrives at your door early the next morning. I was drawn to this system as a starting point for a story about unseen beginnings about how someone must start their day early so that others can begin theirs.
As I traced that idea back to my own life, I looked through my recent delivery orders.
Among them was a simple bunch of bananas. That small item allowed me to move beyond a personal observation and expand into something that reflects a wider community.
From there, yellow naturally emerged. At first, it came from the bananas themselves, but as I worked on the book, the color began to take on new meanings. I started to notice how yellow could come to symbolize or represent different things such as in the rubber gloves worn by workers at early morning markets, the lights coming from the fishing boat on the darkened sea, in the delivery boxes that arrive at dawn, and in the vest worn by janitors starting their shifts before sunrise.
I came across an article by a reporter who had ridden that bus and read through the comments it received. The responses were varied, reflecting different perspectives–some people wrote, “Living in Korea is just too exhausting,” while others spoke about the need to improve working conditions for custodial workers.
As I read those comments, a thought suddenly struck me:
Then what time does the bus driver have to leave home?
That question became my “aha” moment. It made me realize that for some people to begin their day early, others must begin earlier, often unseen. That thought stayed with me for a long time, and when I was invited to participate in a “human rights picture book series” project, it became the starting point for Banana Express.
To talk about the colors of Banana Express, I think I need to begin with bananas–the central thread that quietly holds the story together. It might seem like a small leap, but the story that began on a commuter bus eventually found its way there.
In Korea, express delivery has become deeply woven into everyday life. If you place an order at night, it arrives at your door early the next morning. I was drawn to this system as a starting point for a story about unseen beginnings about how someone must start their day early so that others can begin theirs.
As I traced that idea back to my own life, I looked through my recent delivery orders.
From there, yellow naturally emerged. At first, it came from the bananas themselves, but as I worked on the book, the color began to take on new meanings. I started to notice how yellow could come to symbolize or represent different things such as in the rubber gloves worn by workers at early morning markets, the lights coming from the fishing boat on the darkened sea, in the delivery boxes that arrive at dawn, and in the vest worn by janitors starting their shifts before sunrise.
In the end, it felt right to keep the palette simple: yellow, alongside black lines and white space. Nothing more was needed.
JJ: The most challenging part of this project was revisiting and confirming how the scenes in the book reflect actual reality.
A picture book is, at its core, a story. It usually begins with my own imagination and is shaped through an internal dialogue as I create it. However, this book is not only a story but it is also a reflection of our society, representing, in many ways, the current face of Korea. Because of that, I had to keep asking myself whether each image truly aligned with real life.
For example, in the early stages of the storyboard, there was a spread about mines and mine workers before the plant spread. I received feedback that most mines in Korea had already been closed and that the remaining ones would soon follow. After doing my own research, I found that this was true, and eventually, I had to remove that part from the book. Moments like this, when scenes from my imagination conflicted with reality, required me either to revise them or to let them go.
I also had to explore new ways of researching that I had never tried before: interviewing a restaurant owner in person, watching the video footage of processes in the light bulb factories, and even reading research papers about the daycare system in Korea. This entire process felt unfamiliar and, at times, quite challenging.
Ironically, that was also the most rewarding part of creating this book. Through this process, I was able to expand both my understanding and my creative approach. In the end, it allowed me to represent the many unseen faces of our society more faithfully.
JJ: Since 2019, I have been using Adobe Photoshop for all of my illustrations, including the full spreads of this book.
What might be interesting is that, unlike many digital artists who use tablet pens, I draw using a keyboard and a mouse. I majored in architecture in college, where I became accustomed to drawing with AutoCAD, and I continue to work in a similar way even now.
At the early stages, when I am developing initial ideas or creating the storyboard, I work with pencil on paper. I then scan those rough sketches, refine the lines digitally, and share them with my editors. The storyboard usually goes through three or four rounds of revision, and this stage tends to take the longest in the entire process of making a book.
Once the storyboard is finalized, I begin building the final illustrations by adding layers of detail onto the same panel. For this part of the process, working digitally feels much more efficient than drawing by hand. Overall, I tend to follow a similar process for each of my picture books.
LTPB: What are you working on now? Anything you can show us?
JJ: Lately, I've been working on a picture book about love. The concept may sound a bit abstract, as it was inspired by the idea of regression toward the mean introduced by Francis Galton.
This concept suggests that even if you select the largest peas and reproduce them, over time their size will tend to return closer to the average. From this idea, the story begins with a worried child asking, “What if a pea keeps growing, and one day there is a ‘really really, REALLY’ big pea–bigger than the Earth?”
A teacher responds with a thoughtful and gentle answer, and from there, the story gradually expands. It eventually arrives at the idea that it is love that holds and protects the world.
One distinctive feature of this book is the use of spreads that show conversations between the child and the teacher, alongside scenes from the child’s imagination. These imagined stories about the peas are illustrated in a variety of different styles, reflecting the child’s shifting thoughts and emotions.
LTPB: If you got the chance to write your own picture book autobiography, who (dead or alive!) would you want to illustrate it, and why?
JJ: If I were to create an autobiography, I would want my daughter, Eejoo, to illustrate it. She has just been born, so I don’t yet know whether she will enjoy drawing as she grows up. Still, I imagine that if the pictures were drawn by a child who spent her time watching her father’s life, I would be more than satisfied no matter how the drawings might turn out.
LTPB: What are you working on now? Anything you can show us?
JJ: Lately, I've been working on a picture book about love. The concept may sound a bit abstract, as it was inspired by the idea of regression toward the mean introduced by Francis Galton.
This concept suggests that even if you select the largest peas and reproduce them, over time their size will tend to return closer to the average. From this idea, the story begins with a worried child asking, “What if a pea keeps growing, and one day there is a ‘really really, REALLY’ big pea–bigger than the Earth?”
One distinctive feature of this book is the use of spreads that show conversations between the child and the teacher, alongside scenes from the child’s imagination. These imagined stories about the peas are illustrated in a variety of different styles, reflecting the child’s shifting thoughts and emotions.
LTPB: If you got the chance to write your own picture book autobiography, who (dead or alive!) would you want to illustrate it, and why?
JJ: If I were to create an autobiography, I would want my daughter, Eejoo, to illustrate it. She has just been born, so I don’t yet know whether she will enjoy drawing as she grows up. Still, I imagine that if the pictures were drawn by a child who spent her time watching her father’s life, I would be more than satisfied no matter how the drawings might turn out.
A truck-sized thank you to Jinho for talking to me about this book! Banana Express publishes today from Scribble US!
Special thanks to Jinho and Scribble US for use of these images!
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