Today we were for the first time a Illustrator's Diary for you!
Illustrator Annika Heller reports on her work on “Rival Cities”.
“Rival Cities landed on my table back in 2021.
It was played up and down directly as a proto.
So far, I have mainly illustrated family and card games and finally wanted to try my hand at a connoisseur game. The framework conditions practically invited this: Rival Cities is about the conflict between Hamburg and Altona, two formerly neighboring cities that have now merged into one, Altona was incorporated as a district. At that time, I lived right on the border—on the first street that officially belongs to Altona, right next to the Hamburg harbor.
So I started researching early on. The game roughly covers the period between 1750 and 1900. However, in 1842, large parts of Hamburg burned down, so there weren't many truly old buildings left. I photographed and drew the few that remained, went to the museum, looked at the city map at different times, and looked at what merchant ships from that era looked like.
Andreas is a historian and I wanted to present my work as historically accurate as possible. I also spent a long time researching the twin towns to find old postcards and paintings from this period that served as models for me.
I had a vision for the game early on: I wanted the player to feel like they were sitting at a table covered in papers, with ink stains, creases, and utensils lying around. I also wanted to show this table on the box, just not from above. I wanted the game to be challenging, yet inviting—even if the feel of the game was rather conflict-ridden. A kind of diplomatic exchange in a cozy atmosphere. The cover ultimately involved quite a bit of back and forth, as we at the publisher couldn't initially agree on the right approach.
I've drawn ships before for "Juicy Fruits," but the historic merchant ships with their thousands of ropes and sails were a particularly exciting challenge. Finding suitable raw materials that were imported and exported in Hamburg wasn't all that easy, but I think we've found a good approach with unusual, historically documented goods.
I hope players can immerse themselves in the conflict over the harbor, even if they don't know the wonderful and exciting city behind it. And appreciate the attention to detail that went into every map and every illustration."
Thanks for these insights, Annika!
