"A Bird of a Different Feather: A Picture Book" is an abridged translation of Izumi Kyoka's 1897 short story "Kecho" with illustrations by Nakagawa Gaku. In this English-language version, special attention in terms of design was paid to details of materiality like paper choice and printing method, as well as to the stylistic interplay between word and image on the page. For example, the book utilizes a paper type whose special texture is reminiscent of materials from the Meiji Period (1868-1912).

Hiroki Izumiya was born in Osaka in 1974. He is a graphic designer and printmaker, and a graduate of the Design Department of Osaka University of Arts. In 2001, he traveled to Toronto, Canada, where he would be active as a graphic designer and printmaker for the next two years. After returning to Japan and teaching as a design school instructor, he launched his own design studio, iD. ("I-dee"), in 2008. Interested in cutting across the boundary between art and design, the breadth of his work has expanded to include ad design, corporate identity/visual identity work, book design, and art event planning and design. He designed the logo and various promotional items for the Izumi Kyoka Kinenkan Museum, and oversaw the cover design for "Ryutandan" ("Of a Dragon in the Deep") and "A Bird of a Different Feather," picture-book versions of stories by Izumi Kyoka with illustrations by Nakagawa Gaku. "Ehon kecho," the original Japanese-language version of "A Bird of a Different Feather," was awarded the Council for the Promotion of Book Reading Award at the 47th Japan Book Design Awards, and "Ryutandan" was awarded a Bronze Award and "Ehon kecho" a Merit Award at the 2013 Design for Asia Awards. "A Bird of a Different Feather: A Picture Book" was awarded a Merit Award at the 2018 Design for Asia Awards.

The product was produced for the Cultural Affairs Section of the Culture and Sports Department, Kanazawa City Hall, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, in conjunction with the Izumi Kyoka Kinenkan Museum for the 2017 Kanazawa Izumi Kyoka Festival.