When somebody is looking and a very simple and minimalistic cover, he/she has NO idea, how long designing process can be. Sometimes pretty simple idea takes a lot of steps to arrive to.

Client: Five Spice Street is one of the most astonishing novels of the past twenty years. It’s a pretty … mystique book about a street in a chinese city, and a “Madame X” that no one knows what she’s like.
AD: Got your point, we’ll make some sketches …

Client: I like the right with a man and I like that it’s blurry, maybe we should blur it a bit more.
AD: Ok

… a day later.

Client: No, that’s not it. We need to rethink the cover totally. The author herself says that she’s inspired by Kafka and Borges.
AD: Maybe we need to do something psychedelic.

Client: nope …
Designer: What about mannequin? It’s pretty mysterious and has no face.
AD: Let’s try it.

Designer: Tried two more sketches.
Client: That’s it. Mannequin!!! Let’s remove those faces and just leave it alone. A pattern of mannequins maybe also cool. P.S. Book title straight.

Client: Top Right is fucking brilliant!