Discover the magical world of Oz as we accompany Dorothy on her journey to the enchanted Emerald City. Packed with stunning illustrations and exclusive interactive features, MinaLima™ reimagines an essential tome of American pop culture.
MinaLima
MinaLima are very clever people. I wanted to know a bit more of the background to their beautiful Illustrated Classics series, so was pleased to be given the opportunity to ask a few questions!
What prompted you to start creating these beautiful reimaginings of classics?
Miraphora: During our 20-year journey of creating graphic designs for the Wizarding World, we had the opportunity to create many books as props for the films but also behind-the-scenes film “tie-in” books for the “real” world. In this way we developed a good relationship with our publisher Harper Design. Together we had the idea of redesigning the classics – we knew that these were stories loved by readers across the world but also that these were tales set in fantastical worlds, which we love.
Do you do everything collaboratively or do you each have particular roles when working together?
Miraphora: The whole process starts with Eduardo reading through the book and creating a book map of all the interesting, quirky and intriguing occurrences in the book that we feel should be marked as illustrations or interactive elements. Then, we begin developing an overall creative direction, creating rough sketches of the characters and locations.
Eduardo: Mira usually starts these early sketches. We have a fantastic team, who then picks these up and starts drawing the illustrations in more detail. They also begin crafting all the paper engineered interactive elements, cutting and pasting different sections to see if they work. We believe that the sum of the parts are always greater than any individual illustrator or designer and we bring this collaborative approach to everything we do.
How have you chosen the titles you’ve done so far? Do you have a favourite?
Eduardo: We have chosen the titles we all know and love; these are fairytales we have all grown up reading. My favourite book is definitely Pinocchio – I have loved this story since I was a child and I knew from the beginning that this had to be in our MinaLima Classics collection!
Miraphora: My favourite is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which is our latest title – so Eduardo got to reimagine his favourite first!
If you could reimagine any book, without having to worry about permissions, what would it be?
Eduardo: I love the Agatha Christie books but the descriptions are so beautifully detailed that I am not sure if they leave much room for reimagination!
What are you tackling next?
Miraphora: This year is a very special year for us: we are celebrating 20 years of working together. So we are crafting a very special book:The Magic of MinaLima, which will be published by Harper Collins in 2022.
Eduardo: This book charts our experience of creating the graphic universe of the Wizarding World, from films in which you can escape to books you can delve into, from products you can hold to experiences in which you can immerse yourself.
MinaLima is an award-winning graphic design studio founded by Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, renowned for establishing the visual graphic style of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film series. Based in London, the MinaLima studio is renowned internationally for telling stories through design and has created its own MinaLima Classics series, reimagining a growing collection of much-loved tales including Peter Pan, The Secret Garden, and Pinocchio.
Instagram: minalimadesign | Twitter: @minalima | Web: www.minalima.com
Thankyou to Harper360 for sending me a review copy of their latest title, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
