Minalima

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

From US Harry Potter publishers Scholastic, this new edition of Sorcerer’s Stone is adorned with paper craft features and special fold-out pages, artistically recreating the likes of Diagon Alley, and, naturally, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You can even immerse yourself in a pop-out Great Hall feast and (almost) join the festivities yourself.

“This new edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is the perfect way to start a new generation of readers on their Hogwarts journey, and at the same time is sure to be a treasured keepsake for fans to add to their collection,” said Ellie Berger, President Scholastic Trade. “The Harry Potter series continues to inspire readers of all ages with its universal themes of friendship, imagination and the triumph of good over evil.”

The book has been designed and illustrated by the talented team at MinaLima, helmed by Mira Mina and Eduardo Lima, who have injected their unique style into the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films.

“Twenty years of designing for the Wizarding World have come full circle in this extraordinary opportunity to depict Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in a whole new way. From creating Harry’s Hogwarts acceptance letter for the first film, to envisioning his world for this new illustrated edition, MinaLima’s many invitations to visualize this fantastic universe never cease to beguile. We have sought to bring together our artistry with J.K. Rowling’s singular storytelling to offer the reader a completely fresh experience of this now new classic work,” said Eduardo Lima and Miraphora Mina.

‘It’s been a real honour to be invited into this exclusive club of illustrators, and to do it and stay true to our style,’ they said.

MinaLima follow in the footsteps of Jim Kay, who has illustrated four of the seven Harry Potter books so far with his own distinctive flair.

‘I think the biggest challenge was trying to un-think working on the films. And re-think, in a very from-the-heart way, what we felt we could best do for the text. This was a lovely opportunity to be fresh, and think - what would a child really love to see?’

‘I think the double-spread of the kids arriving at the castle with Hagrid and the full moon just felt... if we could get the magic right in there and get the magic right in the train, that would be the key to unlock the style and personality of the book,’ the team told us.

‘For us, it’s always about that. There’s also a few little easter eggs – and there’s one in that particular drawing.’

Now dive inside the wizarding world of J.K. Rowling through the eyes of Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, who declared, “It’s been a real honour to be invited into this exclusive club of illustrators, and to do it and stay true to our style.”

“I think the biggest challenge was trying to un-think working on the films. And re-think, in a very from-the-heart way, what we felt we could best do for the text. This was a lovely opportunity to be fresh, and think – what would a child really love to see?”

The Wizarding World team also revealed a double-spread featuring the Hogwarts Express and Platform 9 3/4, and MinaLima mentioned there’s a Easter egg to be found in that colorful illustration. We see the Elder Wand, Trevor the toad, a “P” for Peverell, Scabbers the rat, a cauldron, Harry’s glasses and more. What delights do you spy in the spread?

Miraphora: I reckon we’re probably wizards. I was already working with Stuart Craig, the production designer on the [Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts] films, and his next project at the time in 2000 was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. On one hand, [I was] lucky to be in the right place at the right time. On the other hand, I worked really well with him. But the most fortunate thing was that [Eduardo and I] got to meet because of Harry Potter.

Eduardo: Yes, and at that time, I didn’t even know who Harry Potter was! When I joined Mira on [Chamber of Secrets] in September 2001, I went straight away to the books and started reading. Of course, I was contaminated by the Harry Potter virus.

Gianfranco: When the team comes to the table, how do you decide amongst yourselves what is going to get the visual treatment and what is just going to remain J. K. Rowling’s text?

Eduardo: Oh, that process sometimes takes a couple of months because we need to reread the book and establish a book map, which is a script of the book and what’s going to be illustrated. We need to make sure that all the important passages are represented. [We also look at] what other things we can punctuate in the story that haven’t been seen before. And sometimes we have opportunities to enlarge things that we saw in the film but were very quick, like the Slytherin common room.

Miraphora: [The book map is] how we create a good reading rhythm for the reader.

Gianfranco: You’re telling your own story with its own cadence.

Miraphora: Exactly. Because we’re illustrating and designing–thinking about typefaces, drop caps, the endpapers, the finishes, the treatment of the pages so they have a slight aging–we have 100% control over the whole piece. That’s why I call it a piece of architecture because it really is a three-dimensional process that you’re working with. Every time you move something, it affects something else, and you end up with a massive building.

The design studio MinaLima know a thing or two about illustrating the Wizarding World, having created iconic props (from the Daily Prophet newspapers to the Marauder’s Map) for all of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films. Now, they are illustrating a Harry Potter book for the very first time.

‘This book was a big responsibility as it has become a modern classic – loved by millions of children across the world,’ Eduardo explains. ‘Harry Potter fans have a passion for this magical world, the like of which we had never experienced before, despite working on numerous other classic tales such as The Beauty & The Beast or Pinocchio, that have in fact been with us for centuries.’

‘We started by reading the book and creating a ‘book map’ where we identify key moments, unusual twists and visually interesting opportunities. We then decide whether these situations would be best represented as full page illustrations, spot illustrations, or interactive elements.’

This edition features J.K. Rowling’s complete and unabridged text accompanied by MinaLima’s handsome colour illustrations on nearly every page. The design team have even included a few paper craft surprises for readers, such as a fold-out acceptance letter to Hogwarts.

‘It is also a very technical, three-dimensional process,’ Eduardo adds. ‘We need to make sure the inserts and features are evenly spread out through the book and that manufacturing in volume will be feasible – quite the opposite of designing a book as a film prop!’

Of course, the first Harry Potter book introduces us to so many images (from beloved characters to iconic locations) that are now carved into Harry Potter fans’ memories forever. So, what particular illustrations were some of MinaLima’s favourites?

While Eduardo opts for the introduction of Hogwarts, Mira goes for... ‘Diagon Alley! The interactives are where we need to consider a more 3D and playful approach; this one is full to the brim with rich content for the reader to discover...hopefully much like Harry did on his very first visit.’

The team were also excited to illustrate elements of the Wizarding World they hadn’t had a chance to tackle before.

‘This book brought new opportunities: we could bring to life some pieces that are important to the story but did not make it into the films, for example Dumbledore’s magical watch,’ Mira reveals.

We won’t spoil the rest of the book for you, but simply muse with MinaLima on why the Harry Potter books are so beloved over 20 years later.

‘In my opinion, the appeal is a magical world anchored in a reality we are already completely familiar with,’ Mira says. ‘What better situation than seven school years... Harry receives his acceptance letter for Hogwarts when he is 11, we too receive confirmation to our secondary school at 11. And the fact that it is a physical letter, like so many of the other key ‘props’ in this universe, for me allows us to immediately accept this fiction as our new reality. Likewise, by referencing universal themes of friendship, equality, good prevailing over evil, love, etc., the reader is able to wholly identify with the characters through their own personal journeys.’

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Miraphora: Just like the films, we feel such a duty to keep delivering, and I think as creative people, you always want to deliver a little bit more than you’ve delivered before.

Eduardo: The great thing is that we’ve already established [what] Hogwarts and the Great Hall and Quidditch [look like in the films]. But every [MinaLima] book will give you another set of [newly-designed] locations and characters. For example, with Chamber of Secrets [we were] able to create Gilderoy Lockhart’s world and his portraits and explore his vanity.

Miraphora: The Burrow, as well.

Gianfranco: Talking about nostalgia, I see that the Burrow design is beautifully reminiscent of what we know from the films. How do you balance that nostalgia while also giving Chamber of Secrets a MinaLima redesign?

Miraphora: To an extent, we had to unthink everything that we knew from the film, unless it’s specifically referenced, like the Weasleys having red hair.

Eduardo: Even the Burrow is so well described in the text, so [that’s why] it resembles the one from the film.

Miraphora: Yes, but this is not a book of the film. From the get-go, the directive to ourselves was that we must imagine it from scratch. [And] one thing that’s very different from the work we [did] on film was hav[ing] to now think about set design: characterizations, set pieces, environments–

Eduardo: Wigs. Costumes!

Many of you have asked us about the timing for the MinaLima illustrated edition of ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’. We wanted to let our readers know that Studio MinaLima has not been commissioned to illustrate the fourth Harry Potter book and will not be continuing our participation in the series.

It was a privilege to reimagine J.K. Rowling’s first three Harry Potter books in the style of our illustrated fairytales, and reach the hearts of Potter fans worldwide. It has been an honour to forge connections with readers and publishers across the world and to have the opportunity to meet so many collectors of these editions at events. We thank every single one of you for supporting us and finding as much joy in engaging with our work as we enjoyed in creating it. 

MinaLima studio is well known for Harry Potter fans around the world. Founded in 2009 by Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, the duo worked together designing the props in the Harry Potter films until they decided to set up their own design studio to create, in their own words, “distinctive and unconventional design and illustration for the entertainment and publishing industries.” But that was not the end of their relationship with Harry Potter, which had been going on for several films, it was quite the opposite. After finishing with the film series, they worked on all the graphic elements for the Universal Theme Parks, as well as companion books for the films and other marketing materials. In 2015 they returned to the Wizarding World for Fantastic Beasts, designing again the props for the new stories about Newt Scamander and his allies.

But their latest adventure is not film related. Going back to the roots, MinaLima (which has a great story of creating beautiful books) started to publish the Harry Potter novels in a new original and never-seen-before format. With original illustrations and interactive papercraft features, it was impossible for the fans not to love the books. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published in 2020, while the new edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was published a few weeks ago. We had the privilege of being able to talk with this fantastic duo about their latest creation.

How do you approach the design of these books and how many people are involved in them?

Eduardo: We may all be familiar with the story of this boy-wizard given our twenty-year background in the Wizarding World but, nonetheless, we begin by reading each book again thoroughly. I make a book map where I make a note of all the interesting, quirky and intriguing events in the story and decide which moments should be conveyed through small spot illustrations or large full-page illustrations and which should become interactive elements. At this point, Mira and I have a good idea of the overall creative direction in mind and Mira puts our ideas down on paper by roughly sketching the characters and locations.

Miraphora: Our fantastic team then picks these up and draws the illustrations in more detail. They also begin crafting all the paper engineered interactive elements. We had a core team of seven – including us! – working on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets but at one point or another every witch and wizard at MinaLima gets their quills – or other tools! – out and gets involved in some way, from illustrations to layout design, from marketing to showing visitors the book in our four galleries or online.

Do you have limits in what you can do in the books (mostly in terms of what is physically possible to do in popup books)? Did you have any ideas that were too hard to implement and had to be discarded?

Miraphora: Creating this type of books on a commercial scale is actually quite challenging. There are lots of little details we need to pay attention to. The flow and number of pages need to be even. For example, we need to make sure all the illustrations and interactives are evenly spread out – making one section of the book very interactive-heavy would create an imbalance. Tempting though it may be, we also can’t have endless double-page spreads of illustrations – after all, there is a story that needs to be read here, too!

Eduardo: We are also working within certain budgetary and manufacturing constraints, and we have to remember that this book needs to be produced in units of hundreds of thousands. Occasionally we have to let go of an idea for an interactive element because it is too complex to create for such a large print run.

Are there any illustrations that for any reason did not make the final cut?

Eduardo: We always create far more than we need – it is a habit from our days on the film set! – or we change our minds about a particular approach so inevitably there are designs that are cut. Shall we release a book equivalent of extra film scenes?

Do you think your process will change with the next books that are bigger, like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?

Miraphora: As with the Harry Potter films, we are being commissioned to work on one book at a time so that will be a bridge – possibly a big bridge! – that we will cross when we get to it. We would love to hear your readers’ thoughts on how they think we should approach the longer books, if we are commissioned to illustrate them!

Some details change in some countries, like the little H of Hogwarts becoming P in French for Poudlard. Do you work together with foreign publishers for this? Do you have this in mind when making the designs?

Eduardo: Our foremost consideration is to stay loyal to the text, which in this case is the US editions of the Harry Potter books because our publisher-client is Scholastic. We then create additional designs, as needed, for example we produced a number of different Crest letters.

I personally love that most of the illustrations (mainly characters) are really different from their film counterparts. Was this on purpose and why did you decide to do it like that?

Miraphora: Yes, absolutely! We were invited to reinvent this magical story after 20 years of working in different realms of the Wizarding World so this was a dream commission. For us, as designers – and you, as readers – it is far more interesting to create something new rather than more of the same.

Eduardo: Having worked on the film where we work alongside a team and the final decisions about what makes the cut are made by the producers, here was our opportunity to take full creative control and introduce readers to characters and locations they might not have met in the films – all presented with a generous dose of the MinaLima’s colourful playfulness!

What was the most difficult inside element to design? And what was the most fun?

Miraphora: The most challenging part is creating the characters because they must feel familiar – like old friends – and be imbued with their personalities without mirroring the faces we already know so well.

Eduardo: The most fun part is bringing to life spaces that weren’t shown in the film, like the Slytherin common room, or reimagining places where we knew we could get lost in the details, like the Hogwarts Library. And, of course, hiding some easter eggs in the book!

When it came to imagining the Slytherin common room, Miraphora explained that “you need a bit of darkness and a bit of intrigue” for it, which we can certainly here. This moment comes when Harry and Ron must somehow sneak their way into the common room to extract information from Malfoy, entering a room bathed in green lighting and snakelike details.

In the books, The Burrow is known as the chaotic home of the Weasley family, built with many storeys precariously balanced on top of each other, thanks to a bit of magic. “The Burrow is just full of sense of humour and colour and life,” Miraphora said. “We want people to spend time in there and discover things.”

Professor Sprout’s greenhouses are an integral location in the second book, with Harry and his classmates learning how to pot Mandrakes. In this image, we love the meticulous details on every pair of fluffy earmuffs that the classmates must wear to protect themselves from the Mandrake’s fatal screams.

MinaLima namechecked the bountiful Hogwarts library as one of their favourites to illustrate in this book. “We want to give the reader the same details that we’d be curious about ourselves,” Miraphora said, when it came to designing this very layered piece.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

MinaLima, the graphic design duo, has finally revealed the cover of their illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, along with some first glimpses of the interior. In July 2022, the confirmation that this new edition would be released in 2023 had generated a lot of excitement among fans who have been eagerly awaiting its arrival. This is partly due to the success of the previous editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2020) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2021).

On January 30, 2023, the duo took advantage of a live stream to announce the imminent revelation of the highly anticipated third book’s cover and gave fans a sneak peek of the interior. They shared an inside pop-up view of the Knight Bus and later in the day, another glimpse of Harry marveling at the Firebolt on Diagon Alley. The graphic designers announced that the cover and the rest of the book would be revealed later that day.

The cover, designed by MinaLima, features a deep blue color with highlights of violet, which is a reference to the famous double-decker Knight Bus. The center of the cover features Harry and Hermione riding the Hippogriff Buck above Hogwarts to save Sirius Black. The traditional ornate arch that frames the cover, which is present on every chapter head, is made up of elements depicting the decrepit boards of the Shrieking Shack. The different elements intertwined in the arch are naturally related to this book, such as the Fat Lady’s portrait, the silhouette of a Dementor, and Harry’s Firebolt.

What makes this edition unique is not just the numerous illustrations that present the story in a new light, but also the pop-up elements designed by the graphic designers. The other illustrations that were revealed reinforce this fact, such as the double-page header of Chapter 6 “Talons and Tea Leaves” which depicts a Divination class taught by Professor Trelawney. The graphic designers represented the atmosphere of the class by showing tea leaves floating in the air and a crystal ball, creating a surreal and mystical environment.

In conclusion, MinaLima has once again exceeded fans’ expectations with their latest work. The cover, along with the pop-up elements and illustrations, makes this edition a must-have for Harry Potter fans and collectors. The release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban illustrated edition is sure to reignite the passion and love for the magical world created by J.K. Rowling.

The book’s cover is richly detailed, as ever, focusing on Buckbeak the Hippogriff soaring over the iconic Hogwarts turrets. The golden framing around the cover includes smaller references to J.K. Rowling’s iconic story, such as a little teacup (a nod to Harry’s introduction to Divination and tea leaves?) and the Hogwarts house animals.

The graphic design team are no strangers to the nuances of the wizarding world, of course, perfecting the iconic look and feel of some of your favourite props from the films, such as the Daily Prophet or the Marauder’s Map.

Here, we see MinaLima’s interpretations of a festive Hogsmeade (which Harry visits for the first time in this book) a side-profile of the glorious, purple Knight Bus and the warm glow of the Divination classroom.

We especially love the adverts on the side of the Knight Bus and the Christmassy feel of the Hog’s Head pub. What are you most excited about seeing brought to life from the third book?

When asked about the team’s work on the third book, Mira (one half of MinaLima!) said:

‘When we first started illustrating the Harry Potter series over five years ago, we were already looking forward to Prisoner of Azkaban for two reasons. In this book we start seeing a real development of the bigger overarching plot – dark forces are coming closer to take hold of the Wizarding world – so we knew it would be an interesting challenge to convey this changing course while not losing the light-hearted humour of a group of clever and witty children. The other was that, for many fans, this is their favourite book from the collection so we knew that the scrutiny – and, we hope, enjoyment – would be at their peak!’