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12
Meet The Duo
Behind The Graphic
Design Wizardry Of
“Harry Potter”
MIRAPHORA MINA AND EDUARDO LIMA CREATE BOLDLY
RETRO DESIGNS EVEN KIDS CAN APPRECIATE.
Few fans know Hogwarts inside and out like graphic artist
duo Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima. The pair, who
operate MinaLima Design Studio, are responsible for
the graphic design of the Harry Potter universe. Over the
course of a decade, they developed all of the newspapers,
tabloids, letters, and book covers that populate seven of
the eight films.
For the first time, a significant portion of their work was
collected for an exhibition in London. On view were copies
of The Daily Prophet, the Marauder’s Map, and Ministry of
Magic propaganda posters. Missed the show? No worries:
The original graphics are reproduced as limited-edition
prints, each signed and numbered, and set on a white
matte background.
Despite the conclusion of the film cycle two years ago,
Mina and Lima remain very much entrenched in the
visual world of Harry Potter. They continue to be involved
with the franchise’s merchandising efforts--most recently
on the signage for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
theme park in Orlando. The massively popular attraction
is adding new rides and environments, including a version
of the London shopping hub Diagon Alley. The expansion
will be completed next year.
Much of the work that made up the exhibition was never
seen on film, at least not close-up. (Which gave them
license to author the filler text of The Quibbler and the
Prophet.) The graphics use vintage fonts, taken from old
books, but also nod to the history of graphic design.
“The stories, set in present day, gave us a great deal of
freedom to establish a visual aesthetic that would describe
a ‘magic’ world,” the designers tell Co.Design. “Some of
this came from the direction given by the architecture of
the set designs, but much of it came from the demands of
the fiction, prompting us to reference particular historical
periods and styles.”
The look and