Literary London: House of MinaLima

In my exploration of London's literary side I'm moving away from Roald Dahl (House of Illustration and the BFG Dream Jar Trail) this week to the one and only J.K. Rowling. You may remember my blog post on the most gorgeously illustrated edition of Peter Pan ever, and the designers of that book, Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, were also the creatives behind the magical graphic art in the Harry Potter films. A selection of their stunning work, both from Harry Potter and some of their other designs, is currently on display in Soho at House of MinaLima, an incredible four floors of art that you cannot miss out on.

Miraphora and Eduardo met on the set of Harry Potter in 2001 and spent 10 years working together on the film series and as graphic designers of iconic works such as the Marauder's Map, The Daily Prophet, The Quibbler, packaging for Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, and every other graphic prop in the film series.

They've been working together ever since and in 2009 they founded MinaLima Design Studios. They don't only work on the Harry Potter franchise (including the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film adaptation), but they've also designed an astonishing array of other art work, including two fully illustrated and interactive classics in hardback; Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie and The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.

The graphic designs on display have also been reproduced as limited edition art prints (in various sizes and prices ranging from £19 to £349) so you too can own one of their beautiful designs. I visited their exhibition in London and was astounded by the depth, variety and volume of work on display. We spent a looooong time browsing the beautiful prints and ooh-ing and aah-ing over the amazing detail of each individual design, which you don't always get to fully appreciate when something is featured in the background on screen.

You can find a small selection of my photos below as a taster for this incredible exhibit and be sure to pop by for a visit to get the full MinaLima experience!






















House of MinaLima is located on 26 Greek Street in London (just around the corner from the theatre where Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is currently playing) and opens at 12 every day (closing 7pm most days, though 8pm on Thursdays and 6pm on Sundays). Entry to the exhibition is completely free, so be sure to check it out for yourself and pick up some gorgeous souvenirs in the shop on the ground floor!