Before I went to work in Orlando, Florida I only had a few faint ideas of where I could fit into the Themed Entertainment Industry, with my degree and skillset being in Graphic Design. But over the summer I saw lots of different aspects of graphic design that would involve me in the Themed Entertainment industry actually on the rides and attractions, the things that inspire me the most.
This 'Town Square Theater' sign was created by design studio Wrenhouse Design of whom I've blogged my dialogue with here.
Universal Orlando Resort:
MinaLima are the studio responsible for not only the Wizarding World of Harry Potter area Graphics but also all of the Graphic design for the film series!
There is a very varied approach to design styles colliding in the Diagon Alley area of Universal Orlando Resort.
For example, the really garish colour palette of the Weasley Brothers sweet shop
Against the quirky archways of the Diagon Alley backstreets
There were murals everywhere such as this.
Aging processes are applied to give the area a more 'lived in' effect.
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| Simple packaging/ cup design for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. |
It is incredibly fascinating to see how just two people brought the story on the pages of JK Rowling's books to life through Graphic Design.
In these interviews here, here and here, they explain their design processes which lead to their creations.
They have also designed movie and film Graphic Props for other films such as The Imitation Game.
It came to my attention that I am probably most suited with a background in Graphic Props design, and I should head for securing a placement in somewhere that specialises in such areas. I was intrigued to find out more about the role and what qualities are desired for it:
M: “If you’re recreating something authentic you might go to an archive. We’re looking at the whole era of graphic design, not just Turing’s world. We do a lot of museum visits. You might be designing a complicated book cover and you’d go to a metalwork exhibit at the V&A.
M: “How do you start doing what we do? We value mixing handwork with the computer. If someone came to us and said they’ve been collecting wrapping paper, or strange typefaces for the past 15 years and they had an archive, that would be really interesting because they’d been looking beyond the internet."
M: “Yeah, how would you age something? How would you make a book look like it was 150-years-old and the character who owns it is a heavy smoker and drinker? It’s a lot of lateral thinking and being really curious. We’d look for someone’s curiosity in a whole wealth of visual stimuli. Typography is crucial for us too. Anyone who works on a film will – on every film, I don’t know why – end up having to make a menu, a ticket and a label.”
There was a Harry Potter celebration held in Orlando, Florida when I was there but unfortunately I couldn't make it because I was working but here is a video from their first presentation of their first appearance at the Harry Potter Celebration:
Here is a look at some of their other works for films:
http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2015/february/designing-for-the-imitation-game
MinaLima are actually based in London! I would love nothing more than to visit their studio, and perhaps get a work placement there (I'm not sure if that is feasible, but it's always worth a try)
I rang them a couple of weeks ago and their receptionist was lovely and very friendly but told me that 'the guys' are not available until at least April, so here we are!
I plan to design something for MinaLima to either send to them via email or in the post to start a dialogue between me and them.
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