MATILDA AND THE MIRACLE CHILD
Special Edition Book for the Roald Dahl Story Company
We were briefed by The Roald Dahl Story Company to create a unique gift for the cast and crew of the new Matilda feature film. The gift should embody the core themes of the story, and embrace the brand’s literary heritage. This was produced in a limited run of 80 copies.
I worked with the team to develop the narrative and themes of the gift. Matilda and the Miracle Child is a celebration of child power, yet Roald Dahl’s famous story - as well as its two main protagonists, the child genius Matilda and the evil headmistress Miss Trunchbull - went through many versions before arriving at their final incarnations. Using a wealth of visual archival material, and colour palette themed to the two rivals, the gift explores the process of how the story, the concept and the characters evolved and how the book became a manual for self-empowerment.
"I'm going to use my powers to change the world because kindness is the only thing that matters".
THE FOLIO
We worked through several stages of collaborative creative concepts before reaching the final design. A limited colour palette is used throughout the gift, to represent the battle of the two hero characters — a defiant blue for Matilda, and a strong military green for The Trunchbull — based on key colours in the original illustrations by Quentin Blake.
The gift contained two prints and two books in a specially made box with various levels, and ribbons to navigate. One book, Matilda, contains the original story by Roald Dahl with illustrations by Quentin Blake. This was built with a headband and ribbon to match the palette throughout, with new typesetting led by our team, plus insert paper designed to be reflective of school exercise books. This pattern was also used on the custom gift-wrap to ensure consistency throughout the design.
My colleague and I illustrated the cover illustrations on the folio box, and two books. These dramatise the scale of Matilda versus the books that empower her, highlighted in finishes such as foiling and debossing.
PRINTS AND CALLIGRAPHY
Two prints were included in the gift. One uses playful typography inspired by the classroom for a quote from the story, and the other is a personalised library card listing the books Matilda has read. A calligrapher was commissioned to write a custom gift note for each recipient, as well as the edition number and the individual's name on the library card and gift tag. The lettering ink matched the shade of blue used throughout.
THE MIRACLE CHILD
I had the delight of leading the design and storytelling of the second book, The Miracle Child. This was crafted especially for the gift, and split into two colour-coded sections to detail the journey of each character: The Evolution of Matilda and The Evolution of Miss Trunchbull, plus introduction and conclusion.
The book has a themed narrative throughout written by Donald Sturrock. It includes materials collected from the archive at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, such as original story drafts and sources of inspiration, photographs and letters between author and illustrator, and early character designs by Quentin Blake. Different paper stocks reflect different sections of narrative: off-white to guide each section; white to display materials; translucent to overlay transcripts; and blue and green dividers with cream foiling to represent the characters.
COLLABORATORS & CREATORS
ROALD DAHL STORY COMPANY. Brief.
ROALD DAHL MUSEUM & STORY CENTRE. Archive materials.
QUENTIN BLAKE. Illustrations & archive materials.
DONALD STURROCK. Author & Biographer.
KINGSBURY PRESS. Production.
OLIVE AND REID STUDIO. Calligraphy.
WE ARE STUDIO. Photography.
ANNA LINCOLN. Senior Design Manager.
JULI HAAS. Senior Graphic Designer.
LOUISE NEWMAN. Proofreader.
TIM SUMNER. Artworker.