Having discovered there’s a deluxe limited edition tenth anniversary version of ND Stevenson’s Nimona coming out in May, I watched the wonderful film yet again. I was always disappointed they never got around to publishing a making-of book – but upon further googlage, it turns out they kind of did! Put together by the film’s production designer Aidan Sugano, The Art of Nimona is a 360-page, entirely free PDF. It’s a thorough exploration of how they developed the film’s distinctive look, described by Sugano as a blend of Syd Mead, Eyvind Earle and Charley Harper. And Stevenson’s introduction highlights the chaos that is essential to creation:

Nimona was pink because I could only find a pink pen the day I started sketching her. She lived in a medieval future because I liked drawing knights but not horses, laser cannons but not spaceships. Her first transformation was going to be into a T. rex, but sharks were easier to draw; and the shark had boobs because it was 5 a.m. and my life was falling apart and that meant it was objectively the funniest joke in the world. Even her name just kind of … happened, a result of writing down the first syllables that came to mind and telling myself I'd come up with a real name later.

Moral: hide your pens.