Follow Milo Zine

FOLLOW MILO Photography—JJ Casas Wardrobe Stylist—Jane Park Illustrator—Agnes Lee

Results are not guaranteed, but if not perfectly satisfied, your wasted time will be refunded.

ONE GENUIN TURNPIKE TO Hair & Makeup—Hahn Le Assistant—Nicole Velazco

Milo—Jessica Hewlett Humbug—Eric Iturribarria Tock—Penelope King Azaz—Aaron Simunovich Mathemagician & Chroma—Asher Adams Princesses Rhyme & Reason—Johannes Elias

NE TOLLBOOTH

There was once a boy named Milo who didn’t know what to do with himself— not just sometimes, but always.

“KILLING TIME!” roared the dog—so furiously his alarm went off.

“It’s bad enough wasting time without killing it.”

“BOSH!” replied the Humbug. “We’re an old and noble family, honorable to the core—Insecticus humbugium, if I may use the Latin.”

“Your Majesty, ladies and gentlemen,” started Milo timidly.

“I would like to take this opportunity to say that in all the—” “That’s quite enough,” snapped the king. “Mustn’t talk all day.”

“But I’d just begun,” objected Milo.

“I don’t know which side of anything to look at,” protested Milo.

“Everything is so confusing and all your words only make things worse.”

“How true,” said the unhappy king, resting his regal chin on his royal fist as he thought fondly of the old days. “There must be something we can do about that.”

As the conductor waved his arms, he molded the air like handfuls of soft clay, and the musicians carefully followed his every direction.

“Whose mine is it?” asked Milo.

“BY THE FOUR MILLION EIGHT HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY-NINE HAIRS ON MY HEAD, IT’S MINE OF COURSE!” bellowed a voice from across the cavern.

And striding toward them came a figure who could only have been the Mathemagician.

For a short stretch the path became broad and flat, and just ahead, leaning comfortably against a dead tree, stood a very elegant-looking gentleman.

At the far end of the hall a silver curtain parted and two young women stepped forward... One was grave and quiet, with a look of warm undersatnding in her eyes, and the other seemed gay and joyful.

“It’s time to go now,” said Reason, “for there is much to do.” And, as she spoke, Milo suddenly remembered his home.

He wanted very much to go back, yet somehow he could not bear the thought of leaving.

THE MAKING FOLLOW MILO Commentary by JJ Casas, Jane Park, and Agnes Lee Behind the scene photos

G OF LO

FROM, PHOTOGRAPHY JJ Casas

I

never imagined that this book over a decade ago in my 8th grade class in 2001 would have an everlasting impact on me. For me, it’s my all-time favorite book that reminds me that life should never be boring but an adventure. The Phantom Tollbooth is filled with memorable characters and clever wordplay

by Norton Juster. To top it off, the great illustrations of Jules Feiffer solidified the images in my head of how each of the characters would look like.

For me, the thought of translating the characters to a real life shoot had always been a dream of mine.

Fortunately for me, I had two great talented friends to make this passion project a reality—Agnes Lee who is an illustrator and designer and Jane Park who is a wardrobe stylist. And it all started with brunch and mimosas on a Sunday to figure out the logistics of the art direction and casting for models.

Seeing the three day photoshoot unfold was surely a treat. The models chosen were perfect and the wardrobe selected fit like a glove. To top it off, seeing Agnes’ illustrations as the backgrounds for each scene pulled everything together.

This project was never about selling calendars or even this zine that you’re reading to make money. For me, it was fulfilling a project that I was passionate about and being able to share it with like minded people to make it happen. My hope with Follow Milo is to remind anyone that it is never too late to chase after that dream.

FROM, WARDROBE STYLING Jane Park

W

orking with JJ and Agnes on this Follow Milo collaboration was an inspiring adventure. I’m so excited to be able to share this with everyone and anyone who enjoys and appreciates the work that we’ve produced.

This zine tells the story of how inspiration is endless.

Expressing a nostalgic memory and interpreting it in our personal way gave us the opportunity to produce images that viewers of any age can enjoy in a new and modern light. From being rough sketches in a notebook to these final images, it’s such a great joy to see each of our components come together the way it has.

Each character was so distinct in their own way and it really allowed me to have fun mix matching patterns, colors and textures to express each one individually.

The models fit into their roles perfectly and I found myself cheesing in between shots on set as JJ captured each look. The addition of Agnes’ amazing illustrations and props tied everything together and I’m thankful to have worked with such talented artists.

Thank you to the team and to everyone who followed our journey and supported us in bringing The Phantom Tollbooth to life!

FROM, ART & DESIGN Agnes Lee

T

aking on new projects and collaborating with other creatives is something that I have the privilege to do very frequently. The Follow Milo project came together in what seemed like a whirlwind, but JJ, Jane, and I had been discussing the details of it for some time.

When JJ first approached me about the project, I was very excited. It was something that I hadn’t necessarily done before and regardless of the outcome, I knew it’d be a great experience. My role was to create the background settings for our models. We discussed several ideas of how that should look and attempted different things. The road to building these backdrops to mesh with the characters was the greatest challenge for me. I kept redoing and redoing the backgrounds because in their earliest stages, they were simply not working. There was a lot of frustration and constant revisions, but in the end, a solution was found.

I’m forever grateful to JJ and Jane for their patience as I dealt with my setbacks with the backgrounds. But most of all, I’m grateful to have been able to work with these two talented friends. Without them, none of this would have been possible.

You have now completed your trip. We trust everything has been satisfactory. Thank you for following our journey.

Yours truly, JJ, Jane, and Agnes