Harry Potter: Amazon Kindle-in-Motion Edition
One of our core competencies as an agency was animation and illustration. We had been working with Amazon for a few years on animating book covers for digital distribution and the Kindle in Motion team wanted to take the reader experience to a new level. Enter the wizarding world of Harry Potter and the Socerer’s Stone. Featuring the work of illustrator Jim Kay, who created the renowned 2015 illustrated print edition, we were tasked with bringing motion to many of his images throughout the book.
Most of our team grew up with Harry Potter. The world J.K. Rowling created inspired us to dream bigger, reach further, and harness the magic of our imaginations. Jim Kay’s work is a master class in art and vision; he brought the world of Harry Potter to life in illustration in a way no one else could. Our goal was to only show motivated motion - meaning that if it moves, it should move for a reason. This belief kept us from going too far in certain areas but also pushed us further than we’d ever gone before.
The Pottermore team envisioned a reading experience that transported readers to the wizarding world of Harry Potter by letting them read the book the way that the characters read the magical newspaper, “The Daily Prophet.” In the wizarding world, pictures move, text rearranges itself, so we worked to complement the illustrations by adding depth to the art, never overshadowing, upstaging, or pushing it past where it was meant to go, while keeping the reading experience and the beauty of the illustrations in the place of prominence.
It’s no exaggeration to call Harry Potter one of the most beloved series of all time; we wanted to honor the legacy of Harry Potter, knowing we were working with the first installment of the Harry Potter canon. When we started the project, we went through the book chapter-by-chapter scouring for references to inform the motion. We researched live video references for the frogs and other animals, and observed live-action facial expressions that we then incorporated into the animation.
Watch below for a quick behind-the-scenes look into the process.
The book launched on September 5, 2017 to an enthusiastic fan base and coverage on TODAY, Entertainment Weekly, Nerdist, Hypable, and J. K. Rowling’s personal website. The specially designed Kindle in Motion edition of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” is available now on almost any tablet or smart phone exclusively through Amazon.
