Graphic Gryffindors: Olly Moss Talks About His E-Book Artwork

Talented graphic designer Olly Moss has spoken to Pottermore about his excitement at being chosen to design the front covers for the new e-book versions of the Harry Potter series. Olly Moss already has his work on the wall at Lucasfilm and has an extensive portfolio of film poster designs for clients like Disney and Sony. Recently, he has embarked on the momentous project of designing covers for the new digital editions of Harry Potter.

Moss, who is a huge Harry Potter fan, says in the interview that the covers of the books always mattered to him.

‘Harry Potter’ has always been my favourite. I skipped [‘Philosopher’s Stone’] because I was being a weird snob about it – I was ten. Then by the time ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ was out, I remember my mum saying I should read them. We were going on holiday, and she bought [‘Azkaban’] for me, but she got me the adult covers of the first two novels because I was still being a snob.

Moss emphasises the importance of ensuring that his intricate designs for the e-book covers did not provide any visual spoilers and had to resist the urge to have Severus Snape on the front cover of Half-Blood Prince. He admits that Snape and McGonagall are the most fun to draw due to the distinctiveness of their silhouettes. He instead opted to show Harry and Dumbledore defeating the Inferi in order to avoid spoilers and give him the opportunity to put Dumbledore on a cover.

Moss was incredibly nervous about letting J.K. Rowling down and found that the most terrifying part of designing the seven covers was the thought that his work would end up hung over J.K. Rowling’s mantelpiece.

We’re certain that he has nothing to worry about! As you can see below, he has produced some incredible covers that are a true labor of love.

Ollymosscovers

 

The e-books with the Olly Moss artwork are now available at all leading retailers worldwide and will be available from the Pottermore Shop in 2016.

The full interview can be read here.