Harry potter

HBO Max Anniversary Special

Animation
creative direction
design
Returning to hogwarts

In 2001, 11 year old Harry Potter, Hermione, and Ron introduced themselves to the world through film.

Twenty years later, old and new fans were invited back to Hogwarts to reminisce and learn a few new things about the beloved film series.

We partnered with our longtime collaborator Casey Patterson to help guide the creative direction of the film– from the cinematography and story arc to the main titles, chapter interludes, credits, icons, locators, and lower thirds.

main titles
Magnified Moments


The magic and beauty of Harry Potter lies in the depth of the details: the ornate architecture, the sensory textures, the creatures that move through every frame, and the light that binds it all together.

In the titles, we magnify those moments with engraved invitations lined with snakes, owls, whomping willows, swords, and spiders. Cutting back and forth between the 20th Anniversary Ball and golden invitations, we bring everything to life with a touch of magic…inviting and exciting die-hard fans and newcomers alike.

show logo
You cannot have a Harry Potter event without the iconic typography from the films.

We merged the recognizable “Harry Potter” logo with an elegant typographic ribbon to bridge the sophistication of the reunion with the vernacular of the Marauders Map. We also created a secondary mark, HP20, to appear on the invitation and in the Great Hall.

chapter films
Establishing the Tone


We were challenged with interweaving the program with content to guide our viewers through the Harry Potter journey—the themes and locations that anchor the franchise.

No small feat, we pulled some of the most poignant excerpts from the books and asked an original HP narrator, Stephen Fry, to guide us through a poetic mix of Hogwarts environments and ethereal typography. Disappearing and weaving through the background, they worked to establish the tone for each section of the reunion.

graphics package
Design


We wanted to bring magic not only to the top billed graphics, but the whole way through, from the lower thirds, to the locator snipes, and the interstitial title cards.

We created an icon library full of easter eggs, and golden eggs, that were used across the show from lower thirds to chapter headers.

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