Krenz & Loiza
Not one, but two, illustrators worked on it – the creative team of Krenz and Loiza
Back in the fall of 2019, during a meeting, the agency of author JK Rowling asked us if we were interested in producing a commemorative edition of Harry Potter specifically for Taiwan in 2020, the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Traditional Chinese version . They also told us that plans for revisions were underway in Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, and China. The complete redesign was a massive undertaking, but after much consideration we decided that we wanted to join in the anniversary celebrations, so we quickly got started. Because the regulations were complicated and there were many things to confirm, we spent a lot of time preparing in the early stages, one of the most important of which was the selection of the cover illustrator.
The reason for inviting Krenz started with a set of postcards I bought from CWT in 2016. At that time, when I saw the postcards painted by Krenz at the stall, I was very amazed. I don’t know why I bought two sets and have kept them ever since. During the years I have been an editor, every time an illustrator proposed a work, I would think of this set of postcards, but I had never come across a book that was “the one”. When JK Rowling asked us to find a local Taiwanese illustrator to redraw the cover of the Harry Potter series , the first person I thought of was Krenz.
The light, shadow and color treatment of Krenz’s works are fresh and a bit magical; the superb perspective technique makes the distant view broad and grand. Among the more than a dozen illustrators who proposed the works, he quickly won unanimous recognition within the agency. After we sent Krenz’s work to the author for review, Rowling’s company, which has always been very demanding, responded immediately, saying that they really liked Krenz’s style and looked forward to future cooperation.
Rowling’s company is very cautious about the requirements for illustrations. Not only do they need to explain the drawing concept of the entire series to them first, but the drafts, line drawings, and coloring drafts must all be submitted for review. Illustrators must also abide by confidentiality agreements. The most important and difficult part is that at each stage after review, there may be continuous requests for modifications, which require the illustrators to cooperate in making adjustments. All national editions must comply with these regulations, and even well-known illustrators are no exception.
We sent out the invitation letter with trepidation, fearing that the complicated review procedures and regulations would scare Krenz away. There were many things that needed to be confirmed and inquired, but after some discussions back and forth, we were fortunate enough to invite Krenz, Krenz’s partner Loiza, and two assistants to form the strongest illustration team. Loiza was responsible for the object design and line drawing of the cover image, and Krenz was responsible for the color draft on the cover and the drawing of the large image on the back of the book.
Rowling & Co. provided us with covers for other countries’ versions for reference, but after several internal discussions, we finally decided not to draw characters and instead use objects to present them. Drawing characters does make the picture more story-telling, but we think one thing is also very important, that is, everyone has a different “Harry Potter” in their hearts. For old readers, do you still remember what Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked like in your mind when the words took shape in your imagination when you first read them? For new readers, we don’t want them to limit their imaginations by the predetermined character designs. After all, “imagination” is the greatest pleasure that “Harry Potter” brings us, so we also hope to bring readers a new cover that allows everyone to retain room for imagination.
The whole process was like a Quidditch overtime match.
When we proposed the idea for the entire series of illustrations, we told Rowling and Co. that there would be a large illustration on the back of the book, which was expected to show Harry flying above Hogwarts. The seven volume covers list all the possible key objects to be drawn and then connect them with decorations. But when it came to the sketching stage, the first challenge was that Rowling wanted to break the readers’ stereotypes about Harry Potter, so she stipulated that the design could not refer to the movie at all, even if it was “similar”.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
For our new original cover of the Complex Chinese edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, we drew many elements that are popular with readers such as Hedwig, the Platform Nine and Three-Quarters sign, the Hogwarts Express, a luggage trolley, Harry’s Hogwarts acceptance letter, a Gringotts Key, a wand and a Hogwarts Crest; all decoratively joined together. Aside from the cover, the book spines of the new seven editions put together, also show an image of Harry as he flies over Hogwarts alongside Hedwig. We avoided depicting characters on the covers because we believe we all have our own versions of Harry Potter. Imagination is the greatest joy Harry Potter gave us, so we hope that these new covers will depict the story while letting readers keep their imaginative interpretations of it too.’
When the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone of the 20th anniversary traditional Chinese edition was just about to go to print, the publisher became aware of an educational Facebook post from the Raptor Research Group of Taiwan[4] about how owls usually grab things between two front talons and two back talons, instead of three fronts and one back,[7] indicating that the to-be-published art had contained an error. Both illustrators were notified and speedily made corrections.[4]
Sure enough, after Loiza finished drawing the cover concept map and line drawing of the first episode, although Rowling and Company expressed that they liked it very much, the logo of Platform Nine and Three Quarters, the posture of the school emblem animals, and the appearance of the Hogwarts Express locomotive all needed to be modified because they were similar to the movie.
The fonts on the platform signs can be changed, which is relatively easy to change (we declined Rowling’s suggestion to change the Arabic numerals to Chinese because no one can write “.......” in Chinese), and the animals on the school emblem can also be changed to different movements. However, the steam locomotive looked very similar no matter how many times we drew it. Later, we had an idea. Since Rowling and her company had repeatedly emphasized that they wanted the new version of Harry Potter to have a “Taiwanese flavor”, we decided to ask Loiza to use the “Alishan Train” as the prototype for a new design. Sure enough, it quickly passed the review and received a lot of praise: “It’s very Taiwanese!”
As the time for the book cover to be officially released drew closer, at three o’clock in the morning when I was too anxious to fall asleep, I received the good news from my colleagues in the copyright department that the book cover had finally been approved. Rowling & Co. said the book cover was great and they were looking forward to the book being published. The whole process was like playing an extremely long Quidditch game. When the book was about to be sent to the printer, we saw a Facebook post from the Taiwan Raptor Research Association, which pointed out that the owl’s toes were wrong. After consulting animal expert Zhang Dongjun, the team revised the picture overnight, and it became the new version of the book cover that everyone sees now.
The spines
In addition to the cover of the first volume of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, Crown Publishing also revealed the book back picture below. All 7 volumes can be pieced together to form a large picture, showing Harry riding on a broom and flying to Hogwarts with Haymie.
The large picture of Hogwarts on the back of the book was another challenge. Rowling & Co. said that Krenz’s idea was very good. Although it was not an actual scene in the book, it was indeed possible to happen when imagined, which was very good and very much in Krenz’s style. This was also what Rowling had always hoped that illustrators from all countries could do. The only problem is that it is too similar to the movie version of Hogwarts. Rowling & Co. hopes that Krenz can use his imagination to create a “Taiwan version” of Hogwarts on his own, and attach a simple image setting diagram for reference.
So Krenz had to collect information and study ancient buildings all over the world. He reluctantly demolished the castle and rebuilt it, before it was finally successfully approved.
Next came the formal color draft. Rowling and Company asked for color changes in several places on the cover image, and of course we did our best to comply. However, when the large picture on the back of the book appears, the legendary and terrible “want to make changes after the manuscript is finished” officially appears. The lake under Hogwarts cannot go out to the sea. Hogsmeade should be the only settlement near Hogwarts, located at the rear left, and the buildings must have pointed roofs... We made modifications one by one based on the setting drawings provided by Rowling and Company. The most important thing, Harry, of course, will not be spared. Rowling and company want Harry to wear ankle-length college robes (but once again, special reminders that it cannot be too similar to the movie version), and his hair should be darker and messier... Oh, by the way, can Harry fly to the right? (Rowling and her company said that the change was made so that readers could see Harry in the first few episodes. Later we found out that they thought we were arranging the books from right to left like the English version)... We went back and forth like this countless times, and everyone in the team had reached the point where they would be afraid when they saw the words “Harry Potter”.