J.K. Rowling’s Stories
A dazzling digital home to inspire and delight young readers.
When one of the world’s most successful authors asked us to develop a new website for young readers, we combined a hand-built model set and hand-crafted code to deliver magical results.
Sector
Media & Publishing
What we did
Discovery & Definition
- Consultation
- Digital strategy
- Brand architecture
- Site architecture
Design Development
- Creative concepts
- Brand expression
- Content creation
- Digital expression
- Digital design, UI and UX
- Art direction
Delivery
- Brand toolkits
- Motion design and video
Context
J.K. Rowling is, by any measure, one of the world’s most successful authors. Her seven-volume Harry Potter book series has sold over 600 million copies worldwide and is available in 85 languages. She’s an OBE and a Companion of Honour for services to literature and philanthropy. We were asked to help develop J.K. Rowling’s digital home, offering her young readers a glimpse behind the scenes to find out more about her writing process, her creative inspirations and to keep up to date with all of her latest news.
Baxter & Bailey are one of those rare treasures who combine world-class creative with a brilliantly open, collaborative approach to development. The team were wonderful in all regards, from their initial response to the brief straight through to final delivery.
Solution
Collaborating with J.K. Rowling’s brilliant agency The Blair Partnership, alongside digital build experts Evil Donkey and talented photography team David Burton and Jess Esposito, we meticulously hand-built an imaginary writer’s room set, expanding upon the concept of the writer’s desktop, as seen in her website for adult readers. Making use of real books, notes, illustrations and keepsakes from the author’s own collection, we concealed numerous digital Easter-eggs and interactive elements within this life-like set, including playable audio readings by Stephen Fry.
Impact
Through carefully responsive digital design, we encouraged young fans to explore Rowling’s rich and detailed imaginary literary worlds and to find out more about her inspiration, ideas and approach to writing. Why not pay a visit and see what you can discover?
At all times we felt buoyed by the team’s commitment to excellence. Always responsive, always insightful, always pushing to deliver the best possible execution, Baxter & Bailey are an absolute joy to work with.
Special Thanks
Thanks to Ross and Chloe at The Blair Partnership for inviting us to collaborate on such a magical brief. It’s not every project that we find ourselves set-building in Edinburgh, surrounded by wonderful books and treasures. Sorting hats off to dynamic photographic duo Dave and Jess, and a tip of the wand to the technically dazzling Evil Donkey crew. Piertotum Locomotor!