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Gallery: What if the ‘Harry Potter’ book covers were designed like ‘The Casual Vacancy’?

By Andrew Sims (@Sims) at 6:53 pm, July 3, 2012

Following this morning’s release of The Casual Vacancy book cover, we wondered, “What if the Harry Potter books were published in a similar style?”

Hypable editor Joshua created some fun Harry Potter cover art spoofs based on J.K. Rowling’s upcoming novel.

The Casual Vacancy hits stores September 27.

View the latest articles in: Features

Em

philosophers*
- LunaMellark
  
  Clearly the person who made these grew up with Sorcerer’s, no need to get your want in a knot.
  - http://www.facebook.com/jason.lalljee?ref=tn_tnmn Jason
    
    wand*
  - http://www.doctorwho-fansite.blogspot.com/ James Grayh
    
    *Tries to prevent self from explaining how Nicholas Flamas is not in fact a sorcerer at all*
    
    *giggles at mention of “fact” with magic*
    
    ;)
    - http://twitter.com/ambersorensen ambersorensen
      
      Nicholas Flamel**
      - http://www.doctorwho-fansite.blogspot.com/ James Grayh
        
        ty·po (tp)
        n. pl. ty·pos InformalA typographical error.
      - http://twitter.com/joshrandall Josh Randall
        
        It’s not their fault – spellcheck should include words from the imagination of J K Rowling
Malea

I actually think those are kinda cool…don’t love HBP, but the others don’t look bad!
Hermione Granger

Well… that would’ve sucked.
Lucia

They’re pretty awesome, love the style and it definitely suits the new genre Jo is writing in – cannot wait for it’s release!
http://hypable.com Selina

Joshua, these are AMAZING. My favourites are the first and the last.
DreamNox58

They are alright looking but it doesn’t make me want to pick one up and get obsessed with it.
Jamie

Love it. I can’t imagine it would have gone over well on initial publication, but something like this as for a reprint as the original fan base gets older would be brilliant. It’s very classic, gives off the impression that this book is beyond a need for flashy covers, it’s just that well known/loved/respected/admired. Very fun!
Peg

University of Wisconsin – Green Bay phoenix logo? haha
krislintz

I LOVE GoF and OotP.
http://twitter.com/emilyecstasyTM Emily Bryan

I’d buy them if I saw these, but not as a new reader :3
- Thalia
  
  ditto
Glaciusx

I only liked the Deathly Hallows one.
Liderc

I’m liking PoA and DH the best.
http://twitter.com/Celtise celtise

I strangely like the deathly hallows one…

There would have been a lot less discussion upon release of each book cover though if they were this simple. No outragous theories about Draco being a dragon and such.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Wilkinson/792210064 Ryan Wilkinson

I actually quite like them o.O
Beau

I actually like all of them…
http://profile.yahoo.com/7G6FGGGOVQBIFMDVGTDZYYKQEU Glenn

First, let me say that I like the simplistic covers depicted. However, it would seem the drawing on The Casual Vacancy cover is a reference to voting in the election to fill the vacancy, and I suspect the book is about the goings on in town leading up to that election. Thus in keeping with the indirect theme, the lightning bolt should be the cover of book 1, snake is right for book 2, maybe a dog or a time-turner for book 3, tri-wizard cup for book 4, the prophecy orb for 5, not really sure about 6, and the symbol is good for book 7. Only problem with the snake and time-turner would be that they give away part of the big secret of the book.
- Thalia
  
  what about a tower with lightining hitting it for book six? or a beozoar? A necklace?
  - Johanna
    
    how would you draw a bezoar? what would a black-and-white silhouette of that look like?
Lizzy Lovegood

I want these now.
http://twitter.com/Siriusnerd007 Kristen Keys

I like these, but still a fan of the originals!
Thalia

I like the originals better, HARRY POTTER FOREVER!!!!!!! POTTERHEADS UNITE!!!!!! ALWAYS, UNTIL THE VERY END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://twitter.com/rblascc Rachel

i actually like how simple these are and would totally buy them if they came out
sammy

Hey, these are actually pretty good. I opened this article with very low expectations and was impressed.
Lilyb2k

These are amazing! Good job
Lucas Graden

Love the concepts of these, and I think I like these better than the US original. However, I’d prefer if they had the “Harry Potter and the” on the titles. My favourites are PoA’s, OotP’s, and DH’s. If I could, I’d buy a box set of these covers, the box’s exterior with the lightning bolt design.
LGray1983

I actually like these a lot! I wish they were real.
http://www.facebook.com/jason.lalljee?ref=tn_tnmn Jason

I love these, but shouldn’t the ‘i’ in Rowling be lowercase?
- Rob Macdonald
  
  why? all the letters are capitalized
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Joey-Mangum/1820064015 Joey Mangum
    
    Not on “The Casual Vacancy” cover.
erised31

What’s HBP supposed to be?
- sza22
  
  a book, probably the hbp’s potions book
Julia Duffy

These are really nice :)
Your Mum

this is cool except for one problem. it doesn’t say Harry Potter anywhere
- Liderc
  
  That’s the point, because J.K.’s new book’s cover is so bland and uninteresting. Hence: Spoof.
  - Mrs_Badcrumble
    
    The original cover isn’t “bland and uninteresting”, it’s simply “clean”. We must bare in mind it’s a novel for adults, and many covers nowadays are simple in their design (look at some of Penguin’s beautiful re-editions). I’m looking at these are spoofs made for fun, because honestly you can’t really compare them to the professional ones.
    - Liderc
      
      I’m glad you’re looking at them as spoofs made for fun, because it’s not like they said that in the article or anything lol.
      - Mrs_Badcrumble
        
        They said they were spoofs (I never said they didn’t), but they didn’t say the original cover was “bland and uninteresting”, which was what I was responding to…
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=690341156 Andrew Davies-Land

Urgh, I knew it wouldn’t be long before someone dragged harry potter into the mix,
http://www.korracast.com/ Fravit

I actually really like these covers. I would buy a box set of Potter paperbacks that looked like this, no question.
Lotte

Funnily enough those covers work so much better for HP compared to her new book. Hope that is not a bad sign (I’ll stop being the typical negative German now ;)).

However, I still prefer above all the German HP covers. Maybe because I grew up with those and I am sentimental.
Mrs_Badcrumble

I’m sorry, but this is foolish.
There is a reason the designer (Mario J. Pulice) did the original cover has he did – it’s simple, bold, with a sense of kitsch and nostalgia. Saying that it would work for any other book just by changing the center icon is minimizing the power of a great cover and all it can communicate.

But I understand this exercise as a spoof, but let’s seperate this novel from Potter a little, because I think some people will be very disappointed otherwise.
Hind K G

the best one, though, is the order of phoenix…
meur96

I like them a lot actually, but I don’t really think they would have pulled in the same kind of audience.
stargazer

I probably wouldn’t have been interested in picking up the book if I’d seen it on the shelf. That’s the honest truth. And if I didn’t know that J. K. Rowling was a terrific author, I wouldn’t pick up The Casual Vacancy either. As much as it’s terrible for me to say it, I often choose a book by its cover.
pygmypuff22

God I love them! The Casual Vacancy cover is really great too :)
http://twitter.com/G30rg13_R Georgie R

These are actually really good! I like the simplicity and colour schemes for these ones – although I don’t like the red and yellow of the casual vacancy cover.
Joshua Redwine

I would love to have these. Are there high-res versions?
- Liderc
  
  Looks like they are if you right click on them and hit open in a new tab.
http://twitter.com/fotogurl44 Chelsea Combs

i actually like the deathly hallows cover, very appropriate
MattyW04

These are actually awesome. So simple, yet appropriate!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001034209529 Lauren Dipple

these look awesome
Sam

Well, I like them! I’m kind of a fan of minimalist posters, though.
Gabi

The Deathly Hallows is great and the others look boringish but not intirely lame.
http://twitter.com/BeccaPhoenix16 Rebecca Feliciano

It’s so simple compared to Mary GrandPre, i love book 7
Hpbrocster

What is on HBP?
- Luna97831
  
  It’s supposed to be the potion book being flipped through I believe… These are so awesome!!! I would totally buy these.
Sabrina Parseval

Why do people always insist on putting a snake on their fancovers of CoS? That part is a surprise!
pamela

Oh these are good! The best is Prisoner – it really looks like a mystery novel!
http://twitter.com/bsbrock Janeth Gutierrez

I don’t know if it’s just me but none of the pictures seem to work.
- M8x3w
  
  i have the same problem
Pinklampshade123

I would buy them :)
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003526225681 Katie Batty

Pictures don’t show for me either :(
http://twitter.com/xhpfanatic Grace Chen

I just heard about these spoof covers fro Mugglecast and I raced over here to find them! I, like many, find these covers quite stylish! I really like them :)
http://twitter.com/xhpfanatic Grace Chen

I LOVE these!

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Gallery: What if the ‘Harry Potter’ book covers were designed like ‘The Casual Vacancy’?

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