Hogwarts acceptance letter

Marcotl

New Member
Hello, everyone. Even though I've been around RPF for many years now, this is my first thread.

Recently I decided to make a replica of the acceptance letter from Hogwarts so one of my firsts steps was to come back here because surely there was already many material to work with... well no.

Maybe it's because many years have passed and many threads and/or posts are lost now, or maybe there was never an actual accurate replica, but this is what I am trying to do now. The ones I found here all have flaws: from the wrong Hogwarts' crest to the wrong calligraphy and the wrong wax seal design.

The official art books released in the recent years do not help either, they all seem to feature the design that we can also see in the MinaLima prints: a typed letter, and while I know there was a typed version of the letter, that's not the one, the original typed version was made with a typewriter and is the one usually seen in the Harry Potter Exhibitions. Also, the one seen in the art books uses a font that we saw for the first time in the PoA era, so there is no way that is the original PS design.

After realizing all of that... it was clear I was on my own and then I started the journey I will show you in the next posts the next few weeks!
 
looking forward to see what you come up with. I also did one from scratch. It will be interesting to see what you make (y)
 
For me the most natural first step was the envelope. It represented the first challenge: the size.

I read in this forum that someone had a screen used replica and that the size of the envelope was 18.5 x 13.5 (if my memory serves me well), but still I had to make my own research. I found on the internet a website selling an original letter prop and they described the letter to be 18 x 13, but the ruler in the photo actually shows the size is 18.2 x 13.2 (+-).

After contrasting all the information I got (many many more than what I am writting here) I decided to go with 18 x 13 assuming that it was the intended size and that because of the human factor in the prop making process some envelopes ended up having slighlty different sizes (hence the discrepacy in the several information around the web).

For the shape, I used a lot of screencaps from the movie and pictures of screen used envelopes to get the right shape. Many pictures from The Making of Harry Potter (the tour) and the House of MinaLima were usefull as well. I can say my envelope shape is very very accurate, even those parts that are glued inside and that we cannot see from the outside.

I attach pictures of my very first envelope prototype.
 

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I spent some time looking in to this and like you was frustrated at the lack of resources. I ended up making my own typefaces. Look forward to seeing your work.
 
Krats:

Interesting. Can we get to see a sample of what you've done? I don't really require typefaces for my replica, the original letter does not contain fonts besides probably the two lines at the very bottom (and I still haven't identified that one, so now I'm using a scan of an official replica print). However and even though I haven't decided whether I'll be making replicas for other people, I know I will make custom letters for me and some friends so I am taking it to another level and I'm also designing full working fonts for the envelope and the inside text.
 
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Looks like you are making the hero version of the letter. In case you want to make the floating versions. I actually own a screen used letter.

View attachment 971312 View attachment 971313 View attachment 971314
That's amazing, thank you for the reference! And yes, I am definitely going for the hero version, however I wouldn't mind making some flying versions once I finish the hero one.

Question, does your letter say "TITILLANDOS" instead of "TITILLANDUS"? I noticed the hero ones have that mistake, which has been corrected on every newer replica, I wonder if other versions of the letter also have that mistake.
 
Following with interest!

I've been practicing calligraphy and playing with ink for my Marauder's Map so I definitely want to extend the skills to make a Hogwarts Acceptance Letter of my own.

Are you planning on drawing yours with ink or printing it out?
 
Krats: Interesting. Can we get to see a sample of what you've done?...

I only have a couple of low resolution pics to hand.

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I did a write up for my blog but never got around to posting it up here. One of the fonts ended up being licensed for one of the video games. Never know where these things will lead.

>> The Perfect Hogwarts Acceptance Letter <<
 

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Following with interest!

I've been practicing calligraphy and playing with ink for my Marauder's Map so I definitely want to extend the skills to make a Hogwarts Acceptance Letter of my own.

Are you planning on drawing yours with ink or printing it out?

I've tried many different options, writing the letter with a dip pen was of course one of them. However I finally went for a combination of lettering and a bit of calligraphy, basically I am drawing (not writing) every single letter, once I finish that step I will somehow make it look realistic so it looks written.
 
Here is my fan made from juno from a long time ago! I think I have the internal letter and supply list somewhere around here....
 

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Here they are! Took the quick pictures in the basement, so the lighting wasn’t as good. Both are actually the same light green ink as the previous post about the fan made envelope.
 

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I’ve been out of the potter props for a while and didn’t even know that was an option! Cool.
 
Here they are! Took the quick pictures in the basement, so the lighting wasn’t as good. Both are actually the same light green ink as the previous post about the fan made envelope.

It looks great! This is closer to what I am trying to do. I also loved you hero envelope, may I ask how did you rounded the vertices in that one?
 
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