The incredibly successful Twilight novel is a fantasy-romance story about a teenage girl who falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire.
The novel, written by American author Stephenie Meyer, was released in 2005 and spawned a series of books and Hollywood movies. Aimed at young adults, the Twilight series has won several awards and sold over 160 million copies worldwide, with translations into 49 different languages.
Magical design with different angles
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first novel’s publication, its Spanish publishers wanted to give fans of the series something special. They did this through a magical design brought to life by using a unique digital printing lay-out applied to paper from Holmen.
“In Spain we call Twilight ‘Crepúsculo’,” says Eva Farriol, Commercial Director, Holmen Board and Paper in Spain. The book is published in Spain by Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, PRHGE, who use Holmen as their main paper supplier.
Concept and craftmanship
“PRHGE’s Production Director Victor Benayas is the person behind the concept for this special edition,” Eva Farriol explains. “He worked with the printing house Liber Digital who, using much technological know-how and craftsmanship, created the complex and time-consuming digital printing process specifically for this project.”
The most obvious design feature of the special 20th anniversary edition of Crepúsculo is the gold painted edges of each page. “That in itself makes it look beautiful,” says Farriol. “But the magic really starts when you begin to open the book, because when you flip through the pages one way the face of the main character Bella Swan magically appears. And when you flip them the other way, the vampire Edward Cullen appears. It really is amazing.”
A different image on every single page
This design was developed by Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, while Liber Digital created the unique printing process. “To execute the design Liber Digital printed a different image on every single page, about two millimetres from the edge, while the very edge was gilded,” says Farriol. “This could not be done using standard book printing techniques on reels. It had to be printed digitally. And in many ways, this was a crazy thing to do because you need a lot more time and money for this kind of production. But it really was worth it. They really created a unique and magical book.”
Fan nostalgia
While the 20th anniversary edition of Crepúsculo cost more to produce than a standard book, the publishers could also put a higher price tag on it. “It has been a great commercial success,” says Farriol. “It was a top seller on Amazon for several weeks and the comments from fans have been fantastic. They couldn't be happier and were clearly happy to pay more for it than a standard book because this is clearly not a standard book.”
Farriol points out that the creation of high-value, collectable anniversary editions of successful novels is a growing trend, driven by fan nostalgia. “PRHGE made a special collectable box set of the Harry Potter books too, also on Holmen paper,” she says. “The original fans of books like Harry Potter and Twilight are now of course middle-aged adults. They have a nostalgic feeling for these books along with more money in their pockets.
“And there really are a lot of big fans of these books, so it makes sense for publishers to create anniversary editions,” she adds. “But making them look good is essential, and the more innovative and unique, the better. PRHGE showed real courage with the design of the 20th anniversary edition of Crepúsculo, and this will likely inspire others.”
PRGHE plans to publish special 20th anniversary Spanish editions of each of the Twilight novels.