Doug Chiang: The Cinematic Legacy & the Star Wars Legacy

A two-volume, 800-page, deluxe slipcased celebration of Academy Award-winning artist and designer Doug Chiang, LucasFilm's senior vice president and executive design director

One of the most influential figures in crafting the visual language of Star Wars, Doug Chiang first joined forces with Lucasfilm for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and has supervised or contributed to the visuals for Attack of the Clones, The Force Awakens, Galaxy's Edge, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Last Jedi, Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Rise of Skywalker, and the Disney+ Star Wars television series The Mandalorian.

Chiang's impact on Star Wars, documented in full in the Star Wars Legacy volume of this monumental monograph, cannot be overstated. From the Naboo N-1 Starfighter to the iconic podracers and innumerable ships, droids, and creatures in between, no one person has had a greater hand in guiding the look and feel of Star Wars since Ralph McQuarrie.

The companion volume in this set, The Cinematic Legacy, is dedicated to Chiang's work prior to his arrival at Lucasfilm and showcases his early work, from student films and commercial work to working at Industrial Light & Magic and creating designs for Back to the Future Part II, Alien 3, T2: Judgment Day, Death Becomes Her, Spawn, The Mask, and Jumanji, among others.

Chiang also spent time at Image Movers Digital, where he pushed the boundaries of visual effects with contributions to The Polar Express, Beowulf, and War of the Worlds. Chiang's incredible imagination also expands into his personal work with Robota, a passion project of massive scale whose wide array of creatures, droids, ships, and far-off planets serve as the culmination of his influences and interests.

In a career spanning five decades, Chiang has closely collaborated with legendary directors including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, James Cameron, and the Wachowskis, all of which are celebrated in this deluxe two-volume package.

Gilles Pensoand Alexandre Poncet codirected several documentaries, including Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (2011), The Frankenstein Complex (2015), Phil Tippett: Mad Dreams and Monsters (2019), and Walking with Animators (2026). Together, they have also written Mad Dreams and Monsters: The Art of Phil Tippett and Tippett Studio (2022). Gilles Penso has directed other documentaries and written other books in English and his native French. Alexandre Poncet has composed and art-directed several film scores, and he is the editor in chief of the French magazine MadMovies Classic.

Doug Chiang, the Academy Award-winning artist, author, and production designer, began his career as a stop motion animator on the TV series Pee Wee's Playhouse. After attending UCLA Film School, he worked as a commercial TV Director for Rhythm and Hues before becoming Creative Director for George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic in 1991. Chiang has earned numerous awards including an Academy Award, two British Academy Awards, two Clio Awards, a Theo Award, a VES Award, a Webby, the Genie Visionary Award, and an Art Directors Guild Award. He has also received two nominations for best production design and an Emmy nomination for The Mandalorian.

As an author he has written several books including Robota, an acclaimed illustrated novel that he created and co-wrote with Nebula and Hugo-winning author Orson Scott Card. His latest book Mechanika, published in 2008, is in its second edition. Chiang's artwork has been exhibited worldwide, including at the Brooklyn Museum, Chicago's Field Museum, and the Kyoto and Tokyo National museums. In 2025, Abrams Books published Doug Chiang: the Cinematic Legacy and the Star Wars Legacy, an 800-page, two-volume book of Chiang's artwork.

In 1995, George Lucas selected Chiang to serve as Design Director for the Lucasfilm art department for the Star Wars prequel films. Chiang left Lucasfilm in 2002 to form IceBlink Studios, his 35-person design studio.

In 2006, Chiang partnered with the Walt Disney Company and Robert Zemeckis to form ImageMovers Digital, a new digital film studio built around IceBlink Studios. As Executive Vice President, Chiang grew the company to a core staff of more than 550 employees and oversaw its daily operations until 2011. Additionally, he served as Robert Zemeckis' Production Designer for ten years on films such as The Polar Express, Beowulf, and Disney's A Christmas Carol.

Chiang returned to Lucasfilm in 2013 and currently serves as Lucasfilm's Senior Vice President and Executive Design Director. With over 27 years of Star Wars design expertise, he oversees designs for the Star Wars franchise including films, theme parks, games, and new media. He was Lucasfilm's principal designer for Disney World Resort's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. He served as Production Designer on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and most recently reunited with Zemeckis on Disney's Pinocchio. Chiang serves as Production Designer for the Star Wars live-action series, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew. He is currently serving as Production Designer for The Mandalorian and Grogu. Additionally, he has received two honorary doctorate degrees from the College for Creative Studies and the Academy of Art University.