The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

A New York Times bestseller, Phil Szostak’sThe Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens features “absolutely brilliant concept art” (io9/Gizmodo) and presents “an incredibly in-depth look at all the alternate designs that could have ended up onscreen” (WIRED).

Foreword by Rick Carter

Step inside the Lucasfilm art departments for the creation of fantastical worlds, unforgettable characters, and unimaginable creatures. The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens will take you there, from the earliest gathering of artists and production designers at Lucasfilm headquarters in San Francisco to the fever pitch of production at Pinewood Studios to the conclusion of post-production at Industrial Light & Magic—all with unprecedented access. Exclusive interviews with the entire creative team impart fascinating insights in bringing director J.J. Abrams’s vision to life; unused “blue sky” concept art offers glimpses into roads not traveled.

Bursting with hundreds of stunning works of art, including production paintings, concept sketches, storyboards, blueprints, and matte paintings, this “visual feast” (Entertainment Weekly) will delight Star Wars fans and cineastes for decades to come. The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the definitive expression of how the eighth chapter in the Star Wars saga was dreamed into being.

Image archivist Phil Szostak was embedded with The Force Awakens art department as a conceptual researcher and archivist from December 2012 through the end of production, and has worked in conjunction with Star Wars art departments for six years at Lucasfilm. A graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York, Szostak worked for Wild Brain Animation on the Disney Channel series Higglytown Heroes, and he ran the JAK Films Art Department on Skywalker Ranch for over three years before joining the narrative design team on LucasArts’ Star Wars: 1313. He resides in San Francisco.

Production designer Rick Carter has won two Academy Awards: one for his design of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, and one for his otherworldly production design on James Cameron’s mega-hit Avatar. Carter received his first Oscar nomination for his work on Robert Zemeckis’s Forrest Gump and an additional nomination for Steve Spielberg’s historic epic War Horse. Carter served as co-production designer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He lives in Los Angeles.