Star Wars: The Art of Rogue One was written by Josh Kushin and released by Abrams Books.
The Art of Rogue one starts off with forwards by Doug Chiang, Neil Lamont, and Gareth Edwards. Doug Chiang is the Lucasfilm VP creative director and Co-production designer, Neil Lamont is a Co-producer, and Gareth Edwards is the Director.
When I first heard the news about Rogue One, I thought… why this story? why the Death Star? We’ve been there. they came, they saw, they blew it up! After seeing the film four times in theater, I can say it’s one of my top three Star Wars films. I believe the novel, Catalyst, enhanced the film even more so. Rogue One and tie in material, expanded on the Lore of Star Wars and the mythology of the force.
The creators of Rogue One had a daunting task, to design a film so close in the canon timeline of A New Hope, released in 1977. The look had to be familiar but it also had to be something fresh. To accomplish such a task, several concept artist would put their pen/paint/pencil to paper or canvas, and let there imaginations run wild… but not too wild. That “Star Wars look” is important.
The Art of Rogue One is gorgeous. It’s more than just beautiful pictures of the wonderful concept art. The written words beside the pictures are definitely worth reading, a wonderful look behind the scenes. It’s amazing how a design can change the story, or the story can change the design, how many variations a character would be drawn before the final product.
So much time and effort was spent on bringing the best, familiar, fresh design from paper to the screen. Bringing imaginary places and characters to life.