Doug Chiang took took San Diego Comic-Con 2025  to discuss his career in film and design, as well as his new two-volume book set from Abrams: Doug Chiang: The Cinematic Legacy and The Star Wars Legacy.

Here’s some of what we learned at the “Focus on Doug Chiang” panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025.

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Doug Chiang recounted his early life growing up in a sort of hard-traveled American dream scenario. Amongst many passions growing up, he found himself wanting to pursue a career in Hollywood and thought filmmaking and effects were his ticket in. He quickly discovered however, that drawing gave him a faster in. He emphasized that drawing alone isn’t the skill that matters most — it’s about the thinking behind the image that defines good design. That mindset, he said, has kept him pushing forward, even as he continues to embrace imposter syndrome as motivation to improve.

His early interest in animals nearly led him to become a zoologist, a passion that eventually blended into his creature work on Star Wars. Working at ILM, Chiang credited George Lucas as a pivotal influence, saying working with him was like attending the best film and art school imaginable. He shared that Lucas encouraged simplicity in design, always searching for the “nugget” of an idea first. The big picture was the most important part and you can fill in the details later. That guidance helped shaped his design philosophy.

Recounting one working with Lucas,  Chiang remembered being desk to “design two giant plane engines and strap a cockpit to it.” Befuddled by the direction, he admitted to overthinking the engineering and the physics. He worked closely with Lucas to hone in on what eventually became the pod racers for THE PHANTOM MENACE.

Asked if he ever felt like he had imposter syndrome Doug emphatically embraced that he did, especially early in his career. But he took it as a personal challenge to himself to continue to push himself to keep learning and never settle into the complacency that his talents and experience have afforded him thus far. To that end, he also shared a daily routine he maintains for himself is to take two 3″ x 3″ sticky notes each morning and do two sketches stay sharp. He also uses sticky notes when he’s concepting new ideas and concepts so that he stays true to what he learned from Lucas, he intentionally constrains himself to the small canvas so that he doesn’t let himself get bogged down by details — focusing instead on the bigger picture.

Chiang also explained that Star Wars’ evolving visual style mirrors real-world design movements, from elegant art deco influences of the 1920s continuing into the live-in more rugged and utilitarian look of the original trilogy.

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San Diego Comic-Con takes place July 24 – July 27, 2025.

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