Kevin Jenkins is a veteran at this point, having worked in a variety of design roles across multiple films, ranging from to . But as production designer on the , he faced an entirely new challenge: finding a look that doesn’t rely on staples like Stormtroopers or Star Destroyers. “Unlike other , this wasn’t to be found in a book,” Jenkins tells .
“When I did the sequels, and even when the prequels were done, we had that template of to go from. And [on ], we took away 75 percent of the template.” That’s because the show jumps back in time to a century before .
It’s the first live-action project to take place during , a time of comparative peace and prosperity. There’s no galactic war, no evil empire, and no rebels fighting against it. That opened up room for the story to explore new characters while also giving the visual team a lot of space to figure out what an older era could look like without many of its most iconic elements.
“It provided an opportunity to be almost unrestrained looking for whatever this look might be, without being beholden to very much,” says Jenkins. “I had a cleaner slate,” adds costume designer Jennifer Bryan. “I didn’t have as many restrictions [as if] it had fallen closer within the timeline that has already been filmed and televised.
” Naturally, this did create some challenges. Jenkins notes that when you take away many of those iconic visuals, it can be hard to articulate what makes something visually fit within the.
