This project started as a challenge to students to break out away from safe, non-offensive designs. I asked the class to give me any theme (in this example they chose Star Wars), the I asked them to name any household product (they chose coffee maker). I did a quick sketch that broke away from a standard three-quarter view, then did an old school Photoshop rendering demo.
Because of other commitments, the project was idle for about a year, then I picked it back up, build a digital model, refined, did test prints and eventually build the following model.
This product/prop explores a merger of cultural influences.
The original Star Wars opened in theaters in 1977 and production design was informed by the technology and design of the times. Decades later, this 70s sensibility continues to inform the film franchise prop, set and costume design.
The automatic drip coffee maker was invented in Cleveland in the 1970s and was launched by North American Systems (NAS) as the Mr. Coffee brand in 1972. By the time of the debut of Star Wars, the company was selling more than 40,000 coffee machines a day.
In the Star Wars Series ‘Andor,’ characters can be seen making and drinking ‘caf’ (the parallel of Earthly coffee). The Imperial Caf Processor embodies a cutting-edge 1970s product as if it lived in the Star Wars Universe.
The Imperial Caf Processor served a squad of stormtroopers, helping them get ready for the day or keeping them awake during late-night patrols. Early in the rebellion, soldiers scored a small victory in raiding an imperial outpost for equipment and supplies…and thus the caf processor came to serve a new cause.
These photos contrast the environment and culture of the two groups.
The imperial setting is sterile, mass-produced and organized, represented by a cool color pallet and uniformity. The caf processor is plugged into a scomp link, allowing it to access power and share data (use & maintenance).
The rebel setting represents taxed resources, where items are scavenged and access is only to the essentials. The color pallet is warm, things are makeshift and dirty. The caf processor power/data cord has been hacked to access the available power only.
