The Star Wars films traffic in simple, archetypal characters: the enthusiastic young hero, the wise old mentor, the menacing villain. It’s part of what made the movies so appealing, and it’s reflected in the character designs. Is there a piece of headgear in all of pop culture so perfectly associated with evil as Darth Vader’s mask? Or a haircut that screams “unflappable plucky badass” like Princess Leia’s distinctive cinnamon bun ‘do?
Artist Filipe Carvalho has created a picture series celebrating George Lucas’ iconic characters, reducing R2-D2, Chewbacca, and the rest of the cast to minimalist flat shadowed shapes that still capture the characters’ personalities. It’s a lovely presentation, even if it does give one the unsettling sense that someone has been hunting down Star Wars characters and mounting their heads on the wall of their den.
You can see the rest of the series on Carvalho’s Behance gallery.