Talking Spaceships With Former 'Star Wars' Design Director

Not so long ago, in a city not too far away, designer Doug Chiang spent his days creating spaceships, robots, and sets for the last two Star Wars films. Now, he's dreaming up star-hopping vehicles for a different audience: videogamers. His work (right) can be found in Electronic Arts' online game Earth & Beyond. So, what's the philosophy behind the highly stylized ships of E&B? ''I try to design with bold, basic shapes,'' he says, while maintaining ''reasonable believability.'' And to which of E&B's warring factions would he pledge his allegiance? ''I like to explore and to destroy things, so I'd be a Jenquai explorer. They're the discoverers.'' Hey, if he gets blown up, he'll just design a better ship.