Drew Struzan’s art became part of filmmaking mythology, from Star Wars posters to ILM’s classic emblem.
Drew Struzan distilled movie magic into a single iconic image, often the one audiences saw first. The celebrated creator of hundreds of one-sheet movie posters that blended classic portraiture with cinematic montage passed away October 13 at age 78.
For decades, the renowned artist and Industrial Light & Magic moved in the same creative orbit — ILM conjuring the visual effects that brought cinematic worlds to life, and Struzan capturing their spirit in paint, in turn inspiring generations of ILM artists.
Struzan was instrumental in helping define ILM’s early identity. Working from a design by ILM matte painter Michael Pangrazio, Struzan hand-painted the company’s first logo, depicting a tuxedoed magician conjuring a spark of light, framed by a large gear bearing the letters “ILM”. Struzan’s painting was a perfect visual metaphor for what ILM represented: the fusion of artistry and technology, imagination, and precision.
The font style used in ILM’s current logo, revealed in 2023, was closely inspired by the typography in Struzan’s painting.
Struzan’s logo became shorthand for creative excellence. It appeared on letterhead, production slates, and crew gear, signaling that the work within carried ILM’s signature blend of craft and wonder.
His association with Lucasfilm began in 1978, when he collaborated with Charles White III on a special re-release poster for Star Wars: A New Hope. The “circus-style” artwork — with its layered texture and weathered look — became a favorite among fans and collectors, launching Struzan into a long association with Lucasfilm and, by extension, ILM.
Over the next three decades, Struzan’s brush defined the visual identity of films that spanned the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series, Back to the Future, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, and many more. His posters for Star Wars entries The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith threaded prophecy and tragedy through glowing color and emotional expression. Each piece was created by hand: sketches on gessoed boards, acrylics and airbrush for texture, and Prismacolor pencils for final detail.
In the same way his movie posters gave films an emotional face, Struzan’s ILM logo gave the company one — a timeless emblem for the artists who turned imagination into illusion.
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