Galactic Style Guide – Identification

Welcome back to another installment of the Galactic Style Guide, the monthly series where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help you create a more authentic ‘outer persona’! In this entry, we’re taking a look at examples of a rarely-seen category of ‘pocket trash’ which can really help to ground an impression in the Galaxy Far Far Away – we’re talking ID cards!
To show the evolution over time, I’ve chosen to present these in real-world chronological order, starting with examples from the West End Games era.

Eagle-eyed RPF member the.rebel.agent noticed that the central silver detail was also used on the prop for Obi-Wan’s binoculars, which allows us to figure the size of this ID card: the silver contact is .5 inches in length, which means the entire ID card measures 3.33 x 1.09″. Sixth grade maths strikes again!

I must admit, my main impetus for researching this post was to see how the official examples of ID cards compared to the fanmade ones put out by folks like Hondo Supply. It’s pretty clear these are a lot simpler, and none of them have factional branding: headshot, name, and a barcode of sorts seems to be the most common design elements (presumably, all the important character details like occupation, birthdate, homeworld, etc. that folks like to include in their props are just contained within the barcode.)

I’m sure there are many other examples I haven’t included here – please let me know about them in a comment below, or come discuss with us at the SWLH group on facebook. Until next time!

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