The Making of Tatooine Times

On April 25th, 2017 I was lucky enough to be able to attend Star Wars Celebration in Orlando. The energy, passion, and emotions from fans and special guests, especially during the Star Wars Rebels panel, were the spark that lit the fire of my imagination. Celebration left me with lots of great memories, inspiration, and a much stronger connection with the Force.

Soon after the event, I realized that I did not just want to experience and enjoy the endless Star Wars content. I wanted to create something fun for the fans, where I could share my love and passion for Star Wars. That’s when Tatooine Times was born.

Heard About a Job. Big Shot Gangster, Putting Together a Crew

I reached out to my Star Wars friends, Fabienne Payet and Dan Solo, on Twitter and asked if they wanted to join me on this long journey.

I should really start a Star Wars website. But I can't do this alone. Who wants to join the rebellion? @LadyRubaiyat @StarWarsSucker

— Fabio Fiori (@FabEliFlow) April 19, 2017

Dan’s love for Star Wars collectibles is contagious; I wasn’t really into collectibles until I met him! I had long conversations with him about Star Wars and how we both wanted to contribute to make an impact on the community. That’s when I asked him if he wanted to join the team and be able to showcase his collector items and share his expertise on the subject.

Fabienne and I met on Twitter around the same time. She is the master writer out of us three! Not only does she have an incredible and professional writing talent, she is the ultimate Star Wars geek! She is strong in the force and without a doubt I was sure she was going to create and share awesome content!

This project was definitely going to be a long, challenging project. Despite that, with my skill in web design and development, Fabienne’s talent in writing, and Dan’s expertise with Star Wars collectibles, I was confident we were able to deliver something special to the fans.

Coming up with a catchy and easy name for the site was a challenge on its own. Fabienne, Dan, and I virtually sat down to discuss the identity of our site. We started brainstorming and came up with various, Star Wars-inspired names; from faction-oriented (Rebellion, Empire, Jedi, Sith) to planet inspired names. Finally, we found the perfect one: Tatooine Times. It was catchy, easy to remember, but most importantly was inspired by the place and planet where the Star Wars stories all began. Tatooine was the perfect location for our fictitious platform.

Design and Development

My main goal for Tatooine Times was to be visually impactful with design elements that nodded the Star Wars universe. The logo was the first thing I designed. I already knew it had to have the iconic twin suns, but I also wanted it to be minimalistic and eye-catching. I really liked Rogue One’s simple lettering and border, so I decided to combine a similar design with the suns, and what a better way to replace the double Os of Tatooine with the two suns!

In addition to familiar elements, the site had to have some kind of background story in order to make the experience more engaging and immersive; the home page is the focal point of our story.

The home page starts with the classic black and blue opening screen that is present in every Star Wars movie. In the next section, we are walking the corridors of a Corellian Corvette (Tantive IV?) and we are preparing to jettison down to the planet’s surface. The background is a beautiful art piece by Jordan Younie.

I already knew what the article categories were going to be (Collectibles, News, and Reviews) but I wanted each one to have a story, a theme. Dan took the challenge and came up with little stories and corresponding titles for each category: Sandcrawler Collectibles, Chalmun’s Cantina News, and Sarlacc Reviews. These stories had to be perfectly paired with stunning visuals. After a long, tiring search for the right artwork, I found some art pieces from concept artist Ronnie Jensen. His art was just incredible; I felt a deep emotional connection to his style. I reached out and talked to him about Tatooine Times. He loved the project and allowed us to use some of his art pieces. He even made some custom artwork just for Tatooine Times!

Finally, the last section of the home page then takes you to Tatooine’s orbit (beautifully crafted by my longtime friend Sebastien Decoret where you see the twin suns spinning as the rest of the site logo fully animates in front of your eyes. Little easter egg: try to click/hover over the starfield…it’s interactive! The rest of the site design contains other subtle nods to Star Wars elements, but I want you to find them!

Welcome to Tatooine Times

After over a year of hard work from concept, design, and development, my team and I are proud to present to you Tatooine Times! We commit to provide you with insightful and fun content, but most importantly we pledge ourselves to bring positivity to our beautiful Star Wars Community!

May the Force be with you.