Description
Description & Back Story
IZ-E1 is a small helper droid, manufactured by Industrial Automaton as a less costly alternative to an Astromech Droid, helping a human mechanic with repairs around the ship. Small enough to get into tight spaces that are otherwise inaccessible to humans or larger droids. Its design allows it to close itself and function as a small battery, similar to a Gonk power droid, for charging/powering small tools in areas with no power. Its retracted head and leg position allows it to be carried or stored away easily. It is a customizable droid, by buying add-on swappable arms depending on the repair need. A feature that made it very desirable for those with audacious needs.
Manufactured during the Rise of the Empire, the IZ-E1 droid became a favorite of smugglers, pirates and rebels that could not otherwise afford a larger droid. Due to its association with the rebellion and the criminal underworld the manufacturing of the IZ_E1 droid was forced to be discontinued by order of the Empire; it is now a rare droid to find.
Inspiration/Personality
I want this droid to fit in with the droids of the original trilogy. Therefore, my design approach started with the Star Wars tradition of using found 60’s and 70’s items, kit-bashed to fit the look of the used universe. With that in mind the IZ_E1 droid is based on a 1970’s Ice crusher.
The vintage ice crusher was the perfect size for my vision of a droid used like a futuristic toolbox. A companion to a working-class mechanic who takes the droid for any type of repair, a deployable witty assistant. I replaced the (ice-crusher) crank handle with a functioning arm that doubles as a handle when the droid is folded/retraced. For the droid to walk, the legs deploy out of the body similar to a spider or crab. The head lifts up from the “lid” revealing the single lens eye, allowing for a full 360 degree turn and allowing for responsive expressions by tilting the “lid” and subtlety ducking down the “eye” as if squinting or hiding.
Similarly to an astromech droid, I added small access panels to make it fit the universe and imply a manufacturing relationship. Finally, I added a charging port to the side as it had a bit of a Gonk droid look when closed and it could provide a power generator use.
Designer Statement:
As a practicing architect with 26 years of experience in the design and construction field, I am inherently a vision and function creative. I fully enjoy the process of fabrication, from idea inception, prototyping, to final build. Always driven by the purpose of creating objects/buildings that provide pleasant experiences to its users and joy to our communities.
I have an affinity for historic/cultural preservation, with a special love for theater, film, and artistic spaces. Thus, I include adaptive reuse to my artistic creations. These days it includes photography, 3d printing, wood working, movie props, painting, and fabrication. I imagine that buildings and the objects within have character, personality, feelings and not in a Louis Kahn “what does the brick want to be” kind of way. To me they are lonely, happy, proud, helpful, etc. We project feelings onto our things, and they project feelings onto us. I also cherish people and objects that work to be in the service of others. In my own practice I enhance the buildings of fine institutes of book learning, and it has given me purpose. Much like IZ-E1, an alternative to an astromech droid, giving a helping hand to build or repair our realms.