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Randy Martinez on designing pinball art for Star Wars, Mandalorian, and John Wick at Stern.
Randy Martinez was recommended to Stern by a gentleman who worked with him at Topps on trading cards years ago.
high confidence · Randy Martinez directly stated this in response to how he got into pinball art.
Lucasfilm initially told Stern to use whatever they wanted from Star Wars comics, but Stern ultimately had to find their own artist (Randy) because likenesses were important and early comics were drawn very fast.
high confidence · Randy Martinez explained the licensing and approval process with Lucasfilm and Marvel regarding comic art usage.
Randy Martinez started official artwork with Lucasfilm in 1999 when Star Wars Episode 1 came out, beginning with Star Wars Kids magazine.
high confidence · Randy Martinez stated this directly about his professional history with Lucasfilm.
Lucasfilm specifically requested Randy Martinez for the Mandalorian project after seeing his Star Wars Comic Edition work.
high confidence · Randy Martinez stated Lucasfilm asked for him specifically and wanted to keep the comic book look going.
Randy was offered the Avengers Infinity Quest game, did samples that were well-received, but the project ultimately went to Jeremy Packer instead.
high confidence · Randy Martinez directly described this experience during the pandemic period.
Greg Ferrer retired from his role at Stern but continued to mentor Randy Martinez on the John Wick project.
medium confidence · Randy mentioned 'he retired' when discussing Greg Ferrer's contributions to their work together.
Randy Martinez intentionally creates distinct visual identities for each edition (Pro/Premium/LE) of the same game, treating each as its own canvas.
high confidence · Randy explained his design philosophy: 'I want them to have their own life like their like their kids' and 'I don't want you to confuse any of the versions with one another.'
“I would say 90% of it and I'm including the decision making. Um as far as composition, it was it was me. Um, the actual execution of the art is 100% me.”
Randy Martinez@ 16:02 — Clarifies the extent of Randy's creative control and artistic ownership in pinball machine designs.
“A great art director is is worth their weight and gold.”
Randy Martinez@ 16:16 — Emphasizes the importance of Greg Ferrer's role in enabling his successful pinball art projects.
“I want it all to look really great together. I want there to be some sort of narrative going on and I want it to look like a standing piece of art, not just a mishmash of different ideas.”
Randy Martinez@ 14:34 — Articulates his artistic philosophy and approach to creating cohesive pinball machine designs.
“I came in with so much more knowledge of the Star Wars world than anybody. You know, it's like it was like I knew at least 80 to 90% more than everybody in the room at any given time, including the people at Lucasfilm.”
Randy Martinez@ 15:05 — Explains why he was given creative decision-making authority on Star Wars Comic Edition.
“Well, Greg, you you really don't need to ask me anymore. Just come and say I got this for you.”
Randy Martinez@ 32:00 — Shows Randy's confidence and established working relationship with Stern by the time John Wick was offered.
“The fans won't let you fudge in Star Wars. You know, it's like they look at all these little details.”
Randy Martinez — Explains why attention to Star Wars lore and detail was critical for the project's success.
personnel_signal: Randy Martinez transitioned from trading cards (Topps) and Star Wars illustration (Lucasfilm) to pinball art at Stern, recommended through prior professional connections.
high · Randy stated he received email from Greg Ferrer at Stern after being recommended by former Topps colleague.
design_philosophy: Randy intentionally creates distinct visual identities for each edition (Pro/Premium/LE) of the same pinball machine, treating each as a separate artistic canvas with its own narrative and aesthetic.
high · Randy explained: 'I want them to have their own life like their like their kids' and 'I don't want you to confuse any of the versions with one another.'
design_innovation: Mandalorian features three thematically distinct art packages: spaghetti western (Pro), moral ambiguity (Premium), and metallurgical/Beskar (LE), each spawned from a single core concept.
high · Randy detailed how the Pro spaghetti western concept became the template, with other versions developing thematic variations around character positioning and color palettes.
licensing_signal: Lucasfilm granted Randy Martinez creative decision-making authority on Star Wars projects due to his deep knowledge of the IP (claiming 80-90% more subject matter knowledge than others in rooms), changing approval processes from round-based feedback to fast-tracked first-take approvals.
high · Randy explained that after first month, Lucasfilm realized he knew the property and began letting him make creative decisions; they welcomed his ability to catch continuity/lore issues.
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“My thing was I I don't want just this drawing of Darth Vader and that drawing of Luke Skywalker to be cool. I want it all to look really great together.”
Randy Martinez@ 14:23 — Core statement of his design philosophy focused on cohesion across all artwork elements.
“I literally went online and and in books that I have and just I really studied into spaghetti westerns and the old posters and wanted to get the feel to that.”
Randy Martinez@ 29:52 — Describes his research methodology for developing distinct visual themes for Mandalorian editions.
licensing_signal: Lucasfilm specifically requested Randy Martinez by name for Mandalorian project based on satisfaction with Star Wars Comic Edition artwork, prioritizing visual continuity of comic book aesthetic.
high · Randy stated: 'Lucasfilm asked for me specifically because they like the work I did with Star Wars Comics, and they just kind of wanted to keep that kind of a look going.'
business_signal: Star Wars Comic Edition faced convention/promotion delays due to pandemic timing, but Stern secured Randy for Mandalorian project during lockdown, providing work continuity during industry shutdown.
high · Randy noted pandemic 'killed everything' for Star Wars promotion but Stern offered Mandalorian, which 'really saved me' during lockdown.
personnel_signal: Greg Ferrer established himself as critical mentor to Randy Martinez across multiple projects, providing guidance on pinball-specific constraints, design decisions, and editorial leadership; recently retired.
high · Randy repeatedly credited Greg: 'A great art director is worth their weight and gold' and noted he 'made sure that I didn't focus like on one piece' ensuring equal quality across editions.
gameplay_signal: Pinball artwork must integrate pre-designed insert layouts and shot mechanics while telling cohesive narrative; artists learn to position characters/scenes to guide player attention to game goals.
high · Josh noted artwork must show 'where the shots go' and 'why you put different people on different shots'; Randy emphasized learning this constraint from Star Wars onward.
design_philosophy: Technical printing limitations (especially in retro comic book era) created distinctive aesthetic choices; Randy intentionally recreated vintage comic color separation techniques for neon noir effects in John Wick.
high · Randy explained: 'because of the limitations of the printing process...you had a lot of well, kind of like what we did with John Wick with the neon noir. And you got like, you know, a magenta on this side and a yellow coming over on this side.'
product_strategy: Stern uses distinct art packages across Pro/Premium/LE tiers; marketing and art direction jointly determine which thematic direction maps to which edition tier after artwork is completed.
high · Randy stated: 'I have 5% of the discussion...it really comes down to their marketing' and Greg Ferrer ensures equal quality across all versions before tier assignments are finalized.
community_signal: Collectors engage deeply with pinball artwork details and appreciate distinct visual identities across editions; Randy's intentional differentiation strategy resonates with enthusiast community.
medium · Josh praised Mandalorian artwork: 'all stand separately on their own, but they all look so great' and expressed appreciation for clear edition differentiation.
rumor_hype: Randy was hoping to work on Jaws pinball, which he heard was coming down the pipeline; however, John Wick was offered instead.
medium · Randy stated: 'at the time like I I didn't have anything on my plate and I was kind of hoping uh that I would get Jaws. I had heard Jaws was coming down the pipeline and Jaws is my favorite movie of all time.'