Who Are the New Design Rock Stars?

[Tallguy]

I've known the names Matt Jefferies and Andrew Probert longer than I can remember. And not long after that Rick Sternbach. Then Michael Okuda. Throw in Geoffrey Mandel, Doug Drexler, and this is why you don't make lists because you always leave important people out. (John Eaves!)

It's not a stretch to say that Matt Jefferies' three view drawing of the Enterprise and David Kimble's cutaway of the Motion Picture ship were foundational to my fandom. And all through the Berman era Mike and Rick were always having stuff published in Starlog and the like.

We knew where stuff was on the ship and what it meant and we knew that THEY knew where stuff was.

Who are the new Star Trek Design Rock Stars on the nuShows? I'm posting in SNW because it's by FAR my favorite. It's the first time since The Motion Picture that I've wanted to live on one of these ships. I've seen some interviews with the set designer, but that's about it.

Is any of this art published anywhere? Do any of them come here? (Hahahahaha. No, I hear it now.)

I'm just wondering if the next gen- er, group of fans will be in communication with their new heroes like we were with ours.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Timothy Peel does the screen graphics for SNW, he's on Twitter here and posts lots of his stuff once episodes go live. Link.

 

[Mudd]

Actually, I think the designer who's been the most accessible and fun to follow so far is the costume designer, Bernadette Croft.

 

[Jellico]

I have to say I love seeing the Retro Matt Jefferies tubes in SNW. Just a side comment.

 

[Tallguy]

I have to say I love seeing the Retro Matt Jefferies tubes in SNW. Just a side comment.

That was my favorite part OF THE ENTIRE SHOW.

There was one episode where they had to go somewhere using the tube (I think it was the fantasy one?) and I held my breath waiting to see if it would go all the way up to the warp nacelle!

 

[Blip]

I think SNW has done a simply fantastic job of "reimagining" and paying homage to the TOS props, sets, and costuming aesthetics; it shows to all the naysayers over the years that it is possible to both update and honor the original look, and the sheer effort that's clearly been put in is no small part of why I've enjoyed this show so far.

My only gripe is the Enterprise exterior itself, which sadly is a holdover from her first DSC appearance.

 

[Tallguy]

I think SNW has done a simply fantastic job of "reimagining" and paying homage to the TOS props, sets, and costuming aesthetics; it shows to all the naysayers over the years that it is possible to both update and honor the original look, and the sheer effort that's clearly been put in is no small part of why I've enjoyed this show so far.

My only gripe is the Enterprise exterior itself, which sadly is a holdover from her first DSC appearance.

It's like reading my own post.

Even in Disco, when they "felt like" echoing TOS they were gorgeous. The Disco and SNW phasers and communicators and tricorders for example. I was in love with the Disco space suits and then I think SNW even improved them. They all go for a "What if TOS were real?" kind of vibe.

Seriously if they could focus that kind of "channeled" aesthetic to the ships... I get weak in the knees just thinking about it.

 

[Blip]

It's like reading my own post.

Even in Disco, when they "felt like" echoing TOS they were gorgeous. The Disco and SNW phasers and communicators and tricorders for example. I was in love with the Disco space suits and then I think SNW even improved them. They all go for a "What if TOS were real?" kind of vibe.

Seriously if they could focus that kind of "channeled" aesthetic to the ships... I get weak in the knees just thinking about it.

Yes!! With the exception of the excessive brasswork, I loved the DSC Starfleet gear. Why the heck they then had to be so needlessly bizarre with regards sets, costumes and the exterior is beyond me.

For SNW I agree the Enterprise (and other ships') exteriors could use just a bit of tweaking and they'd be vastly improved, though tbh I think I already found my "perfect update" to the 1701 right here on the TrekBBS, in the form of @Hunter-G 's redesign. That there is a thing of such beauty, she surpasses the original and sits right alongside the TMP refit:

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/yes-another-tos-constitution-reboot.255106/


There's no amount of tweaking that could fix most of DSC's designs though.

 

[Quantum21]

I've known the names Matt Jefferies and Andrew Probert longer than I can remember. And not long after that Rick Sternbach. Then Michael Okuda. Throw in Geoffrey Mandel, Doug Drexler, and this is why you don't make lists because you always leave important people out. (John Eaves!)

It's not a stretch to say that Matt Jefferies' three view drawing of the Enterprise and David Kimble's cutaway of the Motion Picture ship were foundational to my fandom. And all through the Berman era Mike and Rick were always having stuff published in Starlog and the like.

We knew where stuff was on the ship and what it meant and we knew that THEY knew where stuff was.

Who are the new Star Trek Design Rock Stars on the nuShows? I'm posting in SNW because it's by FAR my favorite. It's the first time since The Motion Picture that I've wanted to live on one of these ships. I've seen some interviews with the set designer, but that's about it.

Is any of this art published anywhere? Do any of them come here? (Hahahahaha. No, I hear it now.)

I'm just wondering if the next gen- er, group of fans will be in communication with their new heroes like we were with ours.

Things have changed.

Where there used to be less than 10 in-house artists and various art directors and such, almost everything is outsourced now except the supervisor on the staff.

So it could be dozens of people working in these departments.

A few of notable designers on new Trek:

Daniel J Burns
Ray Lai
John Eaves
Scott Schneider
Lee Fitzgerald
Sean Hargreaves
Thomas Pringle
Neville Page
Timothy Peel
Andrew Jarvis

 

[Tuskin38]

There's no amount of tweaking that could fix most of DSC's designs though.

They don't need fixing.

 

[Dukhat]

They don't need fixing.

Everyone has their opinions. For example, here's mine: I've always felt that the ship designs shown in DSC seasons 1 & 2 would have worked vastly better had the show taken place after TUC, rather than ten years before TOS. They simply don't look like ships that were contemporaries to the TOS Enterprise (or even the Discoprise, for that matter.) And I think the SNW producers understood that, because they've segued away from those designs in favor of more TOS-influenced ships.

 

[fireproof78]

They don't need fixing.

I feel the same, as I think they they, and the USS KELVIN, feel like good bridges between the NX series and TOS, as things start moving a different direction from a tech side. I miss the Discovery designs in SNW. It makes the Constitution actually stand out as special, like Kirk describes her, not one of a million that have swappable parts.

 

[Blip]

They don't need fixing.

You're welcome to your own opinion, just don't expect me to share it lol

 

[Dukhat]

I miss the Discovery designs in SNW. It makes the Constitution actually stand out as special, like Kirk describes her, not one of a million that have swappable parts.

To me, it made the Constitution stand out as old and obsolete, as I felt the other Eaves ship designs looked far more advanced than the Enterprise did. I'm sure that wasn't the intent, but that's what it ended up looking like.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I thought many of the Disco designs were really clunky and boxy, and had the ENT era details.

That said, I know they were designed as more of a reboot (they specifically hired people with no prior knowledge of Klingon designs to do their S1 ships, for example) but then plans changed and changed and expanded massively and changed so here we are with Star Trek Online designs for Picard and originals that fit in there and the SNW designs which spin off from their Disco reboot origins and sometimes they cross over pretending they always did and sometimes they bring back faithful old stuff. Designer Doug Drexler even explicitly considers Disco a separate thing even though it explicitly crosses over with TOS and TNG. It's a mess but ultimately it's just a TV show.

 

[Tuskin38]

(they specifically hired people with no prior knowledge of Klingon designs to do their S1 ships, for example)

I don't recall that. I know the eaglemoss booklet said they were told to ignore previous designs.

Designer Doug Drexler even explicitly considers Disco a separate thing

Well I'm glad he isn't running the franchise.

 

[Dukhat]

Well I'm glad he isn't running the franchise.

He's not a showrunner. He's just a guy with an opinion, just like all of us.

 

[drt]

He's not a showrunner. He's just a guy with an opinion, just like all of us.

I generally like Drexler's stuff, but his opinion for years has been a dismissive "if I wasn't allowed to participate, it sucks".

 

[Dukhat]

I generally like Drexler's stuff, but his opinion for years has been a dismissive "if I wasn't allowed to participate, it sucks".

Well, I wasn't allowed to participate in DSC's production, and I feel the same way. So I'm not sure what the point is.

 

[Tuskin38]

I generally like Drexler's stuff, but his opinion for years has been a dismissive "if I wasn't allowed to participate, it sucks".

No, I'm pretty sure he genuinely dislikes it.