We have a production designer, and Bad Robot may be involved

[Dukhat]

My wife's got tattoos. Me and her are going to have to have a frank discussion about her heritage....

Ask her if she ever got her ears caught in a Chinese automated rice picker.

 

[drt]

Actually, the comic's explanation was wrong. It said that the Narada crew shaved their heads and got the tattoos in honor of Romulus's destruction. However, the film itself shows a hologram of Nero's dead wife (from before the planet was destroyed) , and she had tattoos too.

Maybe it's a working class Romulan thing, since we've primarily only been exposed to military and political types previously.

 

[JD]

I don't have a problem with the Klingons in StTiD either. The new makeup there really isn't that much more different than Worf and Chang, and definitely more similar to other Klingons than Kor in TOS and and Kor in DS9. Even if they hadn't been specifically identified as Klingons, I think it would have been pretty clear that they were. The makeup is always evolving, just look at the Andorians in TOS compared to the Andorians in ENT. Or even Odo in Emissary compared to Odo in What You Leave Behind.

 

[jamestyler]

Ask her if she ever got her ears caught in a Chinese automated rice picker.

That's racist. I'm telling the Romulan embassy. But they're sneaky bastards so if they decide to act, we'll never know.

In all seriousness though - the design tweaks have been lovely. Romulans, Vulcans, Cardassians etc all seem to sport the exact same style all the time. Klingons fell into the same trap and rarely had personalisation (TUC and Martok's confidence crew being rare treats).

Nero breaking the same bowl cut and 80's piss take shoulder pads was lovely. The Klingon tweaks were also refreshing - I've got piercings and tattoos. Why would a Klingon not? Does it make him less Klingon? It doesn't make me less human.

 

[INACTIVEUSS Einstein]

Maybe it's a working class Romulan thing, since we've primarily only been exposed to military and political types previously.

That is how I look at it too - might be just a thing specific to a certain class or region.

Also the hologram of Nero's wife may have been given the tattoos posthumously for some ritual reason.

 

[iPadCary]

http://markworthington.viewbook.com/

The 'Federation Ships' on this site doesn't look like any federation I know...

New Trek not looking the way it's supposed to?
Since when has that stopped anybody?

 

[Ovation]

"Supposed to?" The show is "supposed to" look however the show runners want it to look. Viewers are free to decide whether the find it appealing.