Matt Jeffries was the production designer for the original Star Trek, but somewhere along the way designer Thomas Kellogg was brought in to develop the Shuttlecraft Galileo – made famous in the episode The Galileo Seven.

Kellogg became well-known for his design for the Studebaker Avanti Coupe while working under über designer Raymond Loewy. One can see the likeness between the shuttlecraft rendering (above) and the Avanti (below).

And read more about all this here.

Plus
Here’s an interview with Tom Kellogg.

Found via Bad Spock Drawings

‘Bones McCoy was not a morning person.’

How much for just the planet? was one of the silliest books I’ve ever read. Author John M. Ford (1957-2006) did a lot with this Star Trek thing. And that’s actually him as part of the cover art (above).

Not for purists though, which is why I enjoyed reading it. It was released in 1987. Details (and spoilers) here. Snag a cheap used copy here.

I read somewhere that this novel sent Gene Roddenberry into a tizzy. Don’t know if it were true, but this book has some nasty religion stuff, nymphomaniac Ensign Sara George, lots of sex and the crew in a nakkid crucifiction in the rain something or other. I remember reading this as a kid and thinking about the rather frank, adult content, This is NOT going to be made into a movie is it? Also thought: This Star Trek thing is pretty damn interesting (teenage hormones speaking, of course).

‘Ensign George was pure, unadulterated, wanton sex.’

Yeah.

This was one of the first original Trek novels, released in 1976. I loved the stark whiteness of the original glossy Helvetica-set cover (now faded); paired with wonderful artwork by Gene Szafran. Unfortunately, future printings ended up with more literal interpretations up front.

Here’s a blow by blow review. Snag a copy here (is this thing even still in print?)

In 1979, the week the first movie premiered, Paramount launched a daily Star Trek comic strip. Thomas Warkentin was the first writer/artist to work on the title and I loved his attention to detail.

The strip adapted the production design of the first motion picture and Warkentin even went so far as to put small details on the viewscreens that was often wasted when printed small in the paper. I had a drawer full of the clipped strips, they’d turned a nice gold color over time.

The strip itself has never been reprinted, lost in a world of legal ownership issues. But the entire run can be found here. Though not in the best user friendly format. There’s also links to some great UK-based Star Trek comics from the 1970s. Handy checklist here.

When Star Trek first became a global sensation, Toru Kanamori landed a gig illustrating Japanese translations of the original series stories. Wouldn’t it be great to reprint a bunch of these in an art book with text from the Blish novels?

You know, I’d love to design something like that. Somebody call me.

For more about the work of Toru Kanamori, jump here.

Author James Blish turned the original episodes of Star Trek into short stories, which have been printed and reprinted by Bantam Books.

The original cover paintings (above) were top notch. Lou Feck’s incredible brush strokes and fanciful landscapes took Star Trek beyond the confines of a television SFX budget (he did #s 4, 7 and 8). Eddie Jones made a blasted Klingon engine look really cool on #10 (Jones did the later numbers in the series, under the pen name S. Fantoni).

And the type: Helvetica Condensed and some ultra bold numbers (you know, like one of my fonts).

Cool design for explorers on the edge of space. Here’s Modern Fred’s Flickr/photoset of the bunch. And while you’re out exploring, check out Fred’s other space age modern snaps.

J.J. Abrams made a few changes to Star Trek.

Plotwise it had something to do with a black hole or alternate reality time travel singularity cinnamon gumball something or other. Below is what Abrams’ U.S.S. Kelvin would have looked like if it fit the style created by Star Trek’s original designer, Matt Jefferies.

Renderings by Kenneth Thomson Jr.

Star Trek’s 1960s production design is a reflection of its era. Cold War, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit – or Mad Men – in outer space.

Jefferies’ original Enterprise model sported antennas on the engines, a radar dish up front with deliberate nods to the military. I think that triangle thing under the forward hull may be for an anchor. Maybe.

Battleship Wisconsin

The ships from the original series also sported traditional ‘painted’ surfaces – battleship gray hull – plus, identification tags, banners and typography. Port and starboard navigation lights. Just like the Navy.

Original Enterprise model with antennas

The Enterprise’s NCC-1701 serial number has a few tall tales behind it. In reality, it was a take on a future where opposing nations would work together – a mix of national markings for ‘United States Commercial’ (NC) and the Soviet Union (CCCC) with numbers that looked good on screen. A major part of Star Trek’s original production design (especially colors, below) had to do with limitations of 1960s television screens.

On the fashion side, costume designer William Ware Theiss worked with a primary color palette so characters would actually show up on small color tee vee sets.

NBC’s parent company, Sheinhardt Wigs RCA, was doing all they could to sell early color tee vees. Star Trek, shown in living color on NBC, was caught up in all this.

IBM System/360 Model 44, 1965

With technology, Star Trek did its best to keep up with the Joneses – namely, technology design of the day. IBM mainframes dominated (above). Personal Computers didn’t exist yet. Monitors took a backseat to a massive data paper trail – and flashing lights were everywhere. On the bridge, Spock needed a hooded monitor with bright blue light just to read his scanner. Quaint.

But this was the future that Star Trek said was coming. Bridge mainframe that whirrrrrrs, battleship gray, beeps, pings and all.

‘Sorry Mr. Spock, but I have an iPhone that does more than that thing.’

links
[1] Interview with original production designer Matt Jefferies here.

[2] More fan-produced Kelvin images here.

[3] Prints of Jefferies’ Enterprise conceptual drawings (below) are available thru the Roddenberry family here.

[4] CBC Cold War films here.

[5] The Man the Grey Flannel Suit Wiki.

[6] Mad Men official site.

[7] IBM Archives: Mainframe photo album here.

[8] And, a look at Star Trek fashion here.

Enterprise conceptual art by Matt Jefferies, 1965

Okay, I’ll admit it. I was a trekkie from way back. Sort of lost interest along the way, but I did enjoy the new movie. Which releases in all sorts of formats this Tuesday.

The message of Star Trek is a good one, when it works. A future utopia where humans have gotten past all their petty hangups. President Obama thinks this way. It’s good thinking.

velour: fabric of the future!
Of course, the early design of the show fascinated me. The look changed after its second pilot episode – which featured cast and crew in these really nifty velour shirts (that Kirk could rip at will). I have the original publicity poster framed in my office (above). The art is by the incredible James Bama, great write up at the Drex Files.

The poster really captures the original look, which was a mix of mid-century modern, googie and space age Disney.

In the future, everyone gets a gooseneck video monitor!

It would have been fun if the new movie had the original velour shirts (above) on the bridge of the Kelvin. The U.S.S. Kelvin, at least, had Star Trek’s signature ‘ping’ noise and the lighting was a little bit like the scene from above. Those were a nice touches.
 

Logo used for Gold Key’s line of comics

sooo groovy, mann
Gold Key had the first officially-licensed comic books. And they were  . . .  Funky. Online guide here. The logo with the tiny Enterprise speeding by was fun (above) and sort of pulled it all together. The original Star Trek was high 1960s design. With a Shatner swagger. Martinis and miniskirts on the bridge, baby. Put on your copy of Mr. Spock’s Music from Outer Space and dance, dance, dance.

Can’t dance? Sing, baby, sing!

I have several boxes buried somewhere with old early Star Trek stuff in it. Books, fanzines, posters, you name it. There wasn’t too much official stuff – Star Trek was in limbo for many years after being canceled in 1969. Were they going to do another series, would there be a movie? Children’s records, maybe a cookbook.

Collecting the crap was the fun part. Series creator Gene Roddenberry had a deal with Paramount where he could sell stuff – and he did. Thru Lincoln Enterprises, one could snag anything from patches to scripts, Starfleet certificates (signed by Captain James T. Kirk!), production letterhead, writers guides, pens, pencils, whatever wasn’t nailed down. Cheap. A treasure trove.

cartooniness
Star Trek in the 1970s was interesting. There was a post-60s look that sort of kicked in and lots of fan-produced stuff. Even the Slash stuff. Paramount tended to leave the fans alone. I even dabbled in a comic book and ‘zine, which I sent out to subscribers while I was mulling thru the 7th grade. Star Trek was another catalyst for my career in graphic design. Making stars on a black background using a toothbrush and liquid paper was messy fun!
 

Animated Enterprise (1973)

The animated Star Trek, which aired Saturday mornings on NBC, had a very 1970s look to it. It was as if the Swiss International Style swooped in and cleaned things up a bit. The ship was rendered with industrial design marker pens (above). Even the bridge had a second door (something they could have used years earlier). A second Star Trek series (simply titled Star Trek II) was in production when George Lucas’ Star Wars hit theatres. Then everything changed.
 

Designer Rick Sternbach and graphics for the first movie

honkin’ big movie
I really loved the design of The Motion Picture (1979). Everything was well thought out, even down to the graphics. Story: not so well thought out. But hell, great visuals!

Lee Cole was the designer of all the fiddly details – and the Star Trek Peel Off Graphics Book was one of the first books I owned. Had them stickers everywhere.

And it was cool to see some of Cole’s old images peppered throughout the new film (along with Mark Simonson’s Changeling font).

Another favorite book featured art by Motion Picture production designer Rick Sternbach. Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology, a timeline of what future spaceflight was going to entail, from the Soviet’s launch of Sputnik to the Enterprise featured in the movies (By the way, if memory serves, NASA’s Space Shuttle was to be phased out by 1990, replaced by Sleeper Ships).

Decals

drex stuff
Along the way, I fell in love with the work of artist Doug Drexler. I saw his art printed in a fanzine – and really enjoyed the graphic design of the Star Trek Giant Poster Book, which was a fold out magazine he used to edit (love that 3D logo. Hm. Similar to Jim’s stuff).

And today, Drexler has a really cool blog – which in addition to Star Trek art, he’s also been posting his collection of old comic strips, Dick Tracy, Steve Canyon  . . .  (and yes, much of the stuff I’m showing I found thru his blog).
 

Enterprise cutaway by Doug Drexler
 

too, too much
Eventually Paramount Pictures realized they owned this stuff – and started enforcing their copyright. Many fan-spun clubs shut down, their wares sort of vanished. Then they made another series, then another, then another. They killed off Kirk as a publicity stunt. What were they thinking?

Reality eventually set in. One day in 1990 I got to tour the Next Generation sets at Paramount. They were small, crammed and made of plywood. Built to photograph well.

The Next Generation at Stage 9, rendered by Doug Drexler

It was really just a tv show.

But one that sparked my creativity. It was fun watching the new movie and knowing little trivia things about the show’s history. And great to see that today it’s in good hands.

Star Trek is best when someone who gets it is at the helm. It’ll be fun to see what comes next.

‘To Boldly Wear What No Dog Wants to Wear’