Michael Okuda is the scenic art supervisor for
Star Trek: Voyager®. He is responsible for that show's control panels, signage, alien written languages, computer readout animation, and other strange things. Michael worked on all seven years of
Star Trek: The Next Generation®, and
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine®. His other credits include six
Star Trek® feature films,
The Flash, The Human Target, and the never-seen American version of
Red Dwarf. Along with Rick Sternbach, Michael serves as a technical consultant to the writing staff of Star Trek and is coauthor of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual book and CD-ROM. Michael grew up in Hawai'i, where he graduated from Roosevelt High School and earned a BA in communications from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. He is a member of IATSE Local 816 (Scenic, Title and Graphic Artists) and is a member of the American Civil Liberties Union. Mike is a proponent of science education and he really wants to be the first graphic artist in space.
FILE 1: Starfleet Emblems 1: The 23rd Century
1.1. Enterprise insignia -- Command. A dramatic free-form arrowhead pointing symbolically upward to the heavens, the original crew emblem for the Federation starship Enterprise represented humanity's trek to the stars. During the early voyages of the original Enterprise, this insignia identified command personnel aboard the most famous starship in the history of the Federation Starfleet. The classic Enterprise arrowhead symbol was designed in 1964 by William Ware Theiss, costume designer for the original Star Trek series, and has become one of the most recognized icons in visual science fiction. During the two pilot episodes for the first Star Trek ("The Cage" [TOS] and "Where No Man Has Gone Before" [TOS]), all Enterprise personnel wore this insignia, which was slightly smaller than the three versions later created by Theiss for the remainder of the series. Variations on Theiss's Enterprise insignia have remained in use for all of the Star Trek spinoff movies and series.
1.2. Enterprise insignia -- Science and Medical. The spirit of exploration and the quest to understand the unknown that is at the heart of the Federation Starfleet's mission to boldly go where no one has gone before might best be personified by the personnel of the science and medical divisions. The science/medical division insignia was worn during the original Star Trek series by Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy. The original series insignia were embroidered patches made with a metallic gold fabric background.
1.3. Enterprise insignia -- Engineering and Ship's Services. This version of the famous Enterprise crew insignia was worn by engineering, technical support, and security personnel. The engineering insignia was also worn by officers of the ship's security division. Engineering Officer Scott and Communications Officer Uhura wore the engineering and ship's services insignia. The characteristic red uniform worn by members of the security department became notorious among Star Trek fans. For some reason, it seemed whenever a mysterious unknown force threatened an Enterprise landing party, the poor crew member wearing the red shirt was the one to first suffer the full wrath of some horrific alien creature. In other words, don't ever volunteer to be a red-shirted security guard on the original Enterprise. (Not even if they promise to let you keep your phaser afterward.)
1.4. Starfleet emblem. In 2270, Starfleet Command honored the historic role of the original Starship Enterprise in the exploration of space by adopting the Enterprise insignia for the entire Starfleet. This new fleet-wide symbol featured a slightly modified version of the Enterprise command emblem with the addition of a background circle on a graphic device. The adoption of the new emblem was accompanied by a redesign of Starfleet's service uniforms. This was the first of several uniform systems that abandoned the use of differing tunic colors to identify different service divisions. Embroidered patches featured the basic Starfleet arrowhead, but used different colors in the background circle to denote different service divisions. These colors were: White -- Command
Orange -- Science
Red -- Engineering
Yellow/Gold -- Operations
Gray -- Security
Green -- Medical.
The introduction in the first Star Trek movie of these changes to the Starfleet/Enterprise emblem was the first of a series of modifications to the arrowhead symbol that were driven by a desire to show an evolution in Starfleet. It wasn't stated explicitly that Starfleet had adopted a single uniform symbol, but this was implied by the fact that everyone in the Starfleet Command scenes in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country wore this symbol. They couldn't all have been Enterprise personnel (or could they?) The feature film insignia was designed by Star Trek: The Motion Picture costume designer Bob Fletcher.
1.5. Starfleet officer's pin. A later iteration of the Starfleet uniform featured a more ornate version of the Starfleet emblem. Unlike the embroidered insignia used during the original Star Trek series and the first Star Trek movie, the Star Trek II officer's emblem was cast bronze, giving the movie uniforms a more military feet. This officer's pin remained in use through the remaining movies with the cast from the original Star Trek series.
1.6. Starfleet cadet pin. Cadets of the Starfleet Academy wore a distinctive bronze pin that indicated their trainee status. Nevertheless, the junior status of cadets belied the fact that they had already completed extensive training to qualify them for service aboard a Federation starship. Also designed by Bob Fletcher, this emblem was also seen throughout the original series-era movies beginning with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
1.7. Starfleet emblem/ship pennant version. Yet another variation on the basic Starfleet arrowhead, this version was painted on the exterior hull surfaces of Federation starships during the late 23rd century, to indicate the fact that they were operating under the authority of Starfleet Command.
1.8. U.S.S. Enterprise, Constitution-class. The original Starship Enterprise was launched in 2245 under the command of Captain Robert April. A later commander, Captain James T. Kirk, helmed the ship during his famous five-year mission of discovery from 2264-2269. A classic of science-fiction design, the original Starship Enterprise was designed by Matt Jefferies. More than anyone else, Jefferies was responsible for the overall look of Star Trek. His work set the standard for all of the Star Trek television shows and movies that have followed.
1.9. U.S.S. Enterprise, refit Constitution-class. Following a major overhaul and system upgrade in 2271, the original Constitution-class Starship Enterprise returned to service under the command of James T. Kirk. Among the most noteworthy missions of this ship was the interception of the mysterious V'Ger machine life-form. The refit Enterprise first seen in Star Trek: The Motion Picture was designed by Matt Jefferies, Joe Jennings, Harold Michelson, Douglas Trumbull, Mike Minor, Andrew Probert, Richard Taylor, and David Kimble.
Copyright © 1999 by Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved.
