ONE MILDLY OBSESSIVE GOAL:The Most Accurate & Complete Star Trek Symbol Database.
Thanks to Lower Decks for the shout out!
Or Go Rando
Star Trek has had great influence on modern culture. And no more so than its graphic design.
For three generations designers have been profoundly influenced by the symbols, insignias and logos seen in Star Trek. In turn, those generations have, through design, woven aspects of the Star Trek graphic design aesthetic into every aspect of daily life. So much so, that it should be thought of as a unique genre of graphic design.
Every designer that has contributed to this pervasive cultural influence has used Star Trek’s hopeful and optimistic future for humanity as a guideline. In turn, they applied the same philosophical tenants when creating each new symbol to build a fully evolved and internally consistent visual design spectrum that leverages established design representations of peace, oppression, freedom, foreignness, aggression, etc. and envisions how graphic design will advance along with humanity. But none more than…
Matt Jeffries’ foundational design premise that regardless the technological advance, simple striking visual elements used consistently guides the viewer in forming positive and negative associations.
Franz Joseph’s projections of a future visual language rooted in the United Nations and diplomacy rather than relying on the more obvious military influences.
Mike Okuda’s wonderful imaginary unbroken thread of design from genuine space exploration through to a future of exploration that Star Trek embodies.
Doug Drexler, William Ware Theiss, Pierre Drolet, Geoffrey Mandel and so many more (please scroll down for more on that).
See the STDP catalog of symbols in the Sansar Roddenberry Star Trek Nexus
Is a symbol incorrect or missing?
Then the Star Trek Design Project needs your help. Send an email with the symbol in question along with in which Star Trek it appears (if it’s not here), or which symbol has an error along with which Star Trek it appears (if there’s an error). Time codes are extremely helpful.
Faithful reproduction for authentic reference.
To serve as a reliable resource, accuracy in recreation of all marks is of utmost importance. Every symbol is faithfully reproduced from the best sources available, adding only as much illustrative embellishments and artistic license needed to convey depth, texture or overall onscreen appearance.
STDP is a living compendium and symbols will added as discovered and updated as higher quality source material becomes available.
On-screen or it falls outside of the Star Trek graphic design canon.
That countless non-canon additions, derivations, extensions and modifications based on the Star Trek design compendium have been created by designers for over 50 years is a testament to both its influence and adoration. STDP strives to codify only on-screen symbols with provenance to create a compendium for reference and inspiration.
It takes a fanbase.
I’ve spent years compiling the collection. But, I’m sure there is much more to be done. While I continue to scour episodes and reference material for more symbols, there is nothing as powerful as Star Trek fans to get to the goal of cataloging every mark. So, if there is an error in something cataloged or something missed, I want to know about it.
Most importantly, the designers of this influential graphic design genre need to receive credit. If you designed any marks or know designers who did, please let me know.
A special thank you to:
Gary O’Neill for his invaluable research and input on many of the marks in the collection. His work can be found at gazomg-trek-art.blogspot.com
Jörg Hillebrand for incredibly deep knowledge of and research into Star Trek symbols. His work can be found at Ex Astris Scientia.
Star Trek, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, and Star Trek: Discovery are all registered trademarks of CBS Corporation. Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: Nemesis, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond are all registered trademarks of Paramount. The Star Trek Design Project is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by CBS or Paramount.
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The ST Design Project is intended for personal and non-profit use only. Content posted on The Star Trek Design Project is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial license. I simply want to embrace and extend the cataloging of Star Trek imagery for all to appreciate.