Star Trek graphic designers – Michael and Denise Okuda interview

Michael and Denise Okuda worked as graphic designers on Star Trek The Next Generation. They’ve also worked on a number of other Star Trek media projects and have written various books on Star Trek. In my intro I say they wrote a book on Star Trek but in fact they’ve worked on many Star Trek books that are popular among fans.

2:09 – Michael Okuda talks about he first got involved in Star Trek. Denise Okuda started as a registered nurse before she got into Star Trek graphic design.

4:24 – Michael talks about how he approaches his work. You don’t want to create designs that draw the audience eye away from the cast.

6:29 – Denise was video coordinator for Star Trek Deep Space Nine.

8:29 – Michael talks about the difficulty of the graphics associated with alien languages.

10:12 – Michael was always inspired by Saul Bass especially for his ideas of Corporate Identity Design.

12:09 – Star Trek has always been on the cutting edge of the technology of graphic design.

14:13 – Denise noted that the less money a production has, the more creative designers have to be.

17:56 – Michael loves the design of the Apollo module.

19:31 – Filmmaking is a team effort and the designer is working for someone.

21:29 – Denise talks about the large Star Trek prop auction that she and Michael helped with. Michael talks about some Star Trek II ship miniatures he found in a box.

26:09 – They talk about their current projects. Michael Okuda is working on a Clint Eastwood project.

 

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

 

Guests: Michael and Denise Okuda

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, art, graphic design, Star Trek, The Next Generation, Star Trek II, ship models, The original series, costumes, Saul Bass, Roddenberry, Max Headroom, Undiscovered Country

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