Star Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook

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Reference(s):	0671002198 ISBN 0671717596 (Boxed set)

The Star Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook is a reference book that showcases a collection of conceptual artwork from Star Trek: The Original Series. It includes profiles on Walter Matthew Jefferies, William Ware Theiss, Fred Phillips and Wah Chang, the four production staffers who were most responsible for the visual look of the Original Series. Apart from the concept art the book features background histories, photos of the persons in question as well as the executed production assets, and sketches. In this book, the reader will be able to see design sketches of the USS Enterprise from Matt Jefferies, costume designs from William Theiss, makeup art from Fred Phillips and props designed by Wah Chang.

Summary

From the back cover

Devise a look for the future. Construct strange new worlds. Create new life-forms. Design their clothes. Do it all in a week. And do it on budget. This was the mission for the creative staff of Star Trek. For three years just a handful of talented artists created the entire world of Star Trek.

The STAR TREK SKETCHBOOK is a unique opportunity to finally see the sketches collected from these artists, providing insight into their creative processes. The Original Series was fortunate enough to have that handful of designers who overcame the creative constraints of a weekly television series to forge a vision of the future that has literally a cultural icon.

Matt Jefferies created meticulous sketches of every aspect of the Starship Enterprise and the worlds she visited. The energetic illustrations of William Theiss depicted some of the most lavish costumes ever worn in this or any other galaxy. Fred Phillips designed makeup that actualized whole new races, with just Humans underneath. Wah Chang created props and hardware that are still the basis of futuristic design.

For a writer, the sky is the limit. You can create anything, imagine anywhere. The designers on Star Trek had to make it real, affordable, and come back and do it all again next week. The STAR TREK SKETCHBOOK allows you onto the sound stages where it all happened.

Excerpts of copyrighted sources are included for review purposes only, without any intention of infringement.

Contents

• Introduction
• Walter Matthews Jefferies
• William Ware Theiss
• Fred Phillips
• Wah Chang

Background information

• The book was co-written by Herbert F. Solow (Yvonne Fern Solow being his spouse), who was nicely suited to do so, as he has served as "Executive in Charge of Production" on The Original Series, having worked and personally been acquainted, with every artist covered in the book.
• The Star Trek Sketchbook was published several months after the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" finished production, having faithfully recreated numerous sets from the original series. Herman Zimmerman commented: "If we'd known about the book, we wouldn't have had such a difficult time. But we may not have had quite so much fun. We conducted what amounted to an archaeological expedition to make ["Trials and Tribble-ations"] happen". (The Magic of Tribbles: The Making of Trials and Tribble-ations)
• Over a year after its original release, the book became available for a limited time as part of a boxed set bundled in a hard cover slipcase with the 1998 similarly conceived reference book Star Trek: The Next Generation Sketchbook: The Movies.

Cover gallery

Slipcase cover