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Michael Okuda is an American graphic designer best known for his work on ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' including designing futuristic computer user interfaces known as "okudagrams".


Career


Work in ''Star Trek''

In the mid-1980s, he designed the look of animated computer displays for the USS ''Enterprise''-A bridge in '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home''. This led to a staff position on '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' in 1987 as a scenic artist, adding detail to set designs and props. To ''The Next Generation'' he contributed the
GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
of the fictional
LCARS In the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe, LCARS (; an acronym for Library Computer Access/Retrieval System) is a computer operating system. Within ''Star Trek'' chronology, the term was first used in the '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' series ...
computer system used throughout the USS ''Enterprise''-D and other
Starfleet Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conduc ...
starships. In homage to its creator, this visual style has come to be known among fans as "okudagrams". Okuda also served as a technical consultant on the various ''TNG''-era ''Star Trek'' series along with
Rick Sternbach Richard Michael Sternbach (born 1951 in Bridgeport, Connecticut) is an illustrator who is best known for his space illustrations and his work on the ''Star Trek'' television series. Early years Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1969 Sternbac ...
, advising the scriptwriters on the technology used throughout the ''Star Trek'' universe such as the transporters and the
warp drive A warp drive or a drive enabling space warp is a fictional superluminal spacecraft propulsion system in many science fiction works, most notably ''Star Trek'', and a subject of ongoing physics research. The general concept of "warp drive" was ...
, for example Okuda created the Heisenberg compensator as a way to explain how ''Star Trek''s fictional transporter might work, despite the limitation of the
uncertainty principle In quantum mechanics, the uncertainty principle (also known as Heisenberg's uncertainty principle) is any of a variety of mathematical inequalities asserting a fundamental limit to the accuracy with which the values for certain pairs of physic ...
. Okuda famously answered the question "How does the Heisenberg compensator work?" with "It works very well, thank you." This work resulted in a technical manual which was distributed to prospective scriptwriters along with the series bible. The manual was later published in revised and updated form as the '' Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual'' by
Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing ...
. Okuda then went on to write a number of ''Star Trek'' books with his wife, Denise. He continued working at Paramount Studios on multiple ''Star Trek'' series that followed ''The Next Generation'', including as an art supervisor on ''
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (abbreviated as ''DS9'') is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. The fourth series in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise, it originally aired in syndication from ...
'', '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and through to the cancellation of '' Star Trek: Enterprise'' in 2005. He also worked on the ''Star Trek'' movies that were produced while the various television series were in production. He also served as one of the producers when CBS digitally remastered and updated special visual effects for the original series. Okuda is known for including in-jokes within his designs. In April 2013,
Phil Plait Philip Cary Plait (born September 30, 1964), also known as The Bad Astronomer, is an American astronomer, skeptic, and popular science blogger. Plait has worked as part of the Hubble Space Telescope team, images and spectra of astronomical objec ...
(
Bad Astronomy ''Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing "Hoax"'' is a non-fiction book by the American astronomer Phil Plait, also known as "the Bad Astronomer". The book was published in 2002 and deals with vario ...
blogger) reported that Okuda had included an oblique
homage Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to: History *Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance *Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts *Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...
to ''
The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...
'' in the ''Voyager'' episode " Imperfection", by having
Seven of Nine Seven of Nine (born Annika Hansen) is a fictional character introduced in the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: Voyager''. Portrayed by Jeri Ryan, she is a former Borg drone who joins the crew of the Federation starship ' ...
look at a list of Voyager crew who had died, and there listing Commander J. Bartlett (intentional misspelling), Lieutenant Commander L. McGarry, Lieutenant Commander T. Ziegler, Lieutenant J. Lyman, Lieutenant S. Seaborn, Ensign Claudia J. Craig (intentional misspelling) and Ensign
Charles Young Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
. Plait reported contacting Okuda who revealed that Okuda and his wife, Denise and graphic artist James Van Over, were all huge fans of ''The West Wing''. Okuda is reported as saying that "one of my rules regarding jokes was that they should never be apparent to the casual viewer. If they were, they would yank the viewer out of the story, and that would be a serious disservice to both. For this reason, I generally tried to keep the text on such gags at the ragged edge of legibility." Mike and Denise Okuda served as consultants on the project to upgrade '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' to high definition. They also created the text commentaries in the ten ''Star Trek'' Special Edition DVD movies, as well as special text commentaries for the ''Star Trek'' Fan Collection sets. In 2005, Okuda contributed as a consultant for
Perpetual Entertainment Perpetual Entertainment, founded in March 2002, was an American developer, publisher and operator of networked multiplayer games and MMORPGs. Their headquarters was located in San Francisco, California, United States. From October 2007 to Februar ...
in their development of the
MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...
'' Star Trek Online''. He also helped with the cataloging of items for the auction of Star Trek memorabilia by
Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémi ...
auction house. The event, and the preparation for it, is included in the
History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
'' Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier''. In a 2016 interview, Okuda said that his "favorite" ''Star Trek'' series is: "''The Original Series''. No question."


Work for NASA

Okuda designed logos for a number of
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...
missions and programs including the
STS-125 STS-125, or HST-SM4 (Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4), was the fifth and final Space Shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the last solo flight of the Space Shuttle ''Atlantis''. The launch of the Space Shuttle ''Atl ...
mission of to repair the
Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most vers ...
and the
Ares I-X Ares I-X was the first-stage prototype and design concept demonstrator of Ares I, a launch system for human spaceflight developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Ares I-X was successfully launched on October 28, ...
development test flight. His work for
Project Constellation The Constellation program (abbreviated CxP) was a crewed spaceflight program developed by NASA, the space agency of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. The major goals of the program were "completion of the International Space Station" and a ...
, subsequently cancelled, included logos for the
Ares Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war ...
booster, the
Altair Altair is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila and the twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Aquilae, which is Latinised from α Aquilae and abbreviated Alpha Aql o ...
lunar lander, and the Orion spacecraft, designed to carry astronauts to the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...
and to return humans to the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
. The Orion logo was unveiled on August 26, 2006. Okuda also designed a team emblem for the planned
STS-400 STS-400 was the Space Shuttle contingency support (Launch On Need) flight that would have been launched using if a major problem occurred on during STS-125, the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission (HST SM-4). Due to the much lowe ...
rescue mission, which would have been launched if there had been a major problem during the STS-125 mission.


Firestorm

In 2015, Okuda served as a visual consultant for the pilot ''
Firestorm A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires and wildfires. Although the term has been used ...
'', a crowd-funded project set up by Jamie Anderson, son of
Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...
, creator of '' Thunderbirds''. ''Firestorm'' used advances in animatronic marionettes, props and miniature set design dubbed 'Ultramarionation'.


Return to Star Trek

After Terry Matalas took over as showrunner of '' Star Trek: Picard'' at the start of season two, he and production designer
Dave Blass David "Dave" Blass is an American production designer and art director. Work For his work on the '' Justified'' television series Blass was nominated for the 2012 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series f ...
invited creative/technical production staff he had previously worked with on ''Voyager'' back to work on ''Picard'' including Mike and Denise Okuda.


Other work

Okuda also worked on the Netflix series ''
Space Force A space force is a military branch of a nation's armed forces that conducts military operations in outer space and space warfare. The world's first space force was the Russian Space Forces, established in 1992 as an independent military service. ...
'', the
Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' Do ...
film '' Richard Jewell'', Mark Altman's ''
Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek language, Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions ...
'', and as a technical advisor on Ronald D. Moore's '' For All Mankind''.


Recognition

For his work as the designer of many NASA mission patches, Okuda received the
NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal NASA's Exceptional Public Service Medal is a United States government awarded to any non-Government individual or to an individual who was not a Government employee during the period in which the service was performed for sustained performance th ...
. He was presented with the award at a ceremony at the
Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late ...
in Houston, Texas on July 9, 2009. In 2022, Okuda and his wife Denise were awarded a "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Scenic, Title & Graphic Artists council of the
Art Directors Guild The Art Directors Guild (ADG; IATSE Local 800) is a labor union and local of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) representing 2,979 motion picture and television professionals in the United States and Canada. T ...
.


Bibliography

* Okuda, Michael; Okuda, Denise (2016). '' The Star Trek Encyclopedia, Revised and Expanded Edition: A Reference Guide to the Future''. Harper Design. . * Okuda, Denise; Okuda, Michael (2013). '' Star Trek The Next Generation: On Board the U.S.S. Enterprise''. Barron's Educational Series. . * Okuda, Michael; Clark, Margaret with Doug Drexler (November 2006). '' Star Trek: Ships of the Line''. Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group. . * Okuda, Michael; & Sternbach, Rick (1991). '' Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual''. Pocket Books. . * Okuda, Denise; Okuda, Michael; & Mirek, Debbie (1999). ''
The Star Trek Encyclopedia ''The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future'' is a 1994 encyclopedia of in-universe information from the ''Star Trek'' television series and films. It was written by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda, who were production staff on ...
.'' Pocket Books. . * Okuda, Denise; & Okuda, Michael (1996). ''Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future.'' Pocket Books. .


References


External links

*
Biography at StarTrek.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okuda, Michael Living people American graphic designers People from Hawaii University of Hawaiʻi alumni Year of birth missing (living people)