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The Art of Star Trek
From the public's first glimpse of the original Starship Enterprise to the brave new worlds explored in Star Trek: Voyager, the never-ending phenomenon that is Star Trek has treated generations of viewers to a dazzling barrage of unforgettable images of the future. Bizarre alien beings, breathtaking extraterrestrial landscapes, exotic costumes, state-of-the-art special effects, and remarkably convincing futuristic sets and props and equipment have brought Gene Roddenberry's inspiring vision to life before the public's awestruck eyes.
The Art of Star Trek is a one-of-a-kind gallery of Star Trek artwork, as well as tribute to the many artists, designers, and technicians whose diverse talents and imagination created the distinctive look of the Star Trek universe. Every incarnation of Star Trek is explored: The Original Series, The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager, and the films—with the complete behind-the-scenes story of Star Trek's design history.
With hundreds of full-color illustrations and photographs, many from private collections, readers will at last be able to linger on Star Trek's rich visual legacy and trace the evolution of and images from their initial conceptions to their final form on television and film screens.
Like all great works of art, the many sights and visual surprises of Star Trek have been built from scratch through a combination of inspiration and painstaking effort. The Art of Star Trek covers the entire universe of Star Trek artwork and production design to reveal how, in all of its various forms, Star Trek has allowed us to look boldly into the future and see what no one has seen before.
The Art of Star Trek is the art of pure imagination, the art of a bright, hopeful future, and the art of three remarkable decades on nonstop action and adventure. Lavishly illustrated, it is a book to be read and referred to time after time, as well as one that will become a cherished chronicle of Star Trek's first thirty years.
The Art of Star Trek is a one-of-a-kind gallery of Star Trek artwork, as well as tribute to the many artists, designers, and technicians whose diverse talents and imagination created the distinctive look of the Star Trek universe. Every incarnation of Star Trek is explored: The Original Series, The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager, and the films—with the complete behind-the-scenes story of Star Trek's design history.
With hundreds of full-color illustrations and photographs, many from private collections, readers will at last be able to linger on Star Trek's rich visual legacy and trace the evolution of and images from their initial conceptions to their final form on television and film screens.
Like all great works of art, the many sights and visual surprises of Star Trek have been built from scratch through a combination of inspiration and painstaking effort. The Art of Star Trek covers the entire universe of Star Trek artwork and production design to reveal how, in all of its various forms, Star Trek has allowed us to look boldly into the future and see what no one has seen before.
The Art of Star Trek is the art of pure imagination, the art of a bright, hopeful future, and the art of three remarkable decades on nonstop action and adventure. Lavishly illustrated, it is a book to be read and referred to time after time, as well as one that will become a cherished chronicle of Star Trek's first thirty years.
320 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1995
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214 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 27, 2014
An absolutely beautiful book of amazing artwork from the wonderful world of "Star Trek".
September 15, 2013
This is a book that is trying to be too many things. Its part concept art (which is what you would expect considering its title) and part archive - since it charts the development of props and sets as much as the design and concepts of the look of the film and shows.
However it does go in to surprising details - of shows that never where to rejected designs (and sometimes where those rejected designs have sneaked back in to the show when no one was looking)
All in all its a fascinating look in to the world of star trek - admittedly now the TV shows are becoming more and more part of TV history (when do you consider enterprise part of the family) it feels dated and it jars slightly with the recent reboots. That said the reboot cleverly rewrote itself in to the time line it would be interesting to see where that takes the whole star trek family going forward.
For any fan its a must read for the casual reader its interesting but you have to over look some of the dated ideas and props.
However it does go in to surprising details - of shows that never where to rejected designs (and sometimes where those rejected designs have sneaked back in to the show when no one was looking)
All in all its a fascinating look in to the world of star trek - admittedly now the TV shows are becoming more and more part of TV history (when do you consider enterprise part of the family) it feels dated and it jars slightly with the recent reboots. That said the reboot cleverly rewrote itself in to the time line it would be interesting to see where that takes the whole star trek family going forward.
For any fan its a must read for the casual reader its interesting but you have to over look some of the dated ideas and props.
January 11, 2017
This was a fantastic Christmas gift that matched perfectly my recent reading of "The Fifty-Year Mission: The First 25 years" of Star Trek. This book provides background on costumes, set designs, ship designs.... EVERYTHING. Really so much fun to read thru and see the old and familiar when they were new and shocking! It takes you from TOS thru Next Generation and into the Star Trek movies. Really fun!!!
February 29, 2016
Oh I am soooo a trekkie/trekker
November 28, 2021
Firstly, I'm not sure where the 320 page count (mentioned here for the books details and in the afterword of the book itself) as my copy only has 295.
There's no denying that the book is a visual treat. What I find strange is that parts of it don't fit the title. There's a quote from a review of The Final Frontier in the section dedicated to that film, which includes, "It ain't art, but it is peculiarly satisfying." And that summed up my feelings towards the book itself.
There's a lot to cover. The authors admit that and also admit that they discarded more than they included. Why, then, include a picture of Tribbles from Wrath Of Kahn? There's no accompanying design or concept piece. Or bottles from Quark's on DS9? And these are just two examples. I can see the value of, for example, a photo of Neelix in costume next to a design of that costume, so we can see the development from the origjnal art but there are many examples where we just see the finished product and, in those cases, we might as well be reading "The Props of Star Trek".
I guess it comes down to your definition of "art" but I wanted more storyboards, concept paintings, film posters, etc and less pictures of things I get in other volumes on Star Trek.
Also, and this is a minor criticism, double page spreads don't show off art terrifically well, if the book doesn't open out enough to show the whole thing.
Other than that, though, a lovely visual history.
There's no denying that the book is a visual treat. What I find strange is that parts of it don't fit the title. There's a quote from a review of The Final Frontier in the section dedicated to that film, which includes, "It ain't art, but it is peculiarly satisfying." And that summed up my feelings towards the book itself.
There's a lot to cover. The authors admit that and also admit that they discarded more than they included. Why, then, include a picture of Tribbles from Wrath Of Kahn? There's no accompanying design or concept piece. Or bottles from Quark's on DS9? And these are just two examples. I can see the value of, for example, a photo of Neelix in costume next to a design of that costume, so we can see the development from the origjnal art but there are many examples where we just see the finished product and, in those cases, we might as well be reading "The Props of Star Trek".
I guess it comes down to your definition of "art" but I wanted more storyboards, concept paintings, film posters, etc and less pictures of things I get in other volumes on Star Trek.
Also, and this is a minor criticism, double page spreads don't show off art terrifically well, if the book doesn't open out enough to show the whole thing.
Other than that, though, a lovely visual history.
June 22, 2025
Not great on the Kindle
Listen, this was obviously intended to be a big beautiful coffee table book, so it’s not surprising that it might not fit well in a digital medium. But, good golly this is a bad translation. First off, the pictures within are not selectable and you can’t zoom in. Second, the titles are rife with spelling errors (“Star Trek 3: Then Search for Spock”). Lastly the photos themselves are so poorly transferred that all of them are blurry, dark and indistinct. Since it ends with the Generations film, this is obviously an older book that some enterprising publisher (huh huh, get it) found in the archives and tried to make some quick and dirty cash with a cheap conversion. This is a huge disservice to this book and its author.
Listen, this was obviously intended to be a big beautiful coffee table book, so it’s not surprising that it might not fit well in a digital medium. But, good golly this is a bad translation. First off, the pictures within are not selectable and you can’t zoom in. Second, the titles are rife with spelling errors (“Star Trek 3: Then Search for Spock”). Lastly the photos themselves are so poorly transferred that all of them are blurry, dark and indistinct. Since it ends with the Generations film, this is obviously an older book that some enterprising publisher (huh huh, get it) found in the archives and tried to make some quick and dirty cash with a cheap conversion. This is a huge disservice to this book and its author.
October 10, 2021
Well-compiled book of historical anecdotes and a lot of art. Unfortunately, the art could've been better chosen, and the written commentary seemed like a little too much listing who worked on what TV show or movie. These facts didn't detract from the book too much though. A fun read for fans like me.
August 21, 2017
A fun review (though not current) of the artwork behind Star Trek - up through Voyager. I love these sorts of books because they give an interesting perspective on all that goes into making elements of a franchise like Star Trek.
February 28, 2008
This book is not one I would ordinarily choose. It was left on a table in the library by one of my students who had been pretending to read it. (Yes, pretending...) It piqued my curiosity, so I opened it. I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, what one would call a Trekkie. I am not even a true fan, really, of Star Trek, though I have watched and enjoyed it on occasion. I can, however, appreciate the art of it. The creativity of the concept and the imagination of its creators is really quite amazing. The contributions of sketches, photos, cartoons, posters, etc., by collectors and industry professionals associated with Star Trek are all interesting and tell the story of this revolutionary television franchise.
May 15, 2012
Kinda thin especially when one compares it to coffee table books like The Art of Star Wars. Some interesting design stuff that hadn't been seen before but mainly more of all the stills we've been seeing since day 1.
I'd say the most interesting things for me were the sketches of the Young Captain Kirk and young Spock characters from the animated series. As in, they were going to make Kirk and Spock teenagers, an idea so bad that it was immediately scuttled but sort of resurfaced in the 2009 reboot.
I'd say the most interesting things for me were the sketches of the Young Captain Kirk and young Spock characters from the animated series. As in, they were going to make Kirk and Spock teenagers, an idea so bad that it was immediately scuttled but sort of resurfaced in the 2009 reboot.
July 21, 2011
It's a pretty decent coffee-table book (updated to early DS9 and Voyager), but there are many more detailed and fascinating art-based explorations of the Star Trek universe available. This is a glorified teasing sampler, with a few fascinating early sketches thrown in for good measure. It's just too general for my taste.
June 7, 2008
It's real
August 23, 2014
This beautifully presented book crams into its pages heaps of rare titbits about the production of Star Trek. It's a must-read for the trivia buffs and for those who appreciate the art of Star Trek.
July 30, 2024
4 Stars/
82%
82%
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews