Michael Okuda | |
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.jpg) Okuda in 2013 | |
| Born | Tokyo, Japan |
| Known for | Star Trek,NASA |
| Spouse | Denise Okuda |
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Michael Okuda is an American graphic designer best known for his work onStar Trek including designing futuristic computer user interfaces known as "okudagrams".
Okuda received a bachelor of art in communications from theUniversity of Hawaiʻi.
In the mid-1980s, he designed the look of animated computer displays for theUSSEnterprise-A bridge inStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home.[1] This led to a staff position onStar Trek: The Next Generation in 1987 as a scenic artist, adding detail to set designs and props. ToThe Next Generation he contributed theGUI of the fictionalLCARS computer system used throughout theUSSEnterprise-D and otherStarfleet 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 variousTNG-eraStar Trek series along withRick Sternbach, advising the scriptwriters on the technology used throughout theStar Trek universe such as thetransporters and thewarp drive. For example, Okuda created the Heisenberg compensator as a way to explain howStar Trek's fictional transporter might work, despite the limitation of theuncertainty principle.[2] Okuda famously answered the question "How does the Heisenberg compensator work?" with "It works very well, thank you."[3] 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 theStar Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual byPocket Books. Okuda then went on to write a number ofStar Trek books with his wife,Denise. He continued working atParamount Studios on multipleStar Trek series that followedThe Next Generation, including as an art supervisor onStar Trek: Deep Space Nine,Star Trek: Voyager and through to the cancellation ofStar Trek: Enterprise in 2005.[4] He also worked on theStar Trek movies that were produced while the various television series were in production. He also provided advice when CBS digitally remastered and updated special visual effects for theoriginal series.
Okuda is known for including in-jokes within his designs. In April 2013,Phil Plait (Bad Astronomy blogger) reported that Okuda had included an obliquehomage toThe West Wing in theVoyager episode "Imperfection", by havingSeven of Nine look at a list of Voyager crew who had died, and there listing CommanderJ. Bartlett (intentional misspelling), Lieutenant CommanderL. McGarry, Lieutenant CommanderT. Ziegler, LieutenantJ. Lyman, LieutenantS. Seaborn, EnsignClaudia J. Craig (intentional misspelling) and EnsignCharles Young. Plait reported contacting Okuda who revealed that Okuda and his wife, Denise and graphic artist James Van Over, were all huge fans ofThe 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."[5]
Mike and Denise Okuda served as consultants on the project to upgradeStar Trek: The Next Generation to high definition.[6] They also created the text commentaries in the tenStar Trek Special Edition DVD movies, as well as special text commentaries for theStar Trek Fan Collection sets. In 2005, Okuda contributed as a consultant forPerpetual Entertainment in their development of theMMORPGStar Trek Online.[7] He also helped with the cataloging of items for the auction of Star Trek memorabilia byChristie's auction house. The event, and the preparation for it, is included in theHistory Channeldocumentary filmStar Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier.
In a 2016 interview, Okuda said that his "favorite"Star Trek series is: "The Original Series. No question."[8]
Okuda designed logos for a number ofNASA missions and programs including theSTS-125 mission ofSpace Shuttle Atlantis to repair theHubble Space Telescope and theAres I-X development test flight. His work forProject Constellation, subsequently cancelled, included logos for theAres booster, theAltair lunar lander, and theOrion spacecraft, designed to carry astronauts to theInternational Space Station and to return humans to theMoon.[1] The Orion logo was unveiled on August 26, 2006.[9] Okuda also designed a team emblem for the plannedSTS-400 rescue mission, which would have been launched if there had been a major problem during the STS-125 mission.[1]
In 2015, Okuda served as a visual consultant for the pilotFirestorm,[10] a crowd-funded project set up by Jamie Anderson, son ofGerry Anderson, creator ofThunderbirds.Firestorm used advances in animatronic marionettes, props and miniature set design dubbed 'Ultramarionation'.
AfterTerry Matalas took over as showrunner ofStar Trek: Picard at the start of season two, he and production designerDave Blass invited creative/technical production staff he had previously worked with onVoyager back to work onPicard including Mike and Denise Okuda.[11]
Okuda also worked on the Netflix seriesSpace Force, theClint Eastwood filmRichard Jewell, Mark Altman'sPandora, and as a technical advisor onRonald D. Moore'sFor All Mankind.[12]
For his work as the designer of many NASA mission patches, Okuda received theNASA Exceptional Public Service Medal. He was presented with the award at a ceremony at theJohnson Space Center in Houston, Texas on July 9, 2009.[13]
In 2022, Okuda and his wifeDenise were awarded a "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Scenic, Title & Graphic Artists council of theArt Directors Guild.[14]
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