MICHAEL OKUDA
version of Feb 2023
As Star Trek’s lead graphic designer for many years, Michael Okuda has earned screen
credit on more Star Trek productions than anyone except Gene Roddenberry. Michael was
responsible for the control panels, computer readouts, alien written languages, and other
cool stuff in Star Trek: The Next Generation through Enterprise, on Star Trek movies 4-10,
and he recently served as graphic artist on the second and third seasons of Star Trek:
Picard. His other projects include graphics for the Netflix comedy, Space Force, as well as
The West Wing, Flight of the Intruder, and The Bourne Legacy. He also consulted on
Universal’s Aliens Ate My Homework films, based on the beloved children’s books by Bruce
Coville, on Pandora, a sci-fi series for the CW, and he did motion graphics for several recent
films directed by Clint Eastwood, including Sully and Richard Jewell.
Michael’s life-long fascination with the real space program led him to design the crew patch
for the STS-125 space shuttle mission, worn by the astronauts on Space Shuttle Atlantis on
the final servicing flight to the Hubble Space Telescope. His NASA work also includes the
emblem for NASA’s Flight Operations Division, which is worn by the astronauts on the
shoulder of their flight suits, the project logo for the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle, the
Planetary Defense Office logo, and the Spaceflight Memorial Patch (with Bill Foster), which
hangs on the wall of Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Other
space-related work includes designs for the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, The
Planetary Society, Space Center Houston, the US State Department, and the Smithsonian
National Air and Space Museum.
Michael was honored by the Art Directors Guild with their Lifetime Achievement Award in
2022. He has also been recognized with three primetime Emmy nominations for Best Visual
Effects and with NASA’s Exceptional Public Service Medal. He served as a technical
consultant to Star Trek’s writing staff, and with Rick Sternbach is coauthor of the Star Trek:
The Next Generation Technical Manual. Michael currently serves as a technical advisor on
the Apple TV+ space drama, For All Mankind, on which he works with the writers, cast, and
directors on the show’s space scenes.
Michael graduated from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa with a bachelor’s degree in
communications. He is a member of the Visual Effects Society, and is an affiliate member of
the Manned Spaceflight Operations Association, an organization of real-life NASA flight
controllers and flight directors. Mike thinks science is the coolest thing ever and he really
wants to be the first graphic artist in space.
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Additional credits for Michael Okuda:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0645763/
Animation samples:
