The Star Trek Sketchbook

For me this book represents a wealth of archival material, mostly for the work of Matt Jefferies who designed the original Enterprise, and all set designs of the original series. Many of Matt's original sketches are here as well as makeup and wardrobe department development, handled by others.

Got to love this man's work -- the book, a collection from the entire staff, not just Mr. Jeffries, but Matt passed away on Friday, July 26, 2003, at age 82. If you're a fan of the series, of TV production, or just good sketchwork, it's well worth a look. If you're a fan of the original ENTERPRISE and the look and feel of a classic TV show, it's a must-own.

As a very long-time Trek fan, I'm very pleased and surprised at this book: pleased because it's a solid, colorful, heavily illustrated survey of set, ship, costume, makeup, and prop design for the original Star Trek series. Surprised, because even with the large number of Trek books I've collected, I've actually seen very few of these illustrations before (some of the original Enterprise designs were printed in the early Trek book "The Making of Star Trek" by Stephen E. Whitfield). That a design book on a thirty-five year old TV series presents 'new' illustrations I haven't seen before is a definite plus.This book is by no means complete--the designs are heavily weighted towards those of the series' third season (during which the scripts were definitely sub-par but the designs and effects were often as strong as ever). Focusing on the works of the four Trek design "pioneers": Matt Jefferies, William Ware Theiss, Fred Phillips, and Wah Min Chang comprehensively covers a wide range of ships (checks out the early Enterprise design that looks like a duck!), sets, makeup, and those oh-so-revealing alien woman costumes (including one design candidly labeled "Space Hooker.")Lots of color illustrations in extensive detail show the wide range of designing for the future on a 1960s budget. Even the many black-and-white illustrations are made more vibrant by adding a color background...less than authentic, but adds to an attractive design. A lot of interesting background text and images adds to my appreciation of Trek's design (did you know the same man who designed the communicator designed the Pillsbury Doughboy?) A great piece of behind-the-scenes design history of a classic show.

Herb Solow's 'Star Trek Sketchbook' is the second best Star Trek book ever written! The first being 'Inside Star Trek' by Robert H. Justman and Heb Solow.Great pictures and sketch's-the pictures of the model of the sets that Matt Jefferies created is worth the price of the book alone!All in all a very good book.