Season 4 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continued the show’s tradition of genre-hopping, venturing even further into fantasy, and with that came a whole new cast of characters and creatures that I was asked to help design. From Commander Cassell, played by Saffron Burrows, to the eccentric Dendru, played by Dave Foley, and Klingon commander Kor in the film noir episode, I started with scans of the actors and digitally sculpted and rendered the makeup designs to develop their final looks.

Creating the werewolf for Episode 9, “Once La’an a Time,” was by far the most fun. I developed the design around the proportions of a suit performer on stilts wearing an animatronic head, allowing the creature’s exaggerated anatomy to work within the requirements of a practical suit. The finished design then went to Legacy Effects, where it was 3D printed and fabricated to closely match the original concept.

As an unexpected bonus, my final werewolf design also made it directly into the episode as a painting held by Princess Thalia, played by Christina Chong.

Project Highlights

Season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds leaned further into gore and horror than previous seasons, and I was tapped to help design the Klingon zombies, gore makeups and props, as well as a new collection of alien species and creatures.

I had the most fun with the zombies, exploring various stages of decay and infection caused by the hybrid moss-chimera agent. This gave me a chance to experiment with different techniques, ultimately creating the mossy tendrils in 3D rather than relying solely on Photoshop for the effect. Digging into the finer organic details and pushing the designs into darker, scarier territory was a particularly fun challenge.

Project Highlights

I had the great privilege of returning to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for Season 2, helping to design a whole new set of characters—including the return of the Klingons. The direction was to bring their design back toward the familiar features of the classic Klingons, while moving away from the distinctly different interpretation seen in Star Trek: Discovery.

Beyond the Klingons, my work included exploring a variety of alien concepts, transforming Hemmer into a zombie, and developing the look of Gilan. I also had the opportunity to help design the Gorn space suit, which ultimately made its debut in the season finale’s climactic fight sequence.