Star Trek Mirror Universe
Brand Identity | Licensing Style Guide | Creative Asset Collection | Product Vision
StyleWorks Creative had the honor of working with one of the biggest franchises in entertainment history. In 2016, CBS hired us to develop a Mirror Universe-themed style guide for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Featuring art by J.K. Woodward, the project gave us a chance to collaborate with the best in the business and “boldly go” where no style guide had gone before.
Space… the Final Frontier
If you’re not a Trekkie, you’re probably not be familiar with the Star Trek Mirror Universe. It’s a parallel world where the heroes of Star Trek have villainous doppelgangers. Rather than fighting for peace and prosperity, the inhabitants of this world engage in a never-ending battle for supremacy — the humans of Starfleet aligned with the brutal Terran Empire.
Where No One Has Gone Before
The Mirror Universe began with an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series and was later advanced in Deep Space Nine and Enterprise. Since the concept was never explored in Star Trek: The Next Generation, a key part of our job was to reimagine the setting and characters in such a way that would satisfy fans and remain true to the canon.
Through the Looking Glass
Entrusted to not only capture the aesthetic but create an authentic, new vision for what the series could be, we immersed ourselves in all things Star Trek. This culminated in the creation of new logos for the Mirror Universe, as well as wordmarks and icons for the Terran Empire, each of which taking original elements of the show and enhancing them for new applications.
Theme Art & Character Art
In collaboration with comic book artist J.K. Woodward, we developed an extensive selection of theme art, including composed designs, patterns, and backgrounds based on his illustrations. Even some of his original sketches provided a starting point for future designs.
Mirror Broken, Discovery & Picard
With consumer products underway, our guide helped inspire the five-issue comic book miniseries, Star Trek: The Next Generation — Mirror Broken. And our work with the CBS and the Star Trek team didn’t end there, as we went on to develop style guides for two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery and another for the first season of Star Trek: Picard.