Christopher Cushman
Christopher James Cushman (born 30 July 1960; age 64) is a technical illustrator and graphic designer. Christopher is the older brother of Matthew Paul Cushman, [1] both of whom are known for creating Star Trek cutaway posters for SciPubTech. [2]
Cushman has watched Star Trek since day one in 1966 and considers himself a lifelong fan. In October 1976, he had the opportunity to meet Gene Roddenberry at a presentation in Royal Oak, Michigan. A life-changing moment, Cushman became an illustrator, getting his degree at Ferris State University in 1981.
The first poster: USS Enterprise-D
Cushman's first cutaway poster was of the USS Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation, started on 20 March 1989 as a speculative piece of fan art, measuring seventy-seven inches wide. In August 1990, Cushman showed his progress to famed Star Trek illustrator David A. Kimble – known for a cutaway drawing of the refit-USS Enterprise from Star Trek: The Motion Picture – in hopes Kimble would do the color rendering. While Kimble passed due to his relationship with the studio, he did provide several contacts at Paramount that were instrumental in getting the licensing arranged. Later that year, Cushman connected and signed with JDT & Associates in Rochester Hills, Michigan, who became the poster’s official licensee. By August 1991, the illustration had been reviewed, revised, and approved by Paramount, and Gary Richardson started the process of color rendering.
Finally – on 16 March 1992 – the first poster rolled off the fifty-two-inch, five-color press at Carqueville Press in Chicago, Illinois. Thanks to some carefully arranged marketing – including an exclusive deal with Starlog Press – the poster became an instantaneous hit, resulting in multiple printings in various formats. A backlit Kodak Duratrans of the poster was donated into the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum as well as one for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
JDT & Associates opted out of their royalty deal with Cushman. This resulted in a three-day jury trial at the end of 1993 at the Oakland County Court House, resulting in a substantial judgement in the artist’s favor. The win was short lived, as JDT filed for bankruptcy the next day.
The SciPubTech years: 1994-2000
For Cushman, 1994 was a year to pick up the pieces, starting a new cutaway poster, which featured Deep Space 9. He also signed – along with his brother, Matthew – with SciPubTech in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan for a whole new set of popular posters featuring designs from both Star Trek and Star Wars.
1995 saw the release of the DS9 cutaway poster, among others. In September, SciPubTech attended the Star Trek 30: One Weekend on Earth convention at the US Space & Rocket Center and the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. During that weekend, Cushman and his brother met Joel Williamson, the Lead ISS Engineer, who purchased one of the DS9 posters. Joel indicated DS9 was their team's favorite show. He said that the poster would go up to the ISS on the first build flight. Williamson followed up on his words, and the poster flew with STS-101 on 19 May 2000, aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis.
Later in 1995, Christopher and Matthew began working in conjunction with the production team on the film Star Trek: First Contact to create two cutaways: the Phoenix and the USS Enterprise-E. They worked in secret for almost a year to get these posters completed and printed so they could be purchased on opening night.
In early 1996, Christopher and Matthew flew out to Los Angeles to attend the Grand Slam Star Trek convention in Pasadena. They spent the day before the convention at Paramount, touring the sets of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager with Doug Drexler and John Eaves, hanging out with the Star Trek art department, and getting to meet the rest of the team, including Herman Zimmerman. During the convention, the Cushman brothers signed and sold many posters.
Cushman’s SciPubTech contributions included:
- Deep Space 9 in 1995
- The Millennium Falcon in 1995
- AT-AT/snowspeeders in 1995
- The USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E in 1996 (a collaboration with brother Matthew)
- The USS Voyager/Delta Flyer in 1998
Christopher Cushman also provided ship and accessory A4-sized technical blueprint artworks, sold as part of three 1997 Playmates Toys releases, just like his brother had. These included the hand phasers from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and "The Cage" as well as the USS Defiant from DS9. [3]
The post-SciPubTech years
More recently, Christopher Cushman worked with Doug Drexler on the Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendar series. Cushman produced two cutaway centerfolds – coined "technifolds" – for the calendars. Firstly, the calendar for 2023 featured a technifold of the USS Defiant, with additional color rendering by his brother Matthew. Secondly, the 2024 calendar included a technifold of the refit NX-class USS Enterprise (NX-01), which may have appeared if there had been a fifth season of Star Trek: Enterprise and did appear in Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard. For these technifolds, Cushman had the assistance of Doug Drexler, Michael Okuda, and John Eaves, as well as Android Monkey Designs, Bill Campbell, and NASA's David Alexander.
Christopher is currently serving as a technical consultant for OTOY and the Roddenberry Archive.
Star Trek illustrations
