Richard Taylor Richard Winn Taylor II , is a director , graphic artist , designer , and modeler who , as Effects Designer , in the employ of Robert Abel & Associates ( RA & A ) , ( co - ) designed the majority of the miniatures for . He also designed and directed special effects sequences for the film . He disliked the redesigned studio model of the , partially constructed by Don Loos for the failed series " " . He wanted to entirely redesign the ship as he has stated , " " I have always thought that the Enterprise is one of the worst designs ever conceived for a spacecraft . The center of gravity of any object in space has everything to do with its shape . The Enterprise by its configuration is one of the most unbalanced objects in the history of space and science fiction . So I asked Roddenberry if I could change the shape of the E . I wanted to create an entirely new design . He emphatically stated that the configuration of the TV model was iconic and that it had to remain the same . But I could modernize it ? " " ( " " , pp . 187 - 188 ) To this end he assigned Andrew Probert to help him redesign the ship to be more in line with Matt Jefferies ' original design . One of his initial assignments was the design of the " V ' ger " entity , although the design used for the film was finalized by Syd Mead . Taylor ' s formal involvement with the production ended after RA & A was pulled from the project on 22 February 1979 , though his actual involvement had started to wane earlier on , " " At about the time Paul started working on the paint design is when my participation in the project began to wane as Trumbull took over the picture and I moved on from the Abel studio to work on a project with Terry Malick . " [ note : on " The Tree of Life " , that was not finished until 2011 ] " ( " " , p . 192 ) His position on the project was from then on filled by Harold Michelson , brought in by Director Robert Wise . Nevertheless , he did receive official credit for his contributions . The troublesome cooperation between Paramount Pictures and RA & A has made Taylor look back at his " Star Trek " involvement with mixed feelings , " " So one of the best things that came from Star Trek — I learned a lot about the whole process and , again , it was the analog era and just a few years later , the whole digital era started to evolve and that changed everything . It changed everything . So there were good and bad parts about working on Star Trek . Most of it I don ’ t remember with a lot of fondness . " " Career outside " Star Trek " . Taylor graduated from the University of Utah with a BFA in Painting and Drawing in 1967 . Shortly thereafter , he co - founded Rainbow Jam , a multimedia light show and graphics company which has provided effects for concert performances by such bands as and . He also began his career in film - making during this time , with one of his first films , " Integrator " , winning several film festival awards . Taylor joined Robert Abel & Associates in 1973 . During his tenure , he directed numerous television commercials and won four . He also created graphics and logos for for companies such as ABC Television , CBS Theatrical Films , and Columbia Pictures . In 1978 Taylor became the creative director at the pioneer computer graphics imaging studio Information International Inc . ( III ) , where he directed some of the first computer - generated TV commercials . He also designed and directed the special effects for the 1981 science fiction film " Looker " , which starred Leigh Taylor - Young . In 1981 Taylor worked as Co - Special Effects Director , Computer Effects Supervisor , Electronic Conceptual Designer , and Graphic Designer on Disney ' s hit science fiction film " TRON " ( starring Dan Shor and David Warner ) . His work on " TRON " earned Taylor a BAFTA Film Award nomination in the Best Special Visual Effects category . Following his work on " TRON " , Taylor founded the West Coast office of Magi Synthavision , one of the other computer animations studios that worked on " TRON " . One of the commercials Taylor directed at Magi , called " Worm War One , " won the first Clio Award for Best Computer Animation . In 1985 Taylor began working for Lee Lacy & Associates , creating commercials for clients such as the Ford Motor Company , RCA and Duracel . Two years later Taylor moved to Apogee , Inc . , where he launched the 7 Up company ' s world - renowned " Spot " campaign . These commercials introduced the popular " Spot " character which became 7 Up ' s mascot . Taylor won a Clio Award as well as two 1989 International Monitor Awards for his work on these commercials . From 1988 through 1997 Taylor continued directing commercials , first for Image Point Productions and then for Dryer / Taylor Productions . From 1997 through 2000 , he directed for Rhythm & Hues . Between 1975 and 1991 Taylor has received a total of nine Clio Awards . His commercials also garnered him two Gold Hugos in 1990 and two Mobius Awards in 1992 . More recently , Taylor ' s work on the " Harvest " commercial for SAS ( Statistical Analysis Systems Inc ) placed second in the Special Effects category and won first place in the Animation category at the 2001 s . His special effects work on the SAS commercial " Flood " also won first place . In addition to operating his own company , Richard Taylor Design , Taylor concurrently worked with Beach House Films . He is also the Cinematic Director at the video game company Electronic Arts , where he worked on " The Lord of the Rings : The Battle for Middle - earth " and " The Battle for Middle - earth II " and several entries in the " Command & Conquer " video game series . His work work on 2007 ' s " Command & Conquer 3 : Tiberium Wars " received a Visual Effects Society ( VES ) Award nomination for Outstanding Pre - Rendered Visuals in a Video Game . More recently Richard Taylor worked on projects like " Shrek Forever After " ( 2010 ) , and for companies like Turner Classic Movies , Disney and Ubisoft Games . Currently , Taylor is the director of XLNT FX , also serving as vice - chair of the Visual Effects Society .