John Jefferies John " Jack " Daniel Jefferies , Sr . , often credited simply as " John Jefferies " , and nicknamed " Jack " by his family and co - workers , was a set designer on and younger brother to the series ' Art Director Matt Jefferies , the youngest of in total four brothers of which only the second oldest brother , Richard , did not work in Hollywood . John Jefferies shared credit with Matt , who , in 1964 , had brought in his " kid brother " ( also calling him his " chief draftsman " ) to help him out with the design work for the first " Star Trek " pilot episode , for designing the original phaser pistol and for which John had drawn up the construction blueprints . ( : ) John was able to do so , when he had some down - time at his hitherto employer , Columbia Pictures , though he later recalled keeping a low profile , wary of being accused of " nepotism " . John Jefferies also worked on the final construction of the bridge , though he had to do this at nights , as he was working again on movies by day . John Jefferies returned three years later as set designer when the second season of the regular series went into production , after brother Matt and Gene Roddenberry convinced him to come aboard as a permanent production staffer , executing the designs his brother envisioned . He later recalled how he and his fellow set constructors pilfered the abandoned lot of RKO Pictures , by that time defunct and adjacent to that of Desilu Studios , for any and all items that could be used for the sets , and was therefore indispensable to his older brother , who had to adhere to ever tightening budgets , for keeping the set production costs as low as possible . During his tenure on the series , a particularly close co - worker , especially in regard to set construction , was Set Decorator John Dwyer . ( " Inside " Star Trek , issue 4 , p . 3 ) To exemplify the down - to - earth approach the team had to observe , Jefferies elaborated , " " Subconsciously , you were always on the search for something that you could use , and the trash bin was a goldmine on many occasions . ( . . . ) One of my favorites has always been the IBM Selectric typewriter . That was a new machine and Paramount had just bought a truckload of these things . And Office Service was busy installing these things in all the offices , and their packing was foam , foam shapes that were new . This was a new type of shipping material . And these they were throwing away . And we were roaming the streets one day and we saw this bin full of these Styrofoam shapes and grabbed them and I said , " Hey , we could make these work , you know . They ' re good shapes , they ' re light , we can cut them , change their shapes , put holes in them , put lights behind them , paint them , run pipes into them . You might see them in the hallway , you might see them in a room that was not established as a regular part of either the ship or a planet surface set . " " To this , Jonh Dwyer has added , " " We stole moldings from the casting shop and put them in the engine room . And we painted soccer balls and used them at three different points on the engine room , sitting there , little domes that are painted gold , boom , boom , boom . And the big problem there was , keeping the actors from playing with them . Scotty used to come in and started to throw the thing around – he ' s a pretty good soccer player , was , you know – and I ' m sitting there looking at him and Shatner booting the ball around , you know , " Guys , take it easy there . I got two more of them , but I don ' t wanna waste them , you ' re breaking the paint ! " " " ( TOS Season 2 DVD - special feature , " Designing the Final Frontier " ) When complimented decades later for the believability of the sets he helped to build , Jefferies dryly responded , " " Oh , you are kind if you believe it was believable , because I was not sure it was . " " It was he and his team who came up with the signage " GNDN " for the several color - coded pipings , seen throughout the interior of the " Enterprise " , which was the acronym for " Goes Nowhere , Does Nothing " , renowned in " Star Trek " lore . ( " " ) Upon termination of " The Original Series " , John Jefferies obtained ownership of several production assets , including one of the small USS " Enterprise " filming models , as well as one of the two studio model s . However , he , along with his brother Matt , sold off virtually all of their " Original Series " production items , including his models , still in their possession in the Profiles in History The Star Trek Auction of 12 December 2001 , in order to raise funds for the charitable organization " " . Shortly before his death , John Jefferies , together with fellow designers Joseph R . Jennings ( who actually already knew and worked with John Jefferies on the " Original Series " ) , Herman F . Zimmerman and Scott Chambliss , were honored for their " Star Trek " contributions in a media event called the " Star Trek Designers Talk Trek History At Art Directors Guild Event " , held on 27 September 2009 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood , and in which all designers discussed indepth their work on the franchise . The event was moderated by another " Star Trek " alumnus , Daren Dochterman . For John Jefferies , this has been a particularly gratifying experience , as he has always been somewhat overshadowed by his more renowned brother Matt as far as his " Star Trek " contributions were concerned , though the latter had always tried to give his younger sibling credit where credits were due . The tribute has also been a poignantly timely one , as he was already battling the effects of cancer , passing away only a half year later . Prior to his appearance there , he was interviewed five years earlier for one of the special features on the TOS Season 2 DVD set , and which must count as one of the earliest better published acknowledgments of his " Star Trek " contributions . Career outside " Star Trek " . Jefferies was born in Richmond , Virginia and grew up in New Jersey . Like his older brother Matt , John was a lifelong aviation enthusiast , having owned several airplanes throughout his life and has , again like his brother , also served in the United States Air Force . Directly after his release from the service Jefferies moved to Los Angeles , employed as design engineer at Lockheed ' s Missiles and Space Division , where he worked on the Discovery , Mercury and Apollo projects . He began his Hollywood career in 1962 , when his older brother Philip , persuaded him to join his two older brothers , already working there , in the motion picture industry at a time when art directors / production illustrators were in relatively short supply . John was the last of the Jefferies brothers , Philip persuaded to make the move to Hollywood , the older one , Matt , already brought over by him in 1957 . ( " Beyond the Clouds " , pp . 211 , 213 , 222 ) Among his first recorded movie projects were the 1966 film " The Chase " , whose cast included Paul Williams and the 1967 classic " Guess Who ' s Coming to Dinner " . Both John and Matt Jefferies work on the 1967 Walt Disney film " The Happiest Millionaire " . While employed by the " Star Trek " franchise , Jefferies continued to work on movie projects , when the series was in hiatus , such as the musicals " Funny Girl " ( 1968 , on which Dick Rubin was property master ) and " Hello , Dolly ! " ( 1969 , with set dressings by Craig Binkley ) . John later worked as a set designer on the 1970 film " Catch - 22 " while Philip Jefferies was the film ' s art director . During production , Philip became ill and was replaced by Matt . John also took over some of Philip ' s responsibilities on the film . On " Catch - 22 " , all three brothers were working under production designer Harold Michelson , who later headed the art department on . From the 1970s until 2001 , Jefferies was an art director and production designer on such television shows as " I Dream of Jeannie " ( as an uncredited set designer ) , " Baa Baa Black Sheep " ( on which John Larroquette and James Whitmore , Jr . were regulars ) , " The Greatest American Hero " , " Hardcastle and McCormick " ( starring Brian Keith and Daniel Hugh Kelly ) , " Matlock " , and " JAG " , the latter of which his last recorded motion picture industry credit . In his later career , he was also a set designer on such films as " BASEketball " , " I Still Know What You Did Last Summer " , and " Austin Powers : The Spy Who Shagged Me " . He was also the art director on the 2001 film " Just Visiting " , which featured Malcolm McDowell . Jefferies ' daughter married the son of film editor Bruce Schoengarth . John Jefferies at one time served as president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes ( IATSE ) Set Designers and Model Makers . Jefferies died on 25 March 2010 due to complications from lung cancer , the illness that took his older brother Phil years earlier . Very much in the spirit of his 2001 auction , John Jefferies stipulated that " in lieu " of flowers , donations be made in his name to the American Cancer Society or to another favorite charity . He was 74 years old and was survived by his wife Dolores and six children . Brother Richard has written a biography on Matt , which in elaborate annotations also followed John ' s career and life , though , obviously , not as detailed as that of his older brother .