Jim Martin

James "Jim" E. Martin , and often credited as Jim, Jim E., or James Martin, is an production illustrator who has worked as such on , the first season episode , , and as storyboard illustrator on . His most widely-known creations are the runabout, which he co-designed with Rick Sternbach, and later the , which he designed under the direction of Herman Zimmerman and Gary Hutzel. Martin also designed the Bajoran phaser rifle. and the prolific Jem'Hadar attack ship. He has discussed his work for Deep Space Nine in several interviews, given for the seasons 2-4 DVD releases.
A graduate from the California State University, Northridge, Deep Space Nine, which he joined in August 1992, was his first professional Hollywood employment, having been tipped off by a friend working on , that a new Star Trek series was in the making. Hired by Production Designer Herman Zimmerman on the strength of his portfolio, Martin started out as a production assistant (PA), as no other position was available at the time, but which afforded him to learn the practical trade from the ground up. He was taken under the wings of Zimmerman, and Scenic Artist Doug Drexler, the latter recalling in good nature, "Jim started with us as art department PA, a rotten one I might add [remark: apparently, Martin was especially bad at coffee-making ()], but went on to become a kick ass illustrator. So we forgive him. We had a big brother-little brother relationship, and I teased him every chance I got.(...)I used to lock him in the blueprint room, and turn off the lights, steal the wheels off his bicycle, take the microphone out of his telephone, and once even had the guard at the parking structure call and say his car was on fire. We even got into a scuffle in the art department after some heinous prank I pulled on him. He’s twice my size and should have had me pinned immediately, but it ended in a stalemate because neither one of us wanted to look foolish by overdoing it" Martin himself relished these times with fondness, "Just to clear up any misunderstandings, Doug kicked my ass! It was a take down on the DS9 art dept. couch, and I outweighed him be twenty pounds! (...) I really was a bad P.A., but I meant well. My work experience before that one was freelance art and night jobs as a busboy and at Kinkos. I had to learn how to be a pro over time. At least I was with good friends in the cocoon of Star Trek where I could make dumb mistakes but learn from the best...Like Doug!" 
One year later Jim Martin was promoted to production illustrator, though he had already started previously designing props and, most notably, the Maquis raider model for Deep Space Nine, having also served as storyboard illustrator on Generations, under the auspices of Zimmerman, while still being a PA. Concurrently, he was asked to submit design propositions for both the exterior as well as the bridge of the new "hero" ship for the new Voyager television production, which was also under development at the time. As production designer of space craft, Martin was influenced by the fighter craft designs seen in the Star Wars franchise, which was, again in good nature, frowned upon by his mentor Drexler, "Being a number of years younger than the rest of us, Jim was highly influenced by Star Wars, and often that would show in his work. Nothing gave me more excess stomach acid than that, so I would carry an eleven foot G-95 cattle prod and used it in case the "Force" clouded his vision." Martin is credited for breaking away from the separated twin nacelle design scheme with the Defiant, a departure from the Federation design norm (as established by Matt Jefferies for the original ), by having them incorporated into the main hull.
Jim Martin shortly served as senior production illustrator on the third season of the show, after Rick Sternbach, who held the position for the first two seasons, was permanently assigned as such to the new Star Trek: Voyager production. However, Martin left the franchise in April 1995 at the start of season four, and his position was filled by John Eaves for the remainder of Deep Space Nine. Martin has left the franchise on his own accords and on good terms. He has stated as reason for doing so, "I really feel that you need different experiences to grow as an illustrator. You have to push yourself to do different things. I know that finishing the third season of Deep Space Nine I was feeling pretty comfortable with the show and with what I was doing, and I think that's the wrong feeling for an illustrator. I wanted to increase my horizons, and maybe I needed to leave the womb of Star Trek. It wasn't an easy thing to do, but it was good to get out and work for new people and be placed in unfamiliar design situations." () A new phaser rifle concept art for the final season three episode, , was Martin's last contribution, before he left to start work on the 1996 movie The Phantom. ()
Martin shortly returned in 2001 as freelancer for the pre-production of Enterprises pilot episode as prop designer, but has not received official credit for his input, also having worked on the subsequent five episodes of Enterprise alongside his good friends John Eaves and Doug Drexler before leaving to return to feature work.
Together with Brandon MacDougall, James MacKinnon, and Michael Westmore, Martin contributed as "spacecraft designer" to the , (1997).
==Career after Star Trek==
After having left Star Trek, Jim Martin has worked a free-lance production illustrator on productions as , (both 1997), (1998), (2000), (2001), , and (all 2002), and , and (all 2003). From March 2003 until April 2008, Martin was employed at Walt Disney Animation Studios as visual development artist working on, among others their productions (2007), Bolt (2008), and The Princess and the Frog (2008), before resuming his career as a free-lance artist. Subsequent projects he has worked upon as such were Alice in Wonderland (2010), , , and (all 2011), as well as (2013), and (both 2014).
Martin also works in computer games, and has worked at Sony Playstation, Insomniac, and THQ. Martin is currently on staff at Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, CA. Jim Martin has also contracted his talents towards Chris Robert's Star Citizen where he is responsible for the design of the Cutlass, Freelancer, Caterpillar, and Herald ships.
== Star Trek interviews ==
* DS9 Season 2 DVD special feature "Deep Space Nine Sketchbook: Season Two" (interview from )
* DS9 Season 3 DVD
** special feature "U.S.S Defiant" (interview from 11 November 2002)
** special feature "Sailing Through the Stars: A Special Look at " (interview from 11 November 2002)
** special feature "Hidden File 04": Jim Martin on creating 1960s-style artwork for (interview from 11 November 2002)
* DS9 Season 4 DVD special feature "Jim Martin Sketchbook" (interview from 11 November 2002)
==Further reading==
* "Designing the Defiant", , August 1999, pp. 71-80
* "Designing the Bajoran Solar-Sailing Ship", , March 2000, pp. 44-48
* "Jim Martin", , May 2000, pp. 20-27
* The Art of Star Trek, 1995
== External links ==
* – official site
* – Jim Martin's Blog
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Category:Production associates
Category:Art department
Category:Video game production staff
Category:Star Trek reference artists
Category:ML guests