Christopher Cushman

Christopher James Cushman is a technical illustrator and graphic designer. Christopher is the older brother of Matthew Paul Cushman, both of whom are known for creating Star Trek cutaway posters for SciPubTech. 
Cushman has watched Star Trek since day one in and considers himself a lifelong fan. In , he had the opportunity to meet Gene Roddenberry at a presentation in . A life-changing moment, Cushman became an illustrator, getting his degree at in .
== The first poster: USS Enterprise-D ==
Cushman's first cutaway poster was of the from , started on as a speculative piece of fan art, measuring seventy-seven inches wide. In , Cushman showed his progress to famed Star Trek illustrator David A. Kimble – known for a cutaway drawing of the refit- from – 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 , who became the poster’s official licensee. By , the illustration had been reviewed, revised, and approved by Paramount, and started the process of color rendering.
Finally – on – the first poster rolled off the fifty-two-inch, five-color press at Carqueville Press in . 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 of the poster was donated into the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum as well as one for the .
JDT & Associates opted out of their royalty deal with Cushman. This resulted in a three-day jury trial at the end of at the , 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, 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 for a whole new set of popular posters featuring designs from both Star Trek and Star Wars.
 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 and the in . During that weekend, Cushman and his brother met , 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 on , aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis.
Later in 1995, Christopher and Matthew began working in conjunction with the production team on the film to create two cutaways: the Phoenix and the . 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 , Christopher and Matthew flew out to to attend the Grand Slam Star Trek convention in . They spent the day before the convention at Paramount, touring the sets of and 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 / in 
Christopher Cushman also provided ship and accessory A4-sized technical blueprint artworks, sold as part of three Playmates Toys releases, just like his brother had. These included the hand phasers from and as well as the from DS9. 
== 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 , which may have appeared if there had been a fifth season of and did appear in Season 3 of . For these technifolds, Cushman had the assistance of Doug Drexler, Michael Okuda, and John Eaves, as well as , Bill Campbell, and NASA's .
Christopher is currently serving as a technical consultant for OTOY and the Roddenberry Archive.
== Star Trek illustrations ==
File:Enterprise NCC-1701-D cutaway poster.jpg| ()
File:Deep Space Nine cut-away poster.jpg|Deep Space 9 ()
File:Enterprise NCC-1701-E cutaway poster.jpg| ()
File:Playmates Toys USS Defiant technical blueprint.jpg| blueprint (Playmates Toys )
File:USS Voyager cutaway poster.jpg| and ()
File:2023 SOTL Centerfold.jpg| ( )
File:2024 SOTL Centerfold.jpg|Refit ( )
== External links ==
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Category:Star Trek publication artists
Category:Merchandise staff
Category:Star Trek calendar artists