This probably sounds ridiculous, but I gotta say it out loud anyway because it’s been driving me bananas for the past few days. I want to create an information resource specifically for Star Trek meme creators. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head, so I think I gotta just build it already.

What would this site even have on it, you ask? Off the top of my head, I’m thinking the contents would consist of: the list of official Trek fonts for all shows (already in progress), links to screencap sites, links to the few Trek meme generators that are out there, software recommendations by platform, maybe a few guides here and there. Basically, all the stuff that would make it possible or easier to make your own Trek memes. Most of us here already have our own workflow set up just the way we want it, but not everybody does, and I’m also thinking a resource like this could help lower the barrier to entry a little.

I write code and documentation for a living, so it’s kinda in my wheelhouse. It would be a fun thing to do on the side, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a platform and host already in mind.

But I’m wondering if this would actually be used? And would anyone here be interested in contributing?

The Original Series & The Animated Series

• opening titles: Star Trek BT italic (sometimes labeled as “Final Frontier Old Style” or “Horizon”) | https://www.azfonts.net/fonts/startrek-bt/regular-247841
• credits: Star Trek BT regular (sometimes labeled as “Final Frontier Old Style” or “Horizon”) | https://www.azfonts.net/fonts/startrek-bt/regular-247841

TOS movies

• opening titles: Star Trek Film BT* (sometimes labeled as “Final Frontier” or “Galaxy”) | https://www.azfonts.net/fonts/startrek-film-bt/regular-247712
• credits vary, so either: Star Trek Film BT (sometimes labeled as “Final Frontier” or “Galaxy”) | https://www.azfonts.net/fonts/startrek-film-bt/regular-247712 or Montalban | https://www.dafont.com/montalban.font

The Next Generation

• opening title:

  • “STAR TREK” | Star Trek Next BT ExtraBold | https://www.azfonts.net/fonts/startreknext-xbd-bt/extrabold-248342
  • “THE NEXT GENERATION” | Star Trek Gen | source needed

• credits: Crillee (sometimes labeled as “Krupper”) | https://dafontfamily.com/crillee-font-free-download/

Deep Space Nine

• opening title: Star Trek Film BT* (sometimes labeled as “Final Frontier” or “Galaxy”) | https://www.azfonts.net/fonts/startrek-film-bt/regular-247712
• credits: Handel Gothic | https://www.wfonts.com/font/handel-gothic

Voyager

• opening title: Star Trek Film BT* (sometimes labeled as “Final Frontier” or “Galaxy”) | https://www.azfonts.net/fonts/startrek-film-bt/regular-247712
• credits: Handel Gothic | https://www.wfonts.com/font/handel-gothic

Enterprise

• opening title: Jefferies Extended | https://www.azfonts.net/fonts/jefferies/extended-22019
• credits: source needed

*okay, so “Star Trek Film BT” is listed as the opening title font for the TOS movies, DS9, and VOY, but the one actually used has a slightly heavier weight and is likely the medium or bold variation of the typeface. I couldn’t find any documentation about this discrepancy or the heavier version online. People who purchased the typeface from Bitstream or another official foundry might have it. That said, “Star Trek Film BT” is really close, but if you want a closer title font match for the TOS movies, DS9, or VOY, then I recommend adding an outline to mimic the heavier “bold” font weight.

source: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek_fonts. Also, my eyes, since I had nothing to do while Lemmy was down during the instance upgrade and took it upon myself to go through the titles and credits for the aforementioned shows and TOS movies to compare and verify their on-screen accuracy instead of going outside. All these fonts are an exact match with what’s on screen, with the exception of: (1) the font titles for the TOS movies, DS9, and VOY, which as mentioned above use the medium or bold version of “Star Trek Film BT,” and (2) the fonts for TOS movie credits, which vary and to be honest I couldn’t be arsed to obsess over details at that point. I would just use “Montalban” for simulating TOS movie credits. Ok fine, for that one nerd who is inevitably gonna nitpick: <adjusts glasses> for an accurate simulation of Star Trek: The Motion Picture’s credits you wanna use “Star Trek Film BT” because “Montalban” was obviously created with The Wrath of Khan in mind and didn’t exist at the time, naturally making “Star Trek Film BT” the logical choice. Overall these fonts do require tracking adjustment (especially TNG credits), but they are a match. Happy memeing!

Edit (2024-03-03): just some formatting fixes

Edit (2024-03-05): added info for the bottom part of the TNG opening title (“The Next Generation”), and added Enterprise opening title font. I should move this to a location that is a little more sustainable for long-term maintenance.

Edit (2024-03-08): scope has expanded. Now planning to build online resource hub for Trek meme makers, which will include updated versions of this font listing. Discussion on that is in this post. More news to come.

Also, @ummthatguy@lemmy.world has this great workaround for those who can’t load fonts:

It occurred to me that some mobile users may not be able to use those files on some apps. On several occasions, I’ve used fontmeme.com and it has just about everything, including other sci-fi adjacents.