Franz Joseph Designs - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Hi, I'm Karen (Schnaubelt) Dick, daughter of the late Franz Joseph (Schnaubelt), the artist/author/industrial designer responsible for the STAR TREK Booklet of General Ship's Plans (aka the "Enterprise Blueprints") and the Star Fleet Technical Manual, both published by Ballantine Books starting in the mid-1970's. The Blueprints are long out of print, but went through 8 editions "back in the day." The Tech Manual has sold more than a million copies worldwide, and is back in print thanks to a "40th Anniversary Edition" from Ballantine Books.
FJ died in June 1994, but Franz Joseph Designs still lives on. I'd love to hear from you if you liked my dad's work.
Click here-- TREKPLACE.COM --for a web site containing interviews with and about Franz Joseph.
This is one of the last (and best) photos taken of FJ, in April of 1994 at ConDor in San Diego, CA. It really captures his essence--the pipe, the khaki clothing, the million pens in his shirt pocket.
This is a photo of FJ at StarCon in 1977, when the Tech Manual was in the height of its popularity:
For more photos of FJ, and of my TREK uniforms in the 70's and 80's, check out my pics!
MySpace Layouts

My Interests

General science fiction (movies/tv/books), anime. Costumes, corsetry, beading. Writing/editing. Used to do fanzines and the fan fiction thing (about a million years ago), but no longer have time.

I'd like to meet:

Fellow STAR TREK and science fiction fans, "treknical" fans, and fans of Franz Joseph's work.

Music:

Very eclectic tastes. I'll listen to just about anything, but have a real taste for movie soundtracks, New Age/Celtic, Romantic Goth, Monster Surf Rock, and Japanese Jazz.

Movies:

Again, very eclectic tastes, leaning toward genre S/F and horror films. The whole STAR TREK and STAR WARS saga. And everything else from Barbarella to Zardoz.

Television:

'Way too many to list properly. Here's the tip of the iceberg: Supermarionation, Lost In Space, STAR TREK, UFO, Blakes 7, Red Dwarf, MST3K, X-Files, Millennium, Xena, LEXX, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica (both versions, though I think I like the new one better), Stargate, Six Feet Under, Carnevale, Robot Chicken(!). On the anime front: Astro Boy, Kimba, a bunch of other shows form the 1960's (I lived in San Diego and got broadcasts from L.A. of shows that were not shown elsewhere in the country), Space Cruiser Yamato/Starblazers, Captain Harlock, Lupin III (since the 1980's!), Macross/Robotech, Full Metal Alchemist, Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop. Currently watching: Medium, House, Bones, LOST, er, Grey's Anatomy, Sopranos.

Books:

I am an insatiable reader, and will read cereal boxes and Comet cleanser cans if nothing else is available. Favorite author: Robert Heinlein. My taste runs to science fiction and fantasy, with the occasional (very occasional) historical romance or mystery thrown in on the side. It amazes me how much c**p still gets published. I know a novel is bad when I find myself thinking, "I could have done a better job than this!"

Heroes:

My dad. Mr. Spock. Ed Straker. Han Solo. Xena. Ripley (from the Alien series). Kai, last of the Brunnen-G.
Anti-heroes: Kerr Avon, Severus Snape.

My Blog

Illegal copies of the Tech Manual on CD

I just had to use eBay's VERO program to nuke some auction listings for copies of the Tech Manual on CD in PDF format, both as a standalone and as a "four pack" with 3 other S/F technical-type works. ...
Posted by Franz Joseph Designs on Fri, 15 Jun 2007 05:01:00 PST

Happy Birthday STAR TREK! And Tech Manual News

I am late with posting this, but HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY, STAR TREK (9-8-66/9-8-2006)!!!I am one of the dinosaurs who became a fan during the first run of the first season of the first series. Yes, that m...
Posted by Franz Joseph Designs on Thu, 14 Sep 2006 12:55:00 PST

Happy Birthday, Franz Joseph!

Yesterday, 6/29, would have been Franz Joseph's 92nd birthday.He was born in 1914, in an era still strongly influenced by the Victorian Age. I have a picture hanging above my desk of my dad and his si...
Posted by Franz Joseph Designs on Fri, 30 Jun 2006 08:39:00 PST