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First Look: Star Trek Mighty Wallets from Dynomighty
Terrence Kelleman keeps his love of Star Trek right in his pants pocket. For real. Kelleman is the president and designer for Dynomighty Design, which is just about to add Star Trek-themed wallets to its popular line of products. Actually, three Star Trek Mighty Wallets will make their debuts today, two with a comic-book-based theme and a third based on the TOS Enterprise. StarTrek.com recently caught up with Kelleman, who talked about his love of Star Trek, addressed how he approached designing the first trio of Star Trek Mighty Wallets and revealed what exactly makes Mighty Wallets so mighty.
First off, how much of a fan are you of Star Trek?
Well, in the house I grew up in, Star Trek was the most popular TV show. My Grandpa Chopper would run around giving the Vulcan salute and saying, “Live long and prosper,” and he’d regularly recite passages from the show. One of my favorite Christmas gifts to him was a transfer drawing that I made in art school from a scene from Star Trek that still hangs in the living room today. We read lots of sci-fi books together, too, but Star Trek was always our favorite show. Getting the chance to make these Star Trek Mighty Wallet feels like I’ve have come full circle, and I can’t wait to offer them to my grandfather. He’s gonna love them.
A lot of people are excited about the Star Trek Mighty Wallets. So, give us a preview. What will we see? What are you personally most excited about when it comes to the wallets?
Well, two of the Mighty Wallets® use the original Star Trek comic book series from Gold Key that had some amazing graphics. We utilized both the comic strip imagery intermixed with the fantastic cover art to make two of the designs. I’m most excited about these designs since they are very unique and something you don’t commonly see in terms of the Star Trek merchandise. The other design is based on a detailed drawing of the U.S.S. Enterprise.
How natural a fit is Star Trek and Mighty Wallets?
One thing that people respond to about the Mighty Wallet would be the different types of imagery we put on the wallets. For example, we have some wallets that look like Dot Matrix printer paper and all kinds of cool designs and so specific to the Star Trek imagery, I didn’t want to just slap on a photo from the show. Rather, with Star Trek’s vintage feel, it made more sense to find a harmony of the imagery with the material of the Mighty Wallet™ itself. I think that’s what works in this series.
How much fun is it, on your end, to use familiar Star Trek images and make them come to life on wallets?
Oh man, when we found these images of the vintage comic strips of Star Trek, there was a collective “Wow” in our studio. That made designing them really fun and I just tried to let the artwork of the covers get most of the focus. In the Enterprise Mighty Wallet, I utilized a beautiful illustration of the inner workings of the Enterprise on an aged paper background to try to make it feel like a document from its construction or planning stages. There is so much detail in this image it’s great to just explore all the decks, rooms and passages.
Three wallets are out now. What will follow? When?
I think you can be guaranteed that others will follow towards the end of this year.
People, looking at the wallets, might assume that they could break or wear down on not last a long time, none of which is the case. So, take us through that. What makes Mighty Wallets so… mighty?
They look like paper, so people think they are paper, but the Mighty Wallet® is actually made of the same material used to make express mail envelopes, Tyvek®. We just use a thicker grade. Tyvek® is very strong, lightweight, water-resistant, tear-resistant and it’s recyclable. Some people think they will only last a few months, but curious customers should check our Facebook fan page, where you’ll see the testimonials from people who actually use the Mighty Wallet®. People love them. I tell people, it’s not a paper wallet, it’s a Mighty Wallet®!
If this first wave of Star Trek wallets is successful, what else is running through your mind in terms of a second wave of Trek wallets?
I think it was great to start with the original series because it’s such a great fit with the look and feel of the Mighty Wallet®. But I think that future designs could explore more recent Star Trek series and films. We have tons of ideas, like one for each rank on the U.S.S. Enterprise with the insignias on each one. It would be great to hear from Star Trek fans about what they would like to see, because often that’s how Dynomighty works, from the interaction with our fans. Everyone is welcome to add their voice to the discussion. Whatever the next wave of Trek wallets turns out to be, you can be assured that they will be different. That’s the cool thing about the Mighty Wallet®; that every time you go to use your wallet, someone is going to see it and say, “Wow, where’d you get that?” It happens all the time.
To purchase the Star Trek Mighty Wallets, click here to visit the StarTrek.com store.
To view more Star Trek Mighty Wallets videos, visit Dynomighty's YouTube channel here.
