Paramount+’s “Star Trek: Lower Decks” is an adult animated television series that follows the support crew serving the U.S.S. Cerritos, providing a different take on the landmark science fiction franchise. The Cerritos is known as being the least important ship in the entirety of Starfleet, and in “Lower Decks,” fans find outlandish humor mixed with the iconic galaxy-exploring action and mystery that have made “Star Trek” an essential piece of culture for decades. Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, and Eugene Cordero lend their voices to the hilarious series. In 2021, the series received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
To build excitement around the new season of the animated series and drive social engagement, Paramount+ launched a microsite for dedicated “Star Trek” fans to engage with and further delve into the Star Trek mythos they know and love.
To celebrate the show’s latest season, Paramount+ launched a unique microsite that allowed fans to create their own “Lower Decks” character in the same art style as those seen on the hit series. The assets available for fans to utilize when designing their own “Star Trek” character were the very same character files and prop designs as those used in the show’s production.
Fans were given a range of different body types, skin tones, uniform colors, hairstyles, cosmic backdrops, and props to use with their characters, including the ever-popular phaser, to make their own unique addition to the eclectic “Star Trek: Lower Decks” cast. The site’s design tools were incredibly intuitive and the layout made designing a character both easy and incredibly addictive.
The microsite proved to be an instant hit within the greater “Star Trek” community. Fans took to the “Star Trek” subreddit to share their character designs with one another and engage in meaningful discourse about the site offerings and the show’s most recently aired episodes. This kind of unique fan engagement sets Paramount+ apart from the rest of the competition and also acts as an easy entry point for newly initiated Star Trek fans to join a decades-old, thriving, fan-driven community.
