Meet Tim Gagnon, Nasa’s go-to patch designer

Then finally, in 2004, one of the astronauts Tim wrote to said yes; John L. Phillips asked him to design the emblem for the Expedition 11 mission to the International Space Station. Tim designed a logo showing the space station alongside the number 11, with rocket plumes emerging from the numerals emblazoned with stars and stripes, set against the background of the Earth as well as the “dazzling” sun and stars. Tim explains that he tries to be “as realistic as possible when it comes to his creative approach to these emblems and patches… I try to create what I see”. In contrast, he says some Nasa insignia can be more impressionistic, and though he appreciates it, it’s just not his style. Tim believes that the public’s enduring interest in the graphics and visuals around space programmes and Nasa is because these astronauts are “the tip of the arrow – only around 600 people have flown in space in the history of the world” and “this artwork allows all of us to go with them.” He adds: “So if I create an image, I imagine, if I was in orbit getting ready to dock at the space station, what would it look like? I want to put the viewer there.”

Since then, Tim has designed emblems and patches for five space shuttle crews, 14 space station crews and four Nasa flight directors. Each time, Tim chats with the astronauts – his clients and collaborators – about their ideas and researches into the mission (and chats concepts with his frequent collaborator Spanish artist Jorge Cartes), before sending over pen-and-ink sketches. They feedback with ideas and suggestions, and Tim tries to weave them in. Though, he does sometimes have to push back if he knows, from experience, it’s not going to work. “Astronauts are type A personalities, but they’re logical. If you present a practical argument they will consider it,” he says. Humbly, Tim believes the reason he’s enjoyed such success as a patch artist is because “I remember when all is said and done, it’s not my patch, it’s their patch. They’re the ones risking their lives, they’re the ones wearing it, so if they’re happy my job is done.” As can be expected, there’s a long list of specifications and rules to follow, such as using block lettering to list the crew members’ names and sometimes a slogan, and avoiding any kind of visual symbolism that might be misinterpreted.

Patch design, Tim says, is a unique challenge “because you have to fit the story of that mission into such a little canvas”. The logo he creates is used on everything from print ephemera to marketing and stamps, but the key output is the four-inch embroidered patch for the astronauts’ uniform, wherein this epic feat of humanity has to be depicted on a tiny scale. It’s the golden egg for anyone wanting to design for the space programme. “I could not wait for my first commissioned mission patch to be embroidered,” Tim says, “because here was something that started in my head and now astronauts are going to wear it to launch into space. I mean that's heady stuff.” And once it’s flown in space, that’s the symbol of that mission forever. “500 years from now, one of my descendants researching a mission from 2005 to now, may come across something I created.”