2011 Hugo Base Design Competition Open

Renovation, the 2011 World Science Fiction Convention, has announced an open competition for the design of the 2011 Hugo Award base. The convention is soliciting artists and designers from around the world to come up with a base that is worthy of the Hugo Award and which reflects the convention’s theme of the New Frontiers and/or the region of Reno, Nevada and the North-Western United States.

The Hugo Award trophy consists of the iconic Hugo Award rocket, the design of which remains essentially constant from year to year, and a base designed by each Worldcon. Many recent Worldcons have held open competitions to design their bases.

The winning designer will have the opportunity to introduce their base design as part of the Hugo Ceremony itself and the base will also enter the archive of Hugo base designs, including the Hugo History exhibit which travels to each Worldcon. In addition, the winner will receive a full 5-day attending membership of Renovation along with $250 towards the cost of attending the convention.

Entrants are asked to submit initial drawings/renderings of their design to Renovation by January 1, 2011. Entrants also need to be able to arrange for up to 30 bases to be manufactured if their design is successful, with a target price of no more than $150 per individual base. The winning design will be selected no later than February 28, 2011.

Full terms and conditions for the competition can be found on Renovation’s web site.

Note: This competition is being run by Renovation, the 2011 Worldcon. Questions should be directed to them, not to the Hugo Awards web site.