Trophies

2016, 1941 Hugo Award Base Designers Announced

~ Kevin

MidAmeriCon II, the 2016 Worldcon, announced on June 13 via their Twitter feed that they have selected designers for the 2016 Hugo Award and 1941 Retrospective Hugo Award trophy bases. Sara Felix (president of the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists) will design the 2016 Hugo Award base and Brent Simmons will design the 1941 Retro-Hugo Award base.

The Hugo Award trophy consists of a standard rocket design on a base. Each Worldcon is responsible for the bases for the Awards presented at their convention. In recent years, the design has been selected through an open competition judged by the current Worldcon committee.

Both the 2016 and 1941 bases will be revealed on August 17, 2016 at the opening ceremonies of MidAmeriCon II, the 74th World Science Fiction Convention, at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City MO. The trophies will be on display throughout the weekend at the convention. The 1941 Retrospective Hugo Awards will be presented on Thursday, August 18, 2016 during the Retro-Hugo Swing Dance/Ceremony at MidAmeriCon II. The 2016 Hugo Awards will be presented at a ceremony on the evening of Saturday, August 20, 2016 at MidAmeriCon II.

2016 Hugo Award Base Competition Announced

~ Kevin ~ 1 Comment

The 2016 World Science Fiction Convention (“MidAmericon II”) has announced an open competition to design the base of the 2016 Hugo Award. The deadline for submitting a proposed design is January 18, 2016.

The Hugo Award trophy consists of a rocket design standardized since 1984 on a design by Peter Weston and registered as a service mark by the World Science Fiction Society. Worldcon committees design the base, and most recent Worldcons have conducted competitions to select a design.

Full details including the specifications and submission guidelines, are on the 2016 Worldcon web site. Direct any questions about the competition to the 2016 Hugo Base Competition Subcommittee, not to the Hugo Awards web site.

2015 Hugo Award Voting Closed; Ceremony Plans in Place

~ Kevin ~ 3 Comments

Voting for the 2015 Hugo Awards closed at the end of July. The Awards will be announced at a ceremony at the 2015 World Science Fiction Convention, Sasquan, in Spokane, Washington.

The 2015 Hugo Awards Ceremony will be on the final night of the convention, Saturday, August 22, in the INB Performing Arts Center starting at 8 PM. Sasquan Guest of Honor David Gerrold and Tananarive Due will host the ceremony. The ceremony will also include the announcement of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and selected other awards.

Admission to both ceremonies is open to all attending members of Sasquan (and day admission holders for Saturday of the convention). No separate admission or ticket is required. Formal attire is neither required nor prohibited; in other words, feel free to dress up for the event, but don’t be afraid to come as you are.

The ceremony is planned to be live-streamed via UStream by Sasquan, and also will be covered by text-based coverage on CoverItLive by the Hugo Awards Web Site team. Results of the Awards will also be posted on the Hugo Awards web site shortly after the end of the ceremony.

The design for the base of the 2015 Hugo Awards will be unveiled at the Sasquan Opening Ceremonies on Wednesday, August 19, at 3 PM, and the sample trophy will be on display throughout the convention in the Exhibits area.

2015 Hugo Award Base Competition Announced

~ Kevin

The 2015 World Science Fiction Convention (“Sasquan”) announced today an open competition to design the base of the 2015 Hugo Award.

The Hugo Award trophy consists of a rocket design standardized since 1984 on a design by Peter Weston and recently registered as a service mark by the World Science Fiction Society. Worldcon committees design the base, and most recent Worldcons have conducted competitions to select a design.

Full details including the specifications and submission guidelines, are on the 2015 Worldcon web site. Direct any questions about the competition to the 2015 Hugo Base Competition Subcommittee, not to the Hugo Awards web site.

Hugo and Retro Hugo Base Designs Selected

~ Kevin

After reviewing the design proposals, Loncon 3 has selected the winner of the design competition for the Loncon 3 Hugo Award bases.

The winning design for the 2014 award was submitted by Joy Alyssa Day. This is Ms. Day’s first Hugo base design. The base for the 1939 Retro Hugo will be created by Marina Gélineau, who also participated in the design competition. This is Ms. Gélineau’s second Hugo base; she previously designed the 2011 base awarded by Renovation. Both bases will be unveiled at the Opening Ceremony of Loncon 3 and will be on display throughout the run of the convention.

The actual Hugo Award trophy takes the form of a silver rocket. (The original concept by Jack McKnight and Ben Jason was inspired by the gleaming finned rocketships of Willy Ley.) The exact design has become standardized in recent years and the rockets are currently produced by British fan Peter Weston. The base on which the rocket is mounted is the responsibility of each Worldcon committee, and therefore the design changes each year, often inspired by the location of the convention.

2013 Hugo Trophy Unveiled

~ Kevin

The design of the 2013 Hugo Award trophy was unveiled during the Opening Ceremonies of LoneStarCon 3, the 2013 World Science Fiction Convention, on the evening of August 29. In keeping with recent practice, LoneStarCon 3 elected to showcase the trophy early in the convention so that members could see it before the final night of Worldcon. The trophy has been on display in the convention’s Hugo Award history exhibit since shortly after the convention’s Opening Ceremonies.

While the Hugo Award trophy always includes the rocket originally designed by Jack McKnight and Ben Jason as refined by Peter Weston, each year’s Worldcon can design its own base. In recent years, most Worldcons have had an open design competition to design the Hugo Award base. This year’s trophy base designer Vincent Villafranca appeared in the Opening Ceremony and unveiled the trophy there.

The 2013 Hugo Awards will be presented at a ceremony in San Antonio on the evening of Sunday, September 1, 2013, starting at 8 PM CDT. The ceremony will be broadcast live on Ustream and described on the Hugo Awards web site as a CoverItLive Broadcast.

2013 Hugo Base Designer Announced

~ Kevin

Texas-based artist Vincent Villafranca will design the 2013 Hugo Award trophy base, according to an announcement from LoneStarCon 3, the 2013 World Science Fiction Convention. LSC3’s announcement goes on to say that Villafranca is a Chesley Award-winning sculptor who produces futuristic and fantastic bronzes using a traditional lost-wax casting process.

In keeping with tradition, the actual design of the 2013 Hugo Award base will not be reveled until the convention. A photo gallery of past Hugo Award trophy designs is on the Hugo Awards web site.

The Hugo Award trophy consists of a base designed by each year’s Worldcon with a gleaming rocketship of standard design mounted on it. The original rocket design by Jack McKnight and Ben Jason has in recent years been standardized by Peter Weston.

2013 Hugo Award final ballot voting, including the online ballot, is currently underway and will continue through July 31, 2013.

2012 Hugo Trophy Unveiled

~ Kevin

The design of the 2012 Hugo Award trophy was unveiled during the Opening Ceremonies of Chicon 7, the 2012 World Science Fiction Convention, on the evening of August 30. Although in recent years conventions have unveiled that year’s design during the Hugo Award ceremony, Chicon 7 elected to showcase the trophy earlier so that members could see it before the final night of the convention. The trophy has been on display in the convention’s Hugo Award history exhibit.

While the Hugo Award trophy always includes the rocket originally designed by Jack McKnight and Ben Jason as refined by Peter Weston, each year’s Worldcon can design its own base. In recent years, most Worldcons have had an open design competition to design the Hugo Award base. This year’s trophy base designer Deb Kosiba appeared in the Opening Ceremonies and gave a presentation on the design she produced. Deb has graciously provided TheHugoAwards.org with a copy of her presentation text, which we have incorporated into the 2012 Hugo Award Trophy page.

The 2012 Hugo Awards will be presented at a ceremony in Chicago on the evening of Sunday, September 2, 2012, starting at 8 PM CDT. The ceremony will be streamed live on the Worldcon UStream Channel and described on the Hugo Awards web site as a CoverItLive Broadcast.