Hugo Base Design Competition

Call for Submissions

The World Science Fiction Convention has presented the Hugo Awards for achievement in science fiction for 55 years. They are named after author and editor Hugo Gernsback. A rocket has always been the central element of the trophy, and its manufacture has been standardized over the past several decades. The base design changes yearly, often reflecting the country, state, or province in which the Convention takes place.

Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention, will be held in Chicago Illinois at the Hyatt Regency Chicago from August 30^th-September 3^rd, 2012, with guests of Honour Mike Resnick, Rowena Morrill, Story Musgrave, Peggy Rae Sapienza and Jane Frank. John Scalzi is Master of Ceremonies. The Worldcon committee is now soliciting proposals for the 2012 Hugo Award Base design in an open competition.

Base Design Specifications

The winning proposal will conform to certain general and technical specifications. Those are:

• Bases may be made of wood, metal, lucite, or any other material which has a fixed form. Materials that are fragile or change form with age or extremes of temperature are not suitable.
• Bases must be designed in such a way that the silver Hugo rocket is an integral part of the design. Rockets for the bases will be supplied.
• Rockets will be bolted to the bases from below the tailfins and must be able to stand on a flat surface. Hanging designs are not acceptable.
• Specifications on the Hugo rocket are:

  English

  13" tall
  2" across from fin-tip to fin-tip
  weight 3 lb. 2 oz.
  bolt 5/16-18 machine screw thread
  

  Metric

  33.02 cm tall
  5.08 cm across from fin-tip to fin-tip
  weight 1.42 kg
  bolt 5/16-18 machine screw

• Space must be left for a plaque or plaques indicating the convention, winner, and category of award won in an easily readable 12 pt font.
• The winning design should have a theme appropriate to Chicago and the Midwest.
• It should be kept in mind that designs will be traveling home in people's luggage. Fragile parts, fiddly bits, things that fall off, and anything that would make airport security too nervous is strongly discouraged. Designs shaped like sub-machine guns, for example, are right out. Sharp pointy things are also a bad idea.

How to Enter

Entry in the competition is open to all. Design proposals must be submitted by midnight (EST) January 15, 2012, and all submissions should include:

• Drawings, sketches, and/or a fabricated sample of the proposed base unit.
• Cost estimate per base, and estimated total cost for the fabrication and shipping of 25 base units.
• Lead time is needed for fabrication. The contest winner will be announced in late January 2012. Delivery of at least 25 bases will be expected by June 30, 2012.
• Your ability to either craft the bases or arrange for the work to be done.

As a guideline, bases should cost no more than $150 each or less to fabricate. Photos of past Hugo awards can be viewed at the Hugo Awards website.

To enter the competition, proposals should be submitted either electronically or via postal mail. Do not forget to include your name and contact information. The winning designer will also receive a full 5-day membership to Chicon 7 and will introduce their base design at the Hugo ceremony. The base will also enter the long archive of Hugo base designs, including the Hugo History exhibit which travels to each Worldcon. The winning design is traditionally only unveiled at the Hugo Ceremony and strict confidentiality will therefore apply to the winning design until the convention. Competition entries, regrettably, cannot be returned.

Electronic submission.

Please email proposals to hugodesign‍@chicon•‍org. Include the information above and a JPG, TIFF or GIF image of your design.

Postal mail submission.

Please send the information requested above along with a sketch/drawing/sample base (or a disk or CD containing your sketch/drawing). The physical address is:

Chicon 7
Attn: Diane Lacey, Hugo Base Design
P.O. Box 13
Skokie, IL 60076

Questions? Contact the

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"World Science Fiction Society", "WSFS", "World Science Fiction Convention", "Worldcon", "NASFiC", "Hugo Award", and the distinctive design of the Hugo Award Rocket are service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.