Worldcon 2005 UK - Hugo Base Design Competition

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The 2005 Hugo Base Design Competition

Entry Process
Design Rules
Entry Submission

Interaction will be running a public competition for the design of the 2005 Hugo Award bases. This competition will be run jointly by Interaction and the Glasgow School of Art (GSA), one of Britain's foremost higher education institutions for the study and advancement of fine art, design and architecture. The involvement of the GSA with the competition is particularly appropriate as Interaction's own publicity and graphic style has been inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the GSA's most famous graduate and the architect of the school's eponymous Mackintosh building.
The 2005 competition will be based on two qualifying groups, one open to students of the School of Art, and the other to science fiction fans across the world. Shortlists of the best four entries from each qualifying group will be taken forward to a final judging panel including representatives of Interaction and the GSA.
The competition winner will receive a full 5-day membership of the convention, a cash prize of £250, and the opportunity to introduce their base design as part of the Hugo Ceremony itself.
Shortlisted entries will receive a one-day membership of the convention for the day of the Hugo Ceremony.

Entry Process

The competition will be operated in two stages, as follows.

The qualifying competition will open on 1 September 2004 and will accept entries through to 30 November 2004. Entries must include a standard entry form along with descriptive material, drawings and sketches to illustrate the design. Competitors also have to describe the proposed fabrication process and provide a cost estimate for production.

Shortlisted entrants will be contacted by no later than 31 January 2005 and will be invited to provide further information, including if possible a fabricated sample of the proposed design, by 24 March 2005.

Final judging will be completed by 30 April 2005. The finished run of bases will need to be delivered to Interaction by no later than 30 June 2005.

Full information on how to enter the qualifying competition, along with an entry form and a copy of all the information contained on this webpage, is contained in the competition entry pack which can be downloaded here (PDF document, 306 KB).

Design Rules

All competition entries must conform to certain basic principles.

Bases must be designed in such a way that the silver Hugo rocket is an integral part of the design. We will supply the rockets, which are bolted to the base from below the tailfins. Ease of attachment should be a design consideration.
Rocket specifications:
- 13" (33 cm) tall
- 2" across (5.1 cm) from fin-tip to fin-tip
- weight 3 lb. 2 oz. (1.42 kg)
- bolt 5/16-18 machine screw thread
Bases may be made of wood, metal, lucite, or any other material which has a fixed form.
Materials which will change form when aged, heated, etc. should not be used.
The design must stand on a flat surface in some way (please do not craft a hanging design, or one only appropriate for zero-G).
You must allow space for a plaque indicating the convention, winner and category of the award won, in an easy to read font of at least 12 points..
The design must be robust and capable of transport subject to reasonable care in packing. Designs that are capable of being easily disassembled (i.e. rocket removed from base) are preferred. Designs should avoid small attached elements which may become separated or disintegrate. Similarly, excessively heavy designs should also be avoided.
As a guideline, bases should cost no more than £100 each to fabricate.

Any design which meets these criteria (and the cost / fabrication constraints specified elsewhere in this document) will be considered. However, Interaction would especially welcome designs inspired by the artistic heritage of Glasgow, as reflected in our graphic branding, and by the involvement of the School of Art with its own unique history.

Examples of a number of previous designs can be found on the Emerald City website.

Return of Materials

Interaction regrets that competition entries cannot be returned. In addition, the winning design is traditionally only unveiled at the Hugo Ceremony and strict confidentiality will therefore apply to the winner and their design until the convention.

Entry Submission

Entries for the qualifying competition may be submitted by post or by email. Email is preferred as it makes it easier to circulated entries around the judging panel. Entry forms are included in the competition entry pack.

Electronic submission. Please email proposals to hugodesign@interaction.worldcon.org.uk. Documents should preferably be submitted in PDF format. Images should be in JPG, TIFF or GIF format. If you are using a program which does not automatically add extensions to file names, please tell us, in your narrative, what file format to expect.

Postal mail submission. Please send your entry to:

    Hugo Base Design Competition
    17 Clandon Street
    Greenwich
    London SE8 4EL
    UK

As indicated above, all entries must be received by 30 November 2004. Entries must follow the design rules presented in the following section.

Questions? Write to hugodesign@interaction.worldcon.org.uk for clarifications.

Otherwise – Good Luck !!!

Page last updated 26^th August 2004