2024 Hugo and Lodestar Trophy Designs
The Glasgow 2024 Hugo Award Base has been designed by Iain J. Clark. The trophy for the 2024 Lodestar Award for Best YA Book has been designed by Sara Felix with Vincent Villafranca.
Glasgow 2024 is in awe of the amazing work of these phenomenal artists. Iain and Sara have tirelessly supported Glasgow 2024 through their creativity and generosity, and we could not imagine a better tribute to the convention, and their own strengths as artists, than having them design these iconic works.
We were excited to see them revealed during the Opening Ceremony on the 8th August in Glasgow!
The 2024 Hugo Award Base
Every year the iconic Hugo rocket is given a unique base design. This timeless icon of Science Fiction’s highest accolade is designed to reflect the personality of the hosting Worldcon. This year’s designer, Iain J. Clark, has been working with Glasgow 2024 since 2019.
About the Hugo Base Design
The 2024 Hugo base reflects Glasgow, its history and future, and in particular the riverside Worldcon site of Glasgow 2024: A Worldcon For Our Futures. The City’s industrial shipbuilding heritage is recognised by the etched image of the Finnieston Crane; the future is represented by the clean modern glass and curves of the SEC Armadillo, captured both in the etched art and the curved acrylic perspex arch itself. Over it, the arc of a comet reflects the SFF aspect of the Hugo Awards. The wooden base is sapele wood, with the grain of the wood representing the River Clyde.
Iain created this video about the making of the 2024 Base.
About the Artist
Iain: “I’ve known about the Hugo Awards for most of my adult life (I vividly remember Babylon 5 winning Best Dramatic Presentation in 1996) but the idea that I could design a base for the iconic trophy never entered my head. You might as well have told me I’d design an Oscar. And then Glasgow asked me, and I was stunned – so naturally I panicked and said yes. It’s a huge honour, a huge responsibility, and I take it very seriously.”
Iain works in a variety of materials, primarily acrylics. He has twice won the BSFA Best Artwork Award award (for “Shipbuilding Over The Clyde” in 2020, and for “Glasgow Green Woman” in 2021); both pieces were created for the Glasgow 2024 Worldcon. He has been a finalist for the Best Fan Artist Hugo Award in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
For the Dublin 2019 Worldcon he created artworks including the cover of the Souvenir Book, and for Glasgow 2024 his art is appearing on banners, adverts, postcards, campaigns and t-shirts.
He can be found at iainjclarkart.com.
The 2024 Lodestar Award
The Lodestar Award was first given in 2018, and since its inception has been celebrating the beauty of YA fiction. The first Lodestar award was designed by Sara Felix whose iconic style began a trend of trophies that honour the very best in YA Science Fiction and Fantasy!
About the Lodestar Award Design
About the Artist
According to Sara: “I was happy to be asked to design the Lodestar Award as it is one of my favourite awards at the Hugos. In all my projects with Glasgow I hope the award is as fantastic as the finalists and the winners in this category!”
Sara is a mixed media artist who has designed two Hugos in 2016, and 2018 (also co-designed with Vincent Villafranca). She has designed multiple Lodestar awards and other special awards for Worldcons in the past. She is the designer of the Glasgow 2024 logo and much of the art used by the convention. Her space art and tiaras can be seen at multiple conventions around the US and UK throughout each year.
