World Fantasy Awards Unveil New Design
The World Fantasy Awards has a new award design.
Following a year-long competition, the World Fantasy Awards Administration and the Board of the World Fantasy Convention selected a design from artist and scupltor Vincent Villafranca. The new design will be presented at the World Fantasy Awards in San Antonio, TX during the annual convention November 2-5, 2017.
The selection process involved invitations to artists with a proficiency in 3-D arts in the fantasy and horror communities. The shortlisted contenders were asked to supply a model of their designs, which were then provided to a foundry for quotes on pricing to make sure the new award would fit within the budget of conventions moving forward.
The World Fantasy Award Statuettes are for excellence within the Fantasy genre, presented annually at the World Fantasy Convention. The categories are Life Achievement, Novel, Long Fiction, Short Fiction, Anthology, Collection, Artist, Special Award-Professional and Special Award-Non-Professional.
The original award, a bust of author H.P. Lovecraft, was designed by Gahan Wilson. However, with increased controversy surrounding Lovecraft’s perceived prejudice, the design was retired after forty years of use. Lovecraft’s image will still be used for the nominee pins given to all who are shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award.
The design itself follows the Administration’s desire for an award that would encompass the entirety of the fantasy field, from high fantasy to horror. Trees can be found throughout our various cultures, from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil to Yggdrasill, trees have featured in a number of stories that would fall into the fantasy genre.
