CONvergence Badge Art: #CVG2006

I’m counting down to CONvergence 2012 on July 5-8 this year, and sharing some highlights from past year’s badge art that I’ve done for the convention.

The 2006 theme was Boldly Go – a celebration of not just Star Trek (which was celebrating it’s 40th Anniversary) but all things Space Exploration.

#CVG2006 - 5 and Under Badge

#CVG2006 - Teen Badge

#CVG2006 Adult Badge

#CVG2006 - Exec on Duty

#CVG2006 - ConCom Badge

#CVG2006 - Board of Directors

Members of the Convention Committee got Cylons on their badges that year. You can see where I indicated the placement of the text that would indicate the ConCom member’s name and position title.

In a touch of self-deprecating humor, I gave my fellow members of the Board of Directors Borg badges that year. It went well with our ongoing Triumvirate of Seven running joke, where the seven of us had numbered designations of 1 through 7… of 3.

#CVG2006 - Service Animal Badge

#CVG2006 - Performer Badge

#CVG2006 - Finance on Duty

Our Performer badges that year featured a then-timely iPod joke.

And the Finance on Duty badge featured the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition. The visible rules are all taken from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, except for #34 which is a mantra of the CONvergence budgeting process.

If you’re coming to #CVG2012 be sure to look me up! I’ll be doing two signings and on a bunch of panels.

CONvergence Badge Art: #CVG2005

I’m counting down to CONvergence 2012 on July 5-8 this year, and sharing some highlights from past year’s badge art that I’ve done for the convention.

In addition to the Guest of Honor badges like those I posted yesterday, I’ve also done most of the registration badges over the years. These are the badges that actually get you past our badging stations and give you access to Programming, ConSuite, and the other amenities of the convention.

#CVG2005 – 5 & Under Badge

#CVG2005 – Teen Badge

#CVG2005 – Adult Badge

#CVG2005 – ConCom Badge

The 2005 theme was Superheroes – which you can see by all the badges here. This badge was designated members of the Convention Committee, and was individualized with each ConCom member’s name and title.

#CVG2005 – Finance on Duty

Our Finance people handle the money that flows in and out of the convention over the weekend, and they get their own badges, too. Bruce Wayne seemed like an appropriate art choice for the year’s theme.

#CVG2005 – Performer

Some people who aren’t paid members of the convention still need access for a few hours, like musicians and other performers appearing at the con. This is what they got for badge art in 2005.

If you’re coming to #CVG2012 be sure to look me up! I’ll be doing two signings and on a bunch of panels.

CONvergence Badge Art: Kovalic, Probert and Sheard (oh, my!)

It’s the time of year where in addition to doing my usual day-job art chores, I’m getting ready for CONvergence, the Sci-Fi convention I helped start back in 1999 and still help to run. In addition to my other responsibilities I do a lot of artwork for the convention, including custom badge art for each individual Guest of Honor. As we count down to CONvergence 2012  on July 5-8 this year, I thought I’d share some highlights from past Guest of Honor badges. I’ll share this year’s badges after the convention – the Guests of Honor they are for get to see them first!

2003 GoH - John Kovalic

At the time this was done, John Kovalic had been at the convention before and was a personal friend, making it much easier to figure out what to do for his badge art. John’s badge is done in the style of his Chez Geek cards, and features characters from his Dork Tower comic at CONvergence.

2003 GoH - Andrew Probert

Andrew Probert is a production designer whose credits include the Enterprise-D for Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the Airwolf helicopter from the TV series of that name. Those two facts plus a recurring cliche from the Airwolf series provided the joke for this badge.

2003 GoH - Michael Sheard

Michael Sheard was also making a return appearance at CONvergence this year. The British character actor had appeared several times on Doctor Who over the years, including the story that introduced the Doctor’s robotic dog K-9. Michael famously had a love-hate relationship with that “tin dog,” given the remote-control prop’s never-ending malfunctioning on the set.

More badge art coming tomorrow!

If you’re coming to #CVG2012 be sure to look me up! I’ll be doing two signings and on a bunch of panels.

A little more Doctor Who

I’ve done a little Doctor Who-related artwork over the years for CONvergence, the SF convention I helped start back in 1998.

Here’s Connie (the CONvergence robot mascot) dressed as all of the first 10 Doctors (yeah, I know I need to add Matt Smith).

Connie as the 10 Doctors

And here’s Connie’s slightly evil sister Connie Mark 2 dressed as the 6 incarnations of The Master.

Connie Mark 2 as the 6 Masters

CONvergence 2003 had the time travel theme of “Time Flies.” The highest on-duty authority at the convention got a badge that said “Exec on Duty,” and every year I tried to find an authoritarian, theme-appropriate image to put on them. This is what I came up with in 2003.

CVG 2003 Badge - Exec on Duty

And finally, this was the badge that year for the convention Directors, who were then also the the Board of Directors of the non-profit parent organization MISFITS.

CVG 2003 Badge - Board of Directors

Happy Halloween… badges?

Brian Keene CONvergence Badge

This was custom badge art I did for Brian Keene, the first year he visited CONvergence as a Guest of Honor. I do individual badge art fro all the convention’s guests, which is one of the things that helps the con make a unique impression on our visiting VIPs right away.

I always try to tailor the badge art to the Guest of Honor’s work, or something about them personally. It gets easier if I’ve met them or am intimately familiar with their work. When it’s someone I’m not as familiar with, finding the right image can be a real challenge! I’d met Brian prior to his first visit to CONvergence, but didn’t know him *that* well. I went for the center of the strike zone and did a zombie image, referencing The Rising, probably Brian’s best-known work.

Brian Keene Devil Slayer

Connie vs. Conqueror Worms

Here are some other badges I’ve done for CONvergence in recent years with a Halloween flavor.

Ambush Bug as the Shadow

Anthony Tollin is a comic book colorist who is associated with, among many things, Keith Giffen’s Ambush Bug comics from the 1980s. He’s also a historian of The Shadow in both radio and pulp incarnations, and is currently publishing reprints of The Shadow and Doc Savage. So a mash-up of Ambush Bug dressed as The Shadow seemed like a fun idea.

Bernie Wrightson badge

I’d been a fan of Bernie Wrightson for years, from Swamp Thing and his other comics work to his gorgeous illustrated edition of Frankenstein. This badge art references a joke Bernie got into an early printing of that Frankenstein book. The author’s page at the back gave a lengthy biography of Bernie, concluding with where he then lived along with his two dogs. About the author or the original novel it only said “Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley is dead and has no dogs.” I thought that was hysterical when I first saw it, and was disappointed to learn that later printings replaced it with a more conventional biographical blurb.

Connie enjoying Ludovico Technique

Robert Meyer Burnett, is a huge fan of A Clockwork Orange, and his production company Ludovico Technique is named for this procedure from the film. Poor Connie.

Emily Hagins badge

Emily Hagins is a remarkable young filmmaker who wrote, produced and directed her first film – a zombie movie – when she was 14 years old. She’s a few years older now and still going strong. She recently got her first theatrical distribution deal with MPI Media for her third feature film – My Sucky Teen Romance. When she first visited CONvergence, I thought it would be fun to place Emily among the iconic zombie-slayers.

Connie Mk 2 in Village of the Damned

And finally, in 2010 our convention theme was “Bad Guys,” and I placed our mascot’s evil sister Connie Mark 2 among the Children of the Damned for our “teen” registration badge that year.