In addition to working on the series heroes’ starship The Winnipeg and designing the villainous Thunderer for the 2020 SyFy show Vagrant Queen, I was also tasked with designing Xija Station, a major location in the pilot episode.
Vagrant Queen follows the adventures of exiled child queen Elida as she and her crew of scavengers pilot the Winnipeg (or ‘Winnie’, as she is affectionately known) across the galaxy on the run from the law.
Based on the graphic novel by Magdalene Visaggio and illustrated by Jason Smith, the TV series was helmed by showrunner Jem Garrard and starred Adriyan Rae as Elida.
Client
Blue Ice Pictures
Role
Concept Artist
Date
2019
In the comic books, Xija Station is sort of a combination of Mos Eisley and Deep Space Nine, a little bit of Kowloon City and a little bit of Las Vegas. I started with page after page of thumbnail sketches, from which I pulled my favourite ideas:
A moodboard I pulled together for Xija Station:
The first round of ‘proper’ concepts covered a wide range of ideas:
This was one of my early favourites:
Corbomite Maneuver, anyone?
And inside:
The producers suggested that perhaps the station was built in a hollowed-out asteroid…
… or clinging like bracket fungi to an ancient rusted-out hulk of a derelict starship.
Eventually, though, a clear frontrunner emerged:
With the overall form settled, I started digging into the details:
Leading to the final, approved design:
Xija Station, as it appeared in the show:
