A Q&A with X Games Aspen 2026 medal artist Lisa Issenberg
From Ridgway, this is her seventh straight year working with X Games
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Colorado artist Lisa Issenberg was brought back for the seventh straight year to create the X Games Aspen medals, which will find their way into the trophy cases of many superstar athletes after this weekend.
Operating out of her Kiitellä — a Finnish word meaning “to thank, praise and applaud” — studio in Ridgway, Issenberg creates each medal by hand and “no two medals are ever exactly the same.”
A new design and theme are created each winter — the sustainability factor a major part of it — with this year’s medals taking direct inspiration from the new X Games logo, unveiled back in September. Ahead of this weekend’s contest — the 25th straight year Buttermilk has hosted X Games — Issenberg answered a few questions from The Aspen Times.
Aspen Times: X Games has a new logo this year. What influence did that have on this year’s design?
Lisa Issenberg: This year, the new logo entirely informed the design. No other graphics were necessary! The logo says: energy, boldness, minimalism, fresh, free, flight, symmetry. All of this swirls into the mix of ideas to inform the three-dimensional, multi-layered medal.
AT: Talk us through the details that make this year’s medals unique?
LI: In past years, we incorporated a theme: eg. snowflakes, the Maroon Bells, aspen trees. This year, the new logo IS the design. The laser-cut logo floats in satin-polished gold, silver, or bronze above a snow-white background. Just the essential, crisp and bold, with heft. Boom.
My adopted design philosophy: “Less is more.” A phrase stated by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the 20th century Modernist pioneer of architecture and design.
AT: What is the design process like in creating the X Games medals?
LI: Materials inform design, and design informs materials. The design starts from both points. In the conceptual design phase, I sketch without limits… total freedom… and ask the questions: What wants to be expressed with this piece? How will this medal feel exciting, substantial and super cool in the athletes’ hands?
I review the sketches with the awesome X Games team — Rich Bigge (VP, live events) and Grace Coryell (Director of Athlete Relations & Programs). Then, I refine the design, materials and dimensions. Once the final design is approved, I begin fabrication.
AT: How long does it take you to craft these medals?
LI: From conceptual design to packaging them up… a couple months plus.
AT: Do you still find it easy to discover design inspiration after creating the X Games medals for all these years?
LI: I absolutely love designing and fabricating the medals for X Games and the incredible athletes. The challenge to significantly both honor the athletes’ talent and creatively reflect the X Games brand with style is invigorating. So, yes, it is joy-effort, a term shared with me by a Buddhist monk when describing meditation — it stuck. And designing and fabricating awards is meditation too — I am immersed in the process. I love what I do and the people I get to do it for. It’s an honor to be a part of celebrating the event and awarding the athletes.
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