The One Club for Creativity, the world's foremost non-profit organization recognizing creative excellence in advertising and design, has announced the diverse group of 31 winners hailing from 11 countries for the prestigious Young Guns 18 competition, celebrating creative professionals age 30 or younger.
Young Guns is the industry’s only cross-disciplinary, portfolio-based global awards competition that identifies today’s vanguard of young creatives. Submissions highlighting both professional and personal work were received from 40 countries and judged by the diverse jury of 82 top creatives — about half of whom are past YG winners — from 32 countries.
Young Guns 18 winners, and the disciplines they are recognized in, are:
- Ani Acopian, director, conceptual artist, Los Angeles (digital)
- Leo Aguirre, director, Austin/New York (film)
- Meshal Aljaser, filmmaker, Los Angeles (film)
- Mike Carson, multidisciplinary creative, Los Angeles (other)
- Debora Cheyenne, multidisciplinary artist, Los Angeles (illustration)
- Jess Colquhoun, filmmaker, Step Studio, Los Angeles (film)
- Eylul Duranagac, creative director, new media artist, Ouchhh Studio, Istanbul
- Yuval Haker, animation director, Brooklyn (animation)
- Natsuki Isa, art director, SHA Inc., Tokyo (graphic design)
- Mihailo Kalabic, digital artist, Belgrade (illustration)
- Denis Kilty, composer, sound designer, denis., Dublin (sound design)
- LEBASSIS, lettering artist, Rio de Janeiro (typography & lettering)
- Jaedoo Lee, illustrator, animator, New York (illustration)
- Xiaomei Liu, graphic designer, Transwhite Studio, Hangzhou (graphic design)
- Ana Perez Lopez, animator, director, London (animation)
- Fenn O’Meally, director, Smuggler, London (film)
- Tomoki Misato, director, stop motion animator, Tokyo (animation)
- Saad Moosajee, director, artist, New York (animation)
- June Park, designer, Brooklyn (graphic design)
- Gaul Porat, cinematographer, director of photography, New York/London (film)
- Zuzanna Rogatty, designer, COLLINS, New York/Honolulu
- rubberband. directors, Smuggler, New York (film)
- Tala Safié, graphic designer, New York (graphic design)
- Jimmy Simpson illustrator, animation director, Brooklyn (animation)
- Felix Soletic, director, The Mill, Los Angeles (animation)
- Jackson Tisi, director, New York (film)
- Twomuch Studio, digital studio, London (digital)
- Chan Wai Hon, graphic designer, Hong Kong (graphic design)
- Michelle Watt, photographer, Brooklyn (photography)
- Edward Yeung, creative director, Spotify, New York (advertising)
- Phillip Youmans, director, Smuggler, Los Angeles (film)
Information about each Young Guns 18 winner, with examples of their work and links to personal websites, can be viewed here.
“This latest class follows in the footsteps of past Young Guns winners as a diverse group of exciting new talent from around the world who push the creative boundaries in their fields,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club. “They are blazing their own trail, and we’re proud to celebrate and elevate this next generation of creative leaders.”
Levine/Leavitt Artist In Residence Award
YG18 winner Yuval Haker was selected to receive the seventh-annual Artist In Residence Award from international artists management agency and Young Guns partner Levine/Leavitt.
The honor is bestowed annually on the newly named Young Gun whose body of work truly stands out, as judged by an advisory board of industry professionals across a range of disciplines. As this year’s winner, Haker will receive a full year of professional development, guidance and mentorship from Levine/Leavitt to help advance his career.
Humor, anxiety, and play are a big part of Haker’s work, consisting of animation for music videos, commercials, short films and documentaries. His recent clients include Vox, Netflix, Sharpie, The Wall Street Journal, Square, Google, GE, Spotify, AIGA, Delta, Jack Daniel's, Bloomberg, IBM, State Street Global Advisors and Centrum.
“For the past six years, we’ve been so proud to sponsor the Young Guns awards,” said Jeff Levine, cofounder, CEO, Levine/Leavitt. “It’s extremely exciting to nurture the growth of artists, especially those that are in the early phases of their long-term career goals. It is with great pride that we announce Yuval Haker will join us as this year’s L/L Artist in Residence. We truly believe his talent is exceptional, and his artwork exemplifies what we believe Young Guns represents. We look forward to working with Yuval, and seeing all he will accomplish and conquer in the coming months..”
All Young Guns winners will receive a unique version of the iconic Young Guns Cube, designed exclusively for this year’s incoming class, and have their permanent profile page added to the Young Guns website. Winners also receive a complimentary one-year One Club for Creativity membership, permanent membership in the Young Guns network, a chance to be featured in Young Guns events and an assortment of career-boosting opportunities from Young Guns sponsors.
Young Guns 18 branding and design of the Cube award itself is recreated each year by a past Young Gun winner. This year’s YG18 branding and award are designed by CONTINO, New York, founded by creative director and YG9 winner Jon Contino.
Past Young Guns include rising stars who went on to become leaders in their chosen fields, including graphic designers James Victore (YG1), Stefan Sagmeister (YG1), Natasha Jen (YG3) and Jessica Walsh (YG8); ad creatives Rei Inamoto (YG4) and Menno Kluin (YG6); illustrators Christoph Niemann (YG2) and Deanne Cheuk (YG4); fashion designer Kerby Jean-Raymond (YG14); artist/filmmaker Calmatic (YG16); film director/photographer India Sleem (YG17); photographer Ryan McGuinness (YG2); typographers Alex Trochut (YG6) and Gemma O’Brien (YG13); film and video director Mike Mills, animation artist Todd St. John (YG1) and others.
Young Guns 18 is made possible in part through the generous support of partners including CONTINO, Levine/Leavitt and Shutterstock.
The One Club for Creativity, producer of The One Show, ADC Annual Awards , Type Directors Club Communication Design and Typeface Design awards, Young Guns and Creative Week, is the world's foremost non-profit organization whose mission is to support and celebrate the success of the global creative community. The One Show is a top global awards show for advertising, design and digital marketing, focusing on the creativity of ideas and quality of execution. The global ADC Annual Awards honors creative excellence in craft, design and innovation across all disciplines. Creative Week takes place in New York every May, and is the preeminent festival celebrating the intersection of advertising and the arts.
