The One Club for Creativity, the world's foremost non-profit organization recognizing creative excellence in advertising and design, has opened the call for entries for Young Guns 16, celebrating international creative professionals age 30 or younger.

Young Guns, open to both members and nonmembers of The One Club, is the industry’s only global, cross-disciplinary, portfolio-based awards competition that identifies and celebrates today’s vanguard of young creatives.  

Young Guns competitions regularly attract entries from upwards of 70 countries, with more than half of the entries coming from outside the US.  Winners will be selected by a jury made up of past Young Guns winners and other creative leaders, to be announced shortly.

The program is open to creatives age 30 and under who have been working for at least two years, full-time or freelance.  Eligible entrants can submit a combination of professional and personal work in graphic design; advertising art direction and copywriting; architectural, environmental and interior design; industrial and product design; digital (UX/UI, experiential design, interactive, web design, apps, game development): film and animation (motion design, television, video); fashion; typography and lettering; illustration and photography.

The online entry system is open now at http://www.youngguns.org, with a deadline of June 15, 2018, 11:59 pm EST.  Entry fee is $100 for The One Club members, $150 for non-members.  This year’s winners will be recognized at the Young Guns 16 celebration and party on November 15 at the Highline Ballroom in New York.

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) and Jessica Walsh (YG8); advertising creatives Rei Inamoto (YG4) and Menno Kluin (YG6); illustrators Christoph Niemann (YG2) and Deanne Cheuk (YG4); photographers Ryan McGuinness (YG2) and Jeremy Floto/Cassandra Warner (aka floto+warner, YG5); typographers Alex Trochut (YG6) and Gemma O’Brien (YG13); film and video director Mike Mills, animation artist Todd St. John (YG1) and others.

All Young Guns 16 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 ADC/One Club 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 has established a unique place in the creative world for considering a body of both professional and personal work from an individual, not just a single ad or design,” said Michael O’Rourke, executive director, ADC, part of The One Club.  “Winning is special because we’re celebrating a creative person’s individuality.  For young talent who usually don’t get the spotlight, Young Guns provides a global stage on which they can be recognized.”

“One objective of The One Club for Creativity is to offer recognition and support for creatives throughout every phase of their careers,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club.  “Young Guns plays an important part in our programming because it celebrates and elevates the next generation of creative leaders, and serves as a lifelong network for winners who often reconnect over the years to refer work, collaborate on projects and help advance each other’s careers.”

Program branding is developed each year by a past Young Gun winner.  This year’s branding was designed by New York-based creative studio and artist representation agency Sunday Afternoon (http://www.sundayafternoon.us), led by Young Guns 11 winner Juan Carlos Pagan, co-founder and executive creative director.  

Young Guns 16 and other TOCC activities are made possible in part through the generous support of sponsors including Levine/Leavitt and Shutterstock. 

"Being involved with the Young Guns program is an inspiration.  Guiding artists in their careers and experiencing the many successes we achieve together is such a delight for us." said Liz Leavitt, co-founder, Levine/Leavitt, a leading international artists management agency with offices in New York and Los Angeles.  "The level of talented artists that are Young Guns is unparalleled, and we are thrilled to be a part of the program for the fifth consecutive year."

To enter or see more information, please visit http://www.youngguns.org.

The One Club for Creativity, producer of the prestigious One Show, ADC Annual Awards and Creative Week, is the world's foremost non-profit organization recognizing creative excellence in advertising and design.  The ADC Annual Awards honors the best work in terms of craft, design and innovation across all disciplines, including Advertising, Digital, Design and Motion. Creative Week takes place in New York City every May and is the preeminent festival celebrating the intersection of advertising and the arts.