The past defines the future of design. Young talent bursting onto the scene. Not your typical award contest. The rules have changed for the better with a global focus and expanding to under 30. The first deadline was last Friday — final deadline, 10 days from Wednesday on May 30th with a $35 late charge to the $135 entry fee.
From what I have gathered from past shows, this is one of the most important shows to enter and since the judges are your esteemed peers — past winners, pretty damn amazing. This is a huge opportunity to get noticed. All you need is the guts and two years of experience working and be under 30. As a winner, the rewards are hard to calculate right away but not hard to figure out where other winners landed or developed their own path.
Established by Jeffrey Keyton and Bill Oberlander in 1996, ADC Young Guns honors exceptionally talented young creatives early on in their careers. Originally conceived as a curated show limited to New York City, ADC Young Guns now functions as an annual global competition, judged exclusively by past winners.
Over the years, our roster has grown into a community network of rebels, prodigies and rising stars, including Stefan Sagmeister (YG1), James Victore (YG1), Alexander Gelman (YG1), Todd St. John (YG1), Mike Mills (YG1), Ryan McGinness (YG2), Scott Stowell (YG3), Christoph Neimann (YG3), Rei Inamoto (YG4), Deanne Cheuk (YG4), floto+warner (YG5), and Alex Trochut (YG6).
Each new class of ADC Young Guns winners are showcased in an exhibition at ADC Gallery (see photos of the ADC Young Guns 8 exhibition and opening party here) and receive an ADC Young Guns Cube which is re-designed each year for the incoming class. The exhibition then travels in digital and print form to various international venues. Their best work is also printed in a limited edition ADC Young Guns Annual published exclusively for ADC by Moleskine®.
Winning work is added to ADC’s permanent collection online and each winner receives a one-year CUBE membership with the ADC. In addition, all past winners become part of the ADC Young Guns network, and may be featured in Young Guns events, the Young Guns shop, the Young Guns news page, and are eligible for an assortment of career-boosting benefits from ADC Young Guns sponsors.
Call for Entries for ADC Young Guns 9 will open on March 15, 2011. The competition remains open to professionals age 30 or under who have at least two years of work experience.
To learn more, please visit adcyoungguns.org.
Images: ©Karl Heine 2010
