Creatives from 47 Countries Named to The One Club’s Young Guns 21 Jury

Jul. 06, 2023

The One Club for Creativity announced 100 creatives from 47 countries and regions who will serve on the jury for the global Young Guns 21, celebrating creative professionals age 30 or younger.

Young Guns is the industry’s only global, cross-disciplinary, portfolio-based awards competition that identifies and celebrates today's vanguard of young creatives.  The program is open to creatives age 30 and under who have been working for at least two years, full-time or freelance, and regularly attracts entries from upwards of 45 countries, with more than half coming from outside the US.

A sampling of jury members, including past YG winners as indicated, includes:

• Susana Albuquerque, ECD, partner, Uzina Lisbon; president, Clube da Criatividade Portugal, and The One Club International Board member
• Florian Born, robotics & engineering lead, PCH-Innovations, Berlin (YG14)
• Ivan Cash, artist, filmmaker, Cash Studio, Brooklyn (YG10)
• Mary Dauterman, director, Brooklyn (YG16)
• Skip Dolphin Hursh, lead visual designer, Slack, New York (YG12)
• Northy Chen, associate creative director, Block, New York (YG17)
• Kok Keong Chow, CCO, INNOCEAN Indonesia, Jakarta
• Imraan Christian, director, artist, Arcade Content/Egg Films, Cape Town (YG20)
• Thalia Forbes, creative director, writer, Spotify, Los Angeles
• Ivan Golubić, senior copywriter, Bruketa&Žinić&Grey, Zagreb
• Natasha Jen, partner, Pentagram, New York (YG4)
• Verena Hennig, CCO, AKTTEM, Fuerth (Germany), (YG15)
• Jessica Hische, lettering artist, author, San Francisco (YG7)
• Justin Thomas Kay, group SVP, GCD, Day One Agency, Brooklyn (YG6)
• Cedric Kiefer, creative director, founder, onformative, Berlin (YG11)
• Laura Ljungkvist, illustrator, designer, children’s book author, Brooklyn (YG1)
• Homer Mendoza, director of product, strategy & design, Intact, Montréal (YG9)
• David Miller, associate creative director, McCann Health, New York (YG2)
• Debbie Millman, chair, masters in branding, School of Visual Arts; host, Design Matters podcast; editorial director, PrintMag.com, New York
• Lotta Nieminen, graphic designer, art director, (Studio) Lotta Nieminen, Helsinki (YG8)
• Gemma O’Brien, artist, designer, Sydney (YG13)
• Sadie Red Wing, assistant professor; Faculty of Design, OCAD U, Toronto
• Christa Skinner, senior communications designer, Airtable, Dana Point (California) (YG3)
• Ana Cecilia Thompson Motta, senior design director, PLAYLAB, New York (YG19)
• Michelle Watt, photographer, director, Watt Studio, Brooklyn (YG18)
• Željka Županić, creative freelancer, Dublin (YG5)

The complete list of Young Guns 21 judges can be viewed here.

The online entry system is now open.  Regular deadline for entry is July 13, 2023, and final deadline July 27, 2023. Winners will be announced in the fall.

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.

Young Guns winners 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.

Program branding and design of the YG Cube award itself is reimagined each year by a past Young Gun winner.  This year’s YG21 branding was created by Zuzanna Rogatty (YG18), senior designer at COLLINS New York.

Past Young Guns include rising stars who went on to become leaders in their chosen fields, including filmmakers Daniels (YG14) and Calmatic (YG16); graphic designers James Victore (YG1), Stefan Sagmeister (YG1), and Jessica Walsh (YG8); artist/designer Rich Tu (YG8); ad creatives Rei Inamoto (YG4) and Menno Kluin (YG6); illustrators Christoph Niemann (YG2) and Deanne Cheuk (YG4); fashion designer Kerby Jean-Raymond (YG14); director/photographer India Sleem (YG17); photographer Ryan McGuinness (YG2); typographer Alex Trochut (YG6); film and video director Mike Mills (YG1), animation artist Todd St. John (YG1), and others.

Levine/Leavitt Artist In Residence Award

For the 10th consecutive year, international artists management agency and Young Guns sponsor Levine/Leavitt will bestow one talented winner with the Artist In Residence Award.

The honor is presented annually to a newly crowned Young Gun whose body of work truly stands out, as judged by an advisory board of industry professionals across a range of disciplines. The winner receives a full year of professional development, guidance and mentorship from Levine/Leavitt to help advance their career.