The list of finalists for the 24th edition of ADC Young Guns includes Connor Davenport, who designs typefaces, Aaron Yuno Saiki, who edits films, and Cheng Zhuang, who composes music and designs sound. Among them are advertising creatives such as João Barabás and Gabriel Grossi, who work as associate creative directors at TBWA/Media Arts Lab and reached the finals together as the duo JOGA.
The Art Directors Club launched Young Guns in 1996. The competition is open to creatives aged 30 or younger with at least two years of professional experience, whether they work independently or are employed. The selection of work each creative brings together in their portfolio is an important part of the assessment. Alongside client projects, entrants can submit projects they initiated themselves. The same jury can therefore consider work produced at an agency or design studio, as well as work created without a commission.
After several weeks of reviewing entries, one more round of voting lies ahead for the finalists. This year’s international jury has more than 100 members, including two previous winners from the region. Maja Bagić Barić, founder and creative director of the Zagreb studio KO:KE creative farm, won Young Guns in its fifth edition, and Jure Brglez, an independent illustrator and motion designer from Ljubljana, in its twenty-second.
One of the tasks the Art Directors Club entrusts to a previous winner each year is designing the competition’s visual identity and award cube. For this edition, both were designed by Chantal Jahchan, an independent illustrator and designer from Brooklyn who won ADC Young Guns herself last year.
The winners will be announced on January 13, 2027. The ceremony will take place on January 27 at Sony Hall in New York and will be hosted by Roanne Adams and Diego Segura. The complete list of finalists is available on the competition’s official website.
