In a bold departure from the traditional awards show model — as well as a return to its roots — ADC Young Guns 2016 has been transformed into a curated invitation competition, where potential Young Guns winners will be handpicked by a nomination committee made up of 40 leading thinkers, makers and visionaries from 11 countries representing a range of creative fields.
The nomination committee, which is highly diverse in terms of gender and ethnicity, includes ADC Hall of Fame laureates Paula Scher, Partner, Pentagram; and John Maeda, Design Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield Byers; as well as creative luminaries such as Apple Creative Director Arem Duplessis, The New York Times Magazine Deputy Art Director Gail Bichler; R/GA Vice Chairman Nick Law; Timothy Nordwind, bassist for OK Go; and others.
Each member of the nominating committee will select up to five individuals from around the world who they feel are the most talented and forward-shaping creatives 30 and under in any creative field, including design, motion, photography, advertising, new media, fashion and product design, among others.
A prestigious final judging panel of 12 who will make the ultimate selection for the next generation of honorees is split between past ADC Young Guns and ADC Board members, including a couple of people who are both. The panel includes past YGs Rei Inamoto, Inamoto & Co. (formerly of AKQA); Natasha Jen, Pentagram; Tracy Ma, Bloomberg Businessweek and Stefan Sagmeister, Sagmeister & Walsh, as well as ADC Board members: Keira Alexander, Work-Order; Nicole Jacek, NJ[L.A.]; Masashi Kawamura, PARTY (all three are also past Young Guns winners); David Charles, David Charles Creative & Sundance Fellow; Kim Hastreiter, PAPER Magazine; Dany Lennon, Creative Register; Noreen Morioka, M+ and Philippe Meunier, Sid Lee.
In addition to the influencer committee nominations, all qualifying ADC Members will be able to submit to ADC Young Guns 2016 free of charge, for consideration for a select group of additional nominations.
“Our goal with the new ADC Young Guns is to curate talent and build a invigorating club for the creative community”, said Philippe Meunier, ADC Board president and creative chief/co-founder, Sid Lee. “Rather than an award program, ADC YG is now a creative incubator and ongoing platform built to cultivate the winners’ talents and help them make big, beautiful things in their careers.”
Nicole Jacek, founder/director, NJ(L.A.), ADC Young Guns chair and ADC Board member, added: “With guidance from a global panel of top-tier influencers who have helped shape and evolve our culture in so many ways, ADC Young Guns has been transformed from a traditional industry competition into a whole new curated program that will identify, celebrate and nurture the most interesting, innovative and future-shaping young creatives from around the world.”
“Starting this year, ADC Young Guns now goes beyond an award and back to ADC’s roots of being a real club,” said David Charles, head of David Charles Creative and a Sundance New Frontier and Documentary Lab fellow. “It will now be an inspiring, safe space for the best young talent in the world to further develop their craft and talents with mentorship, special events and fellowships that help them become the people steering the ship towards a more creative and kinder future for our industry.”
ADC Young Guns 2016 winners will be announced and celebrated in September 2016, and a selection of their work shown in the ADC Young Guns 2016 global traveling exhibition.
