Art Directors Club Young Guns 8

NEW YORK, March 11, 2010 – The Art Directors Club, the premier organization for integrated media and the first global creative collective of its kind, announces the launch of the ADC Young Guns 8 competition for creatives and designers age 30 or younger.

ADC Young Guns® (www.adcyoungguns.org/home) is the only international, cross-disciplinary, portfolio-based awards competition that identifies today’s vanguard of young creatives.  The competition is open to ADC members and non-members worldwide.  Last year’s competition drew entries from 84 countries, with 53% of registrations coming from outside the U.S.  A total of 50 winners are selected for ADC Young Gun status. 

Eligible entrants can submit a combination of both professional and personal work in graphic design, photography, illustration, advertising and art direction, environmental design, film, animation, video, interactive design, object design and typography.  Judging is done by a panel of past ADC Young Guns winners. 

The call for entries opens March 24, 2010, with an early bird deadline of April 15 (save $25 on entry fee) and final deadline of May 12, 2010.  ADC Young Guns 8 is open internationally to creatives age 30 or under who have worked in the industry at least two years, either full-time or freelance. 

Past ADC Young Guns include then-rising stars who went on to become leaders in their chosen fields, including Stefan Sagmeister and James Victore (graphic design),  Deanne Cheuk (illustration), Jeremy Floto and Cassandra Warner (aka floto+warner, photography), Alexander Gelman (advertising), Jerome Austria (interactive media), Mike Mills (film and video), Alex Trochut (typography), Todd St. John (animation) and others.

“Unlike other award programs, ADC Young Guns recognizes an individual, and considers a body of professional and personal work, not just a single ad or design,” said Rei Inamoto, chief creative officer at AKQA, ADC board member and an ADC Young Guns 4 winner.  “Winning feels special because it’s your individuality that’s recognized and celebrated.  For young talent who usually don’t get the spotlight, ADC Young Guns provides a global stage on which they can be recognized.”

Inamoto adds that the special recognition of ADC Young Guns has played a concrete role in his career development: “I’ve been fortunate enough to judge many awards shows, even chaired a few, and I’m now on the board of ADC,” he said.  “I don’t think I would have achieved those things and others had it not been for my winning the ADC Young Guns award many moons ago.”

ADC YG8 jurors, who are all past ADC Young Guns winners, include:
Paul Buckley, vice president, executive creative director, Penguin Group USA, http://us.penguingroup.com, New York, NY (YG1)
Mike Joyce, founder, Stereotype Design, www.stereotype-design.com, New York, NY (YG1)
Adam Levite, creative director, commercial director, www.associatesinscience.com, New York NY (YG1)
Claudia Pearson, www.claudiapearson.com, Brooklyn, NY (YG1)
Rodrigo Corral, founder, Rodrigo Corral Design, www.rodrigocorral.com, New York, NY (YG2)
Jason Fulford, www.jasonfulford.com, Brooklyn, NY (YG2)
Boyoung Lee, founding partner, creative director, A plus B, www.citizensofnowhere.com, New York, NY (YG3)
Christiaan Kuypers, http://kstudionyc.com/youarehere/, New York, NY (YG3)
So Takahashi, founder, So Takahashi Design/Heads Inc., www.headsinc.com, Oslo, Norway (YG3)
Emily Shur, photographer, www.emilyshur.com, Los Angeles, CA (YG4)
Julia Hoffman, creative director, Museum of Modern Art, www.moma.org, New York, NY (YG4)
Jason Munn, www.thesmallstakes.com, Oakland, CA (YG5)
Justin Gignac, art director, www.justingignac.com, New York, NY (YG5)
Wesley Allsbrook, www.wesleyallsbrook.com, Brooklyn, NY (YG7)
Siggi Eggertsson, www.vanillusaft.com, Berlin, Germany (YG7)
Verónica Fuerte, cofounder, Hey Studio, www.heystudio.es, Barcelona, Spain (YG7)
Jessica Hische, typographer, illustrator, www.jhische.com, Brooklyn, NY (YG7)
Mario Hugo, founder, Hugo & Marie, www.mariohugo.com, New York, NY (YG7)
Michael Schachtner, art director, Saatchi & Saatchi, www.saatchiny.com, New York, NY (YG7)
Julia Neumann, copywriter, Saatchi & Saatchi, www.saatchiny.com, New York, NY (YG7)

All 50 ADC Young Guns 8 winners receive the following:
the iconic ADC Young Guns Cube;
their work showcased in an exhibition at the ADC Gallery in New York;
their work included in a limited-edition volume published exclusively for ADC by Moleskine;
their work added to ADC’s permanent collection online;
complimentary one-year ADC membership;
automatic and permanent membership in the exclusive ADC CUBE club as an ADC award winner;
an assortment of career-boosting benefits from ADC Young Guns sponsors.

ADC Young Guns 8 “Make Your Mark” launch party, Shutterstock t-shirt design contest, special promotions for early entrants
To celebrate the kick-off of ADC Young Guns 8, the club will host Make Your Mark: The ADC Young Guns 8 Call-for-Entries Launch Party, where the walls of the ADC Gallery will be covered with blank paper and available for attendees to draw on and express their creativity about what they think the ADC Young Guns award is, is not and should be.  The launch party event takes place on March 24, 2010, 7:00 pm-10:00 pm, at the ADC Gallery, 106 West 29th Street, New York.  Admission is free to ADC members, $20 for non-members, beer and food will be available.  For details and tickets, please visit www.adcglobal.org/adc/events/calendar.
 
The launch party also includes the announcement of winners in a special t-shirt design contest sponsored by ADC and Shutterstock Images (www.shutterstock.com).  Entrants will use up to 10 images to design a t-shirt that will help drive designers and other creative professionals in need to high-quality, easy-to-use, affordable photos and vectors to Shutterstock.  To enter the t-shirt design contest, please visit http://www.adcyoungguns.org/shutterstock. 

A jury of Shutterstock editors and creative directors will pick the winner, who will receive a complimentary one-year subscription to Shutterstock (a $2,500+ value), have the design printed on a limited-edition t-shirt, and receive a complete set of ADC Young Guns Annuals.  The top 20 designs as determined by the jury will be on display at the party, and attendees will be able to vote on a People’s Choice winner, who will receive a complimentary three-month subscription to Shutterstock (a $700+ value) and full set of ADC Young Guns Annuals.

A special promotion for early entrants is also in place for ADC Young Guns 8:
entrant #8 will have his or her entry fee reimbursed by ADC;
the first 80 people to enter will receive a complimentary copy of the ADC Young Guns 7 Annual;
entrant #80 will receive the full collection of ADC Young Guns Annuals (classes 3-7);
lucky entrant #88 will receive a gift certificate from Ace Hotel, valid at any of its locations in New York, Palm Springs, Portland and Seattle.  Dubbed “the country’s most original new hotel” by The New York Times, Ace Hotel’s vintage-mod aesthetic caters to the urban nomad on a mission for experience. 

ADC gratefully acknowledges Shutterstock Images (launch event sponsor), Adobe, Moleskine, Ace Hotel and Brooklyn Brewery for their support of ADC Young Guns 8.  Key art for ADC Young Guns 8 will be designed by Justin Gignac, YG5.

For complete details and to enter ADC Young Guns 8, please visit www.adcyoungguns.org/home.

The Art Directors Club is a self-funded, not-for-profit member organization for a broad range of creatives, including creative directors, art directors, graphic designers, digital designers, environmental designers, copywriters, illustrators, photographers and others.

The Art Directors Club (www.adcglobal.org) is the premier organization for integrated media and the first international creative collective of its kind.  Founded in New York in 1920, the ADC is a self-funded, not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to connect creative communications professionals around the globe, and to provoke and elevate world-changing ideas.  It focuses on the highest standards of excellence in communications for the industry, and encourages students and young professionals entering the field.  ADC provides a forum for creatives in Advertising, Design, Interactive Media and Communications to explore the direction of these rapidly converging industries.  Follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/adcglobal), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Art-Directors-Club/21411643416) and LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=3621)

   
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