The ADC 106th Annual Awards is looking for the unusual, the bold, the brilliant, the impossible to ignore again. And its campaign says that very clearly. The call to entries video explodes the elegant ADC Cube. It stretches, fractures, multiplies, and misbehaves. Vivid colours clash, wild ideas fire, type flips from precise to feral…

…it’s impossible to ignore and it has to make your creative heart beat faster.

“So send us your best work, stated Brian Collins, Art Directors Club president, and co-founder of COLLINS. “Send your strangest, and your most gloriously WTF work. Because somebody great who is just getting started is counting on all of us.  And even better, because ADC is a nonprofit, every entry also funds the education, mentorship and portfolio programs that bring young talent into our profession.” 

The campaign, In Search of What’s Next, was created and produced by brand agency, DixonBaxi in London.

Founded in 1920, the ADC Annual Awards is the world’s first and longest continuously running awards program to recognise global excellence in craft and innovation in all forms of creative work, including design, advertising, film and video, product design, gaming, AI, photography, illustration, creator content, experiential, publication design, architecture, and more. 

“For 106 years, long before anyone else, the Art Directors Club has looked for the world’s finest work in all forms of design and advertising,” Collinscommented. “Our global jury of esteemed designers, art directors, filmmakers, artists, animators, photographers and writers gathers in New York City to seek the best work, the work they haven’t seen before. And when they do, we all get a view of the next frontier.”

The Awards is focussed on elevating work that breaks rules, shifts culture, and pushescreativity somewhere new. The campaign celebrates imagination, invention, and experimentation as potent forces that put remarkable creative work into the world, and work to change what the world can be. 

DixonBaxi partnered with Zelig Sound London on sound design, creating a sonic edit that captures the nerve, heat, flow, and friction of the ADC’s rigorous focus.

“The real work happens long before anyone applauds, in the ideas that don’t quite work, the unexpected breakthroughs, and the refusal to settle for what already exists,” stated Tassia Swulinska, creative director at DixonBaxi. “We took the ADC Cube, carrying 106 years of creative excellence, and made it as restless and alive as the people who keep searching for what comes next”.

Entries to the ADC 106th Annual Awards may be submitted now, with fees increasing after each deadline period.  Regular deadline is January 22, 2027, with extended deadline of February 12, 2027, and final deadline March 5, 2027.  

Noteworthy changes to this year’s show include:

• Typography and Type Design/Lettering are now two separate disciplines, judged by a single jury.
• New categories added to the Packaging Design discipline, including New Product Launch, Packaging Effectiveness, and Unboxing Experience. 

In addition, The One Club recently announced a major agreement with CapCut, part of ByteDance, to serve as the club’s premier global AI partner. The partnership includes creation of a new custom category in the ADC 106th Annual Awards, to be announced shortly.

This year’s ADC Annual Awards also includes the presentation of the Paul Manship Medal, reimagined last year as an enterable category recognising a single designer who best acts as a catalyst for change, demonstrates foresight and innovation, embodies a lasting legacy, and made the most significant contribution to the industry over the past 5-10 years.

A special tiered pricing structure makes it easier for smaller agencies, studios, freelancers, and creators to participate. Larger agencies and brands pay the standard entry fee; smaller shops get a discount on entries (amount varies by discipline), while freelancers, creators, and one-person shops are eligible for an even greater reduction in their entry fee.

ADC 106th Annual Awards Jury Presidents will be announced in November, and the full jury announced in January. Judging takes place in March/April 2027, with finalists – all entries winning Gold, Silver, Bronze Cubes or Merit – announced in April.  Winners will be unveiled at the ADC 106th Annual Awards ceremony on May 19 during The One Club’s Creative Week 2027 in New York in May.

The Art Directors Club is part of The One Club for Creativity, the world’s foremost nonprofit organisation whose mission is to support the global creative community.  Unlike with for-profit awards shows, revenue generated from ADC Annual Awards entries is put back into the creative community to fund more than 75 critical annual programs dedicated to education, mentorship, and professional development.  

Find more information and enter the ADC 106th Annual Awards here.