Sophie Koko Gate, Film & Animation, London, UK. Andrew Neyer, Industrial & Product Design, Mason, USA. Gabe Liberti, Interactive Installation Artist & Music Producer, New York, USA. Ruslan Khasanov, Typography & Lettering, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Eylul Duranagac, New Media Artist & Designer. Istanbul, Turkey.

These are five of The One Club for Creativity’s Young Guns 15 finalists, unearthing the best creative professionals aged 30 or younger in the industry’s only international, cross-disciplinary, portfolio-based awards competition.

View the full finalist list here.

It’s the first time finalists have ever been announced for Young Guns. A record number of entries was received this year from 44 countries, and they were judged by 50 top creatives from around the world, about half of whom are past Young Guns winners.

View the full jury list here.

Young Guns 15 winners receive a unique version of the iconic Young Guns Cube (designed each year exclusively for the incoming class), and have their permanent profile page added to the Young Guns website. Winners also receive a complimentary one-year membership to The One Club for Creativity, permanent membership in Young Guns network, a chance to be featured in Young Guns events and an assortment of career-boosting opportunities from Young Guns sponsors.

“Part of what makes being named a Young Guns winner so special is how incredibly difficult it is to make the cut,” stated Michael O’Rourke, executive director, ADC.

“This year’s record number of entries, coupled, quite frankly, with the caliber of portfolios across multiple disciplines, makes Young Guns 15 especially challenging to win. I don’t know who our esteemed judges will ultimately choose to join the ranks of the Young Guns community, but it is certainly a badge of honor for any creative to make it this far.”

This year’s winners will be applauded at the Young Guns 15 awards ceremony and party on November 16, 2017 at Highline Stages in New York’s Meatpacking District.  The evening will be hosted by legendary designer, James Victore, a Young Guns winner from the inaugural 1996 class. Tickets are available here.

Past Young Gun stars include:

• Advertising creatives, Rei Inamoto (YG4) and Menno Kluin (YG6)
• Graphic designers, James Victore (YG1), Stefan Sagmeister (YG1) and Jessica Walsh (YG8) Illustrators Christoph Niemann (YG2) and Deanne Cheuk (YG4)
• Photographers, Ryan McGuinness (YG2) and Jeremy Floto/Cassandra Warner (aka floto+warner, YG5)
• Typographers, Alex Trochut (YG6) and Gemma O’Brien (YG13)
• Film and video director Mike Mills (YG1)
• Animation artist Todd St. John (YG1)

Branding for Young Guns 15 was provided by Roanne Adams (YG9), founder and creative director at creative studio, RoAndCo. RoAndCo also created the Young Guns 15 Cube award, which gets reinvented in design and material each year by a past Young Gun winner.

Young Guns 15 and other TOCC activities are made possible in part through the support of sponsors including Shutterstock and Levine/Leavitt.