“Founded in 1996, Young Guns has grown to become much more than an award. it’s a lifetime entrance into a vibrant and collaborative community of past winners who also know the joys of early career successes. Past Young Guns winners include such renowned names as Stefan Sagmeister (YG1), Bonnie Siegler (YG1), Rei Inamoto (YG4), Timothy Goodman (YG7), Jessica Walsh (YG8), Roanne Adams (YG9), Lauren Indovina (YG11) and Hassan Rahim (YG14).”

That’s an enticing resume. So what is Young Guns? It’s a portfolio competition run by the One Club, for creative professionals under 30 (born no earlier than June 2, 1986). Entrants can come from a wide range of creative disciples –advertising, architecture, environmental & interior design, digital, fashion, film & animation, graphic design, illustration, industrial & product design, photography, typography & lettering…and if none of these describe your industry, know that past winners include a sound designer and food designer. You can enter as am “other”.

The deadline for entries is Monday, July 31. You must have at least two years of stellar professional work to enter. Both full-time and freelance work qualify. Teams, partnerships and collectives of up to three people may enter as one unit, so long as every each person is individually eligible. You can enter more than once unless you’ve been a previous Young Gun winner.

What do you submit? You must submit 6 (exactly) professional and personal projects, with a minimum of three projects being professional, published work. Unpublished and client-rejected spec projects may be included as personal work.

Projects entered need not have been created in a particular year. Entries will be judged as a collection of work. Submissions need not conform to any specific media categories – your entry may feature projects in one medium or several.

Each project you submit needs to be accompanied by a description and a statement of your role in its creation. If you want to submit a project you worked on in a group, you must be one of the principal creatives on the project and you have to credit everyone else who contributed to the project. If you exaggerated your role in a particular project, you may be disqualified.

The entry fee is US$100.00 USD for ADC/One Club Members and US$150.00 USD for Non-Members.

Everything you need to know to enter is here.