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YGX Highlights

2012  Being its tenth class, the Roman numeral X is used to symbolize Young Guns 10. Past Young Guns, promotional materials and even the ADC Gallery are emblazoned with the X. The annual is released as a limited edition, with only 500 printed and a concrete cover. The Young Guns Cube is made of concrete, as well. For the first time ever, the annual contains interviews between the Young Guns winners and artists they admire. This is the smallest, most fiercely judged Young Guns class in history, with only 34 being named as winners.

YGX Winners:

YG9 Highlights

2011  Young Guns is now receiving entries from every continent. This year the call for entries uses a dark “secret society” and graphic “Fight Club” theme to express the message that “creatives fight for their work, now it’s time it battles for you.” It features heavily made up, battered and bruised images of ten past ADC Young Guns—Jessica Hische, James Victore, Rodrigo Corral, Julia Hoffmann, Jennifer Daniel, Jayson Atienza, Sam Weber, Sarah Wilmer, Greg Brunkalla and Jonathan Jackson—who have fought for their work. 

YG9 Winners:

YG8 Highlights

​2010  Young Guns is now a yearly competition. To kick off the call for entries, the club hosts “Make Your Mark,” a party where the walls of the ADC Gallery are 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 Young Guns Cube is redesigned as a block of wood and winners are required to saw it off to collect their award. 

YG8 Winners:

YG7 Highlights

2009  The call for entries for YG7 kicks off with a ping-pong tournament, which sees the ADC Gallery filled with tables and flying balls. Young Guns continues its international growth, with nearly half of all entries coming from outside of the United States. For the first time ever, grants are awarded to top winners. Based upon jury scores, Moleskine awards $1,000 to Siggi Eggertsson as the top-ranked ADC Young Guns 7 winner, and $250 to each to Fx&Mat and Mario Hugo as the two runners-up.

YG7 Winners:

YG6 Highlights

2008   This is the first year of the Young Guns Cube, which is inspired by its ADC Awards counterpart. To symbolize the ever-changing nature of those who receive it, the Young Guns Cube is to be redesigned every year. Young Guns 6 is kicked off with Disclosure, a launch party that unveils the results of “The Undiscovered Letter,” a contest in which past Young Guns are invited to design a 27th letter of the alphabet. Moleskine continues to produce the annual, and this year creates another special edition book which features the 27 finalists of “The Undiscovered Letter.” 

YG6 Winners:

YG5 Highlights

2006   Now in its second year as an international competition, Young Guns 5 submissions from outside of the United States make up 22% of total entries. The Art Directors Club introduces Young Guns Live, a four-part speaker series exploring the work, history, hurdles, goals and aspirations of ADC Young Guns. Moleskine begins producing the Young Guns annual, which features 63 Young Guns. 

YG5 Winners:

YG4 Highlights

2004  The rules themselves change. The nomination process is dropped, as is the geographical restriction, prompting entries to pour in from 21 countries. The contest becomes highly selective, with judges, former Young Guns and ADC honorees choosing only 41 winners, celebrated in an exhibition and 240-page hardcover book. 

YG4 Winners:

YG3 Highlights

2001  The competition continues to grow, not only in participation, but in how the winners are celebrated. For the first time ever, Young Guns are to be featured in a full-color book, as well as in the ADC Gallery. As the short form YG3NYC implies, the program continues its focus on New York area creatives. This year, 99 fresh young talents are recognized by way of curatorial committee.

YG3 Winners:

YG2 Highlights

1998   Realizing it had struck a chord with the creative community, the Art Directors Club launches Young Guns 2 and puts out a call for nominations. By way of curation committee, 93 young artists and designers make up the second Young Guns class. 

YG2 Winners:

YG1 Highlights

1996  ADC members Jeffrey Metzner and Bill Oberlander propose the creation of an award which identifies and honors young creative professionals. The multi-disciplinary group known as the Young Guns, is to be evaluated on the strength of their entire portfolios. The initial vision is to specifically recognize New York-based creatives, therefore only those within one-hundred miles of the city are eligible. To be considered, artists would also need two years of professional experience and had to be under the age of 30. The inaugural Young Guns is curated instead of being judged; a committee reviewed and selected work which had to have been nominated. In the end, 140 Young Guns were named.

YG1 Winners: