Young Guns recognizes the vanguard of creative professionals 30 years of age and under. Founded in 1996, the portfolio-based competition has grown to become one of the most coveted awards for young creatives around the globe. For many, being named a YG winner is a sure sign of a skyrocketing career, as well as a source of validation for all of the stressful days and sleepless nights that have come with early successes.

Program branding and design of the Cube award itself is reimagined each year by a past Young Guns winner. This year’s YG20 branding and award are designed by Zipeng Zhu (YG13), Founder and Creative Director of Dazzle Studio. The font for the YG20 branding is created by NaN.

Young Guns 21 will open for entries in May 2023.

Since 1996, Young Guns has been an elite portfolio-based competition that takes the profiles of young creative professionals already on the rise and helps elevate them even further. And while the program has made major strides since the days of being jokingly thought of as an award for "extremely talented white designers and illustrators from Williamsburg", there's always room for more diversity.

Enter COLORFUL: A Prelude To Young Guns 20. Last year, we teamed up with acclaimed first-generation Filipinx designer and Young Guns 8 winner Rich Tu to co-found this free portfolio competition and grant exclusively for young BIPOC creative professionals who qualify for Young Guns — they just haven't entered and won it yet.

After receiving submissions from across the globe, a jury made up of 13 BIPOC creative superstars — all previous Young Guns winners themselves — went over every single entry, grading them not only on the strength of their work but also on how they intend to use the $3000 creative grant, should they win. Runner up will receive a $2,000 grant, and two third-place winners will each receive $1,000. The jury convened to discuss and debate which entrants stood above others as the overall winners of the grants, as well as to assemble a class of finalists. The winners and the finalists will all be welcomed to enter YG20 completely free of charge, with the confidence that comes with knowing they've already impressed a jury that knows exactly what it takes to win Young Guns.

   WINNERS & FINALISTS    COLORFUL JURY