The One Club for Creativity Announces Young Guns 16 Winners
Nov. 01, 2018
The One Club for Creativity, the world's foremost non-profit organization recognizing creative excellence in advertising and design, today announced the winners of the global Young Guns 16, the industry’s only international, cross-disciplinary, portfolio-based awards competition that identifies and celebrates today’s vanguard of young creative professionals age 30 or younger.
Entries were received from 38 countries and judged by 61 top creatives from around the world, about half of whom are past Young Guns winners. This year’s winners will be celebrated at the Young Guns 16 awards ceremony and party on November 15, 2018 at the Highline Ballroom in New York.
Young Guns 16 winners, with their current location and place of origin if different, are:
- Sasha Arutyunova, photographer, Brooklyn, NY, USA (originally from Moscow, Russia)
- CALMATIC, filmmaker, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Neels Castillon, film director, Paris, France
- Nadia Lee Cohen, photographer, director, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Tyler Comrie, graphic designer, Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Mary Dauterman, multidisciplinary artist, director, Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Sally Deng, illustrator, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Ben Denzer, artist, designer, publisher, New York, NY, USA
- Michael Fohring, architectural designer, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Sophie Koko Gate, animation director, London, UK
- Max Guther, illustrator, Berlin, Germany
- Satoshi Kohno, art director, Tokyo, Japan
- Brook Linder, director, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Jonas Lindstroem, photographer, director, Berlin, Germany
- Nick Little, illustrator, Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Mathery, directors, photographers, spatial designers, Brooklyn, NY, USA (originally from Italy)
- Kelsey McClellan, photographer, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Tal Midyan, art director designer, Brooklyn, NY, USA (originally from Tel Aviv, Israel)
- Ilya Milstein, illustrator, New York, NY, USA (originally from Melbourne, Australia)
- Mau Morgo, director, artist, Barcelona, Spain
- Thomas Harnett O’Meara, filmmaker, London, UK
- Victo Ngai, illustrator, Los Angeles, CA, USA (originally from Hong Kong)
- Zebedee Pedersen, creative technologist, London, UK
- Joel Plosz, illustrator, Brooklyn, NY, USA (originally from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada)
- Marco Prestini, music video and commercial director, Milan, Italy and Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Noa Raviv, fashion designer, artist, Queens, NY, USA (originally from Tel Aviv, Israel)
- Charlotte Regan, film director, London, UK
- A.V. Rockwell, filmmaker, New York, NY, USA
- Jiaxi Yand and Zhe Zhu, photography, New York, NY, USA (originally from Shanghai, China)
- Egle Zvirblyte, illustrator, London, UK
Information about each Young Guns 16 winner, with examples of their work and links to personal websites, is available Here
All Young Guns 16 winners receive a unique version of the iconic Young Guns Cube, designed exclusively for this year’s 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.
Young Guns 16 Awards ceremony and party, November 15, 2018
The Young Guns 16 awards ceremony and party will be hosted by Gemma O’Brien, acclaimed Australian artist and designer specializing in lettering, typography and illustration and Young Guns 13 winner. Tickets are available Here.
This year’s event includes announcement of the inaugural Diageo-Young Guns Diversity & Inclusion Award winner, recognizing an outstanding body of work from a Young Guns 16 finalist who is a woman and/or person of color. The winner, as judged by teams at Diageo North America and The One Club, will have the opportunity to collaborate on a creative project for Diageo on one of the company’s global brands, which include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness.
For the second year, The One Club will hold the Young Guns Creative Choice Award, where the global creative community at large can explore the work of Young Guns 16 winners and select which one they believe stands above all others. Voting is open through Wednesday, November 14, 2018, with the winner announced at the Young Guns 16 awards ceremony in New York the following evening. To vote for the Young Guns Creative Choice Award.
And for the fifth consecutive year, international artists management agency and Young Guns sponsor Levine/Leavitt will announces their Artist In Residence winner at the November 15 event. The honor is presented each year to the newly crowned Young Gun whose body of work stands out from even their fellow winners.
Selected by a special advisory board of industry professionals across a range of disciplines, recipients of the Artist-In-Residence Award receive a full year of professional management, guidance and mentorship to help take their young careers to new heights. From contract negotiations and client fees to portfolio management, the Levine/Leavitt team will help navigate winners through the business side of creativity.
Young Guns 16 is made possible in part through the generous support of presenting sponsor Diageo, official sponsors Crealev, Levine/Leavitt, Shutterstock and Sunday Afternoon, and supporting artners BBDO, Facebook, MediaMonks and Nickelodeon Velocity.
Mike McCabe, creative director, Shutterstock, said:
"We are thrilled to be longtime supporters of The One Club and its community. We’re particularly excited to work together on Young Guns to help nurture and propel this next generation of creatives forward.”
Young Guns branding is developed each year by a past winner. Branding for Young Guns 16 was designed by New York-based creative studio and artist representation agency Sunday Afternoon, led by Young Guns 11 winner Juan Carlos Pagan, co-founder and executive creative director.
Past Young Guns include rising stars who went on to become leaders in their chosen fields, including 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); film and video director Mike Mills (YG1), animation artist Todd St. John (YG1) and others.
Related News
ONE Asia Heads to Kuala Lumpur for First-Ever Judging in Malaysia
"ONE Family. Many Worlds." visual identity highlights the region’s melting pot of cultures; Directors Think Tank serves as exclusive judging sponsor
Sir John Hegarty, Juliana Paracencio Among Speakers at ADCE Creative Week 2026
Exclusive Creative Leaders Summit gathers top creatives as part of ADCE’s European festival in Barcelona, 17-20 November
The One Club Hosts Gala Induction Ceremony for 2026 Creative Hall of Fame
Seven creative legends inducted in New York; Apple also named first inductee into the new Brand Hall of Fame
Latest News
Oct. 02, 2026
Liquid Death and Goodwipes Launch Second Collaboration Phase with Prestige Skincare-Inspired Toilet Wipes Video
The limited-edition sCREAM Soda wipes launched exclusively at more than 4,000 Walmart stores nationwide in August
Oct. 02, 2026
JDO Takes Non-Alcoholic Luxury to the Global Stage with HYVE
Artistically blended with nootropics and wild-foraged rhododendron nectar, HYVE is imagined as a euphoric alcohol-free spirit inspired by the natural beauty



