The One Club for Creativity has announced the four winners and 13 finalists for COLORFUL: A Prelude to Young Guns, a special grant program to help up and coming BIPOC creatives around the world advance their careers.
This year’s grant winners, who receive a cash prize towards a professional dream project of their choosing and free entry to the Young Guns 20 competition, are as follows:
- First place: Danica Tan Lijun, animation director, Los Angeles, $3,000.
- Second place: Sebastian Hill-Esbrand, filmmaker, Kiddo Films, Vancouver, $2,000.
- Third place: Andrew Kung, photographer, Andrew Kung Photography, Brooklyn, and Pau Tiu, creative director, Pau Tiu Creative Studio, Cainta (Philippines), $1,000. each
In addition, the following COLORFUL finalists qualify for free entry in YG20:
- Mayara Lista Alcantara, illustrator, comic book artist, Rio de Janeiro
- Carlos Bocai, graphic designer, Base, New York
- Maya Umemoto Gorman, photographer, Los Angeles
- Katty Huertas, illustrator, Washington DC
- Jessy Kikabou, art director, Sid Lee, Paris
- Eddy Lee, designer, Wolff-Olins, New York
- Xinmei Liu, illustrator, New Jersey
- Marte, graphic designer, illustrator, letterer, Buenos Aires
- Shivani Parasnis, designer, Baltimore
- João VÃtor Porto, designer, 180 Amsterdam
- Tamara Sangdow, director, creative director, Conde Nast Entertainment, Brooklyn
- Leonardo Santamaria, illustrator, South Pasadena (US)
- Jen Yoon, illustrator, Seoul
The COLORFUL grant program, which has no application fee, is open globally to BIPOC creatives who qualify for the club’s prestigious Young Guns competition: age 30 years and under with at least two years of professional creative experience, and never having won Young Guns in the past.
Candidates submitted links to six projects in their portfolio, as well as a short essay and a 60-second video (phone or webcam acceptable) to introduce themselves and describe their dream project. Submissions were reviewed by a BIPOC jury of past Young Guns winners.
Funding for this year’s COLORFUL is provided by Russell’s Reserve Bourbon and Rich Tu, group creative director at Jones Knowles Ritchie New York and YG8 winner who co-created the grant program last year.
“Congratulations to our second year COLORFUL winners Danica, Sebastian, Andrew, Pau, and all of the finalists who had absolutely fantastic entries,” said Tu. “YG20 is going to be a heated competition if this group is any indication. With such phenomenal and diverse talent, the future is in good hands, and I can’t wait to see how they continue to shape the creative industry moving forward.”
The online entry system for Young Guns 20 is open; the regular deadline has passed but the final deadline is July 28, 2022. The competitions regularly attract entries from upwards of 45 countries, with more than half coming from outside the US. Winners, to be announced this fall, will be selected by a jury made up of past Young Guns winners and other creative leaders.
Branding for this year’s COLORFUL program was created by YG18 winner Lebassis, the talented art director and lettering artist.
