HOW TO ENTER

HOW DO I ENTER THE YOUNG ONES STUDENT COMPETITION?

Entries are accepted only through the online entry system at youngones.org. All entry materials must be digital and no physical entries will be accepted. To learn more about entry media and when you can make edits during the entry process, please see the table in Entries & Media. The decisions of the Young Ones Competition jury are final, including determinations as to eligibility. You can check Eligibility, below to confirm your entry is eligible.

WHAT ARE THE DEADLINES FOR ENTERING THE YOUNG ONES STUDENT COMPETITION?

EARLY DEADLINE: December 12, 2025
EARLY ENTRY FEE: $45 USD

REGULAR DEADLINE: February 27, 2026
REGULAR ENTRY FEE: $55 USD

EXTENDED DEADLINE: March 13, 2026
EXTENDED ENTRY FEE: $65 USD

Between March 14 and March 18, we will increase the fee to $75 USD for any last minute entries that need to enter judging. You can view information about discounts and subsidies in Payment & Fees.

WHO WILL RECEIVE AN AWARD? WHAT IS THE PRIZE FOR WINNING?

All Finalists will be added to our Young Ones 2026 Archive and receive an invitation to activate a free one-year membership to The One Club for Creativity. This membership includes mentorship opportunities, discounts on events, access to our archives, and more!

Each Gold, Silver, or Bronze Winner in the ADC, One Show, TDC, or Portfolio Student Competitions will receive one physical award. The final award designation for Gold, Silver, and Bronze Winners will be revealed during the Young Ones Ceremony on May 11, 2026. This award can be collected at the ceremony or shipped to the primary address on your account.

Additional awards can be ordered at oneclub.org/store after the ceremony. All complimentary awards will be engraved with the School Name as the primary credit, unless the entrant emails education@oneclub.org with changes.

Merit Finalists should note that Merit is a final award designation and all Merit Finalists will receive a digital certificate to be sent after the ceremony.

Winners in the TDC Competition will receive the opportunity to be included in the TDC Exhibition as well as the TDC Annual.

WHEN ARE WINNERS ANNOUNCED?

Finalists will be notified privately in mid-April 2026. Winners will be publicly announced in our archives and at the Young Ones Student Award Show as part of Creative Week on May 11, 2026.

WHAT IF I SUBMIT AN ENTRY BY MISTAKE?

Incomplete entries and those that do not meet the entry criteria will be disqualified. Once you have closed your entry, it will be subject to judging and payment. You will be prompted on screen to confirm you intend to submit this work and understand that you are committing to pay for your entry fees in full. You can find your closed entries here.

Due to the nature of the competition, we do not refund entries and cannot guarantee a refund for any accidental entries submitted. You can view all entry periods and their deadline dates above. Failure to pay for a closed entry may result in your ineligibility from future One Club for Creativity competitions or a removal of your current awards.

You can make some changes to closed entries after submitting, please view the table in Entries & Media.

ELIGIBILITY

WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE YOUNG ONES STUDENT AWARDS?

Entrants must be 18 or older.

Entrants must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate university program, graduate program, or portfolio program. PhD Candidates are not eligible.

Recent graduates are eligible. Graduation date must be no earlier than March 13, 2025.

Entrants must have less than two years of previous professional experience. Students enrolled in a graduate or portfolio program with more than two years of professional experience in the advertising, marketing, design, or communications industry are not eligible.

Students working at an agency as a copywriter, art director or other professional position are not eligible. Work created for an internship is ineligible. Work must have been created during your student career – this includes coursework or personal projects.

Students do not have to be a member of The One Club for Creativity in order to participate in the Young Ones Competition.

CAN I ENTER AS A TEAM? HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN BE ON MY TEAM?

Teams may apply for the competition. There is no limit on the number of students per team, except in the Client Pitch competition. All team members should meet the above criteria (excluding any faculty advisors).

Team members may be from different schools or programs, but only one school can be listed as the Primary Credit. Additional schools should be listed under "Secondary Credits".

IMPORTANT: Primary and Secondary schools will split points in the Global College Rankings.

For the Client Pitch Competition, presenting teams may be no larger than four (4) people.

CAN I CREDIT A PROFESSOR OR INSTRUCTOR WHO HELPED ME?

Yes, but please ensure your professor is credited as a "Professor/Instructor". Do not credit your instructor or professor as any other type of creative. All creatives (copywriters, creative directors, illustrators, etc) credited on the project should be students.

IS THERE A SPECIFIC TIME FRAME DURING WHICH MY WORK MUST HAVE BEEN PRODUCED?

For our ADC, TDC and Portfolio Competitions, any work created as a student is eligible.

For our One Show / Brief Competition, the work must be created in response to one of our briefs between September 2025 and March 2026 (during the Call for Entries period).

CAN I SUBMIT WORK THAT HAS WON PREVIOUSLY AT YOUNG ONES? WHAT IF IT HAS WON AT ANOTHER COMPETITION?

Work that has previously won at Young Ones is not eligible for resubmission. However, Young Ones does allow work that has previously won at another competition, given that the student meets the eligibility requirements and entering it into Young Ones is in accordance with the other competition's rules.

Work that has been previously submitted to Young Ones and did not win is eligible for resubmission, as long as the entrant still meets eligibility requirements.

CAN I SUBMIT WORK THAT UTILIZES GENERATIVE OR LLM AI OUTPUT? 

ENTRIES & MEDIA

WHAT ARE THE SUBMISSION MEDIA REQUIREMENTS?

Each category has its own set of media that is allowed for submission, but this section will go over general requirements. Please note, that not all categories accept all types of media.

You must upload digital files for all entries. This will be required during the online entry process. Each media type has specific technical requirements, as outlined below.

WHAT IS REFERENCE MEDIA?

Reference Media is used by The One Club team for promotions and in our articles when judging media (specifically video pieces, websites, etc.) cannot be used in their entirety. Reference Media are often screenshots, single frames, or alternate angles of your work that represent your project. Reference Media may be made public, but will not be judged.

CAN I MAKE CHANGES TO MY SUBMISSION?

Reference the chart below to see which parts of an entry will be locked and when. Please note that all entries enter the "Processing" stage after February 27. Any entry that is closed after February 27 will automatically enter the "Processing" stage and you should reach out to education@oneclub.org to inquire if changes can still be made.

OWNERSHIP & USAGE

Students can only enter work that is original and that they have the right or authority to enter and publish.

For the One Show Brief Competition, all entries are given to the Brief Sponsor for review. The entries submitted to the brief competition become the property of the Brief Sponsor, while The One Club for Creativity retains the rights to feature the work in social promotions and in our archive. The One Club for Creativity will act as a liaison to ensure that the client will contact the students if they decide to publish or produce any work entered in this competition.

For the Portfolio Competition, ADC Competition, and TDC Competition, the student retains ownership of all ideas and materials/images uploaded to our website.

The One Club for Creativity reserves the right to remove an entry from the competition for any reason and without notice.

CAN I ENTER MORE THAN ONE CATEGORY?

Yes. Students can submit entries into as many categories as they would like. However, entries can only win up to two (2) top awards in each discipline. A top award is a Gold Cube, Pencil, TDC Award, or Portfolio Award.

PAYMENT & FEES

WHAT ARE YOUR ENTRY FEES?

EARLY DEADLINE: December 12, 2025
EARLY ENTRY FEE: $45 USD

REGULAR DEADLINE: February 27, 2026
REGULAR ENTRY FEE: $55 USD

EXTENDED DEADLINE: March 13, 2026
EXTENDED ENTRY FEE: $65 USD

Between March 14 and March 18, we will increase the fee to $75 USD for any last minute entries that need to enter judging. You can view information about discounts and subsidies in Payment & Fees.

WHAT COUNTRIES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR DISCOUNTS?

Between March 14 and March 18, all entries will be subject to the same $75 Entry Fee. 

ARE OTHER DISCOUNTS OR SUBSIDIES AVAILABLE?

We have additional discounts and subsidies available for students who exhibit need or attend specific types of institutions. You can learn more here.

WHAT ARE MY PAYMENT OPTIONS?

OPTION A - STUDENTS REGISTER AND PAY FOR THEIR OWN ENTRIES
When proceeding to checkout to submit entries, select one of the following: Online Credit Card, AliPay, WeChat Pay, Check/ACH (U.S. Entrants), and Wire Transfer (Non-U.S. Entrants).

OPTION B - STUDENTS REGISTER AND THEIR SCHOOL PAYS FOR THEIR ENTRIES
Students can submit entries through their own accounts and select "Payment Code" as their payment type in order for the school to receive a group invoice for all their students. Codes can be requested from education@oneclub.org by Faculty or Program Administrators.

OPTION C - SCHOOLS REGISTER AND PAY FOR ENTRIES
Faculty can also upload all entries on behalf of their student via a Faculty account type. When proceeding to checkout to submit entries, select one of the following: Online Credit Card, AliPay, WeChat Pay, Check/ACH (U.S. Entrants), and Wire Transfer (Non-U.S. Entrants).

WHAT DO I DO IF MY SCHOOL IS PAYING FOR MY ENTRIES?

Payment Codes are available for Faculty and Instructors to pay for their students together. We ask instructors/faculty to contact education@oneclub.org before anyone from your class enters their work.

Payment codes cannot be retroactively applied to entries that have been paid. When submitting work, students can select "Payment Code" as their Payment Method to add their entry to the group invoice.

WHAT DO I DO IF MY CREDIT CARD IS DECLINED?

Even if your card payment was declined, it is likely that your entries have been submitted. Confirmation can be found on the Invoices page in your account. As a reminder, failure to pay for your submitted entry may result in ineligibility from all One Club Competitions going forward.

NOTE: DO NOT re-create the entries in your account and attempt to check out again. This will result in duplicate entries and invoices.

You can take the following steps to resolve the payment issue:

• Please contact your credit card provider to have your charge pre-approved.
• Once approved, go to the Invoices page and click "Online Credit Card" under Payment Status to launch the payment process again.
• Select Online Credit Card and proceed to pay using the pre-approved card, or select a different payment option.