The Art Directors Club has opened entries for its 106th Annual Awards with a launch film that treats the show’s own symbol as the thing that must be disturbed. The campaign, “In Search of What’s Next,” was created by DixonBaxi in London, with sound by Zelig Sound London.
The campaign
The client is The One Club for Creativity for the Art Directors Club ADC 106th Annual Awards. DixonBaxi, London, created and produced the work; Zelig Sound, London, handled sound design. The source does not name a director. The call for entries launches in 2026 and is live now.
Brian Collins, ADC President, asks the creative world to send its best, its strangest and its “most gloriously WTF work.” Because ADC is a nonprofit, every entry also funds education, mentorship and portfolio programs that bring young talent into the profession.
What the film says and how
The work begins with the ADC Cube, the symbol of craft and excellence, and lets it stretch, fracture, multiply and misbehave. Colors clash, ideas fire, and type flips from precise to feral; the material pulls apart before finding new tension. Rather than a reel of past winners, it is a restless, elastic and alive expression of the search for what’s next.
“The real work happens long before anyone applauds, in the ideas that don’t quite work, the unexpected breakthroughs, and the refusal to settle for what already exists.” — Tassia Swulinska, Creative Director, DixonBaxi
Zelig Sound created a bespoke sonic edit to carry the nerve, heat, flow and friction of the ADC’s rigorous focus.
The response so far
The report does not include entry numbers, social metrics or viewer quotes. The response it describes is tied to the design itself: a visual language with scale and bite, built to pull designers, art directors, writers, creators and strategists across continents into “the search.”
The category context
Founded in 1920, the ADC Annual Awards is the world’s first and longest continuously running awards program for craft and innovation. Its disciplines span design, advertising, film and video, product design, gaming, AI, photography, illustration, creator content, experiential, publication design, architecture and more.
This year’s show makes several changes:
- Typography and Type Design/Lettering are now two separate disciplines, judged by a single jury.
- Packaging Design adds New Product Launch, Packaging Effectiveness and Unboxing Experience.
- The One Club’s CapCut partnership will introduce a custom AI category, to be announced shortly.
- The Paul Manship Medal returns as an enterable category recognizing a designer who acts as a catalyst for change over the past 5-10 years.
A tiered pricing structure gives standard entry fees to larger agencies and brands, discounts to smaller shops, and greater reductions for freelancers, creators and one-person shops.
What to watch next
Entries are open now. Deadlines are January 22, 2027 (regular), February 12, 2027 (extended) and March 5, 2027 (final). Jury presidents will be announced in November, and the full jury in January. Judging takes place in March/April 2027; finalists are announced in April, and winners will be unveiled on May 19 during The One Club’s Creative Week 2027 in New York.
The next signals are the custom AI category details and the jury presidents, who will show how the industry decides what “next” looks like.
Watch the original: ADC on YouTube
Source: Campaign Brief
