YoungGuns International Award

It was founded by Kristian Barnes, Jason Williams, and Michael Kean in 2001 after they claimed they expressed frustration that major awards at the time were typically won by well established individuals in the industries.

[1] It was the first to take the winners and finalists work on a travelling exhibition (including Australia, NZ, UK, US, HK, India Singapore, South Africa and Japan).

Most notable include "Peak Early" which focused on child prodigies;[3] "Quit in Style" which allowed anyone to upload content such as videos and feedback to demonstrate how they would quit their jobs;[4][5] 'Worth the Pain' which encouraged creatives to push through to greatness but told them in detail about the effect it would have on their bodies[6] and "Hardly Legal" a porn inspired tribute to creativity.

Some campaigns have managed to receive recognition in other creative awards such as the One Club[8] New Zealand Grande Axis[9] and Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

In 2010 YoungGuns announced the best young individual talent, agencies and advertising schools based on awarded entries from its first 10 years.