According to The One Club, there is no fee to apply for the grant, which is open globally to BIPOC creatives who qualify for the club's prestigious Young Guns programme: they must be aged 30 years and under with at least two years of professional creative experience. Past YG winners are not eligible.

Candidates submit links to six projects in their portfolio, as well as a short essay and a 60-second phone or webcam video to introduce themselves and describe their dream creative project, says The One Club. The deadline for the free COLORFUL application is Thursday, 27 June, and winners will be announced in July.

A jury of BIPOC creative luminaries, many of them past YG winners, will review submissions and select one gifted entrant to receive the first-place grant of USD$3 000 towards a personal creative project of their choosing. The runner up will receive a USD$2 000 grant, and two third-place winners each receive USD$1 000, according to The One Club. 

In addition, COLORFUL finalists receive free entry into Young Guns 22, as will the first 10 qualifying candidates to enter when the COLORFUL competition opens.

The One Club says the branding for the 2024 programme was created by Brooklyn-based freelance designer Ritesh Gupta, who is also the founder of Useful School, a pay-what-you-can programme for BIPOC designers to improve their practical skills and better navigate the industry.

"This year we partnered with The Useful School, which is something Gupta and I have been talking about for a long time," says COLORFUL cofounder Rich Tu, ECD, partner at Sunday Afternoon New York, a YG8 winner and host of the First Generation Burden podcast.  

"Over the past three years, COLORFUL has seen its winners reach wild heights — including the Oscars — and this year will be no different. Our goal is to keep opening doors, and it's a great honor to see young creatives benefit from our effort," Tu adds. 

Sunday Afternoon, a female and minority-owned creative studio, will also offer one COLORFUL applicant 12 months of mentorship from its leadership team of:

  • Rich Tu
  • Juan Carlos Pagan
  • Ahmed Klink, and
  • Audrie Poole.  

The lucky recipient will connect with the Sunday Afternoon team to help support their creative growth and goals, says The One Club.

COLORFUL is an example of The One Club's ongoing global nonprofit commitment to push DEI forward in advertising and design. Other initiatives include:

  • the annual Where Are All The Black People diversity conference and career fair
  • global Creative Boot Camps and mentorship programmes for diverse college students and other young creatives, and 
  • ONE School, the groundbreaking free portfolio programme for Black creatives in the United States and the United Kingdom.

In 2021, The One Club also introduced The One Show Fusion Pencil and ADC Annudrudal Awards Fusion Cube, the advertising and design industry's first global awards to recognise great work that best incorporates DEI principles, and underrepresented groups in both creative content and the team that made it.  

To apply for the COLOURFUL grant programme click here.

For more information, visit www.oneclub.org. You can also follow The One Club on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Instagram or TikTok. 

*Image courtesy of contributor