Why you should apply to The Next Generation 2021

That first stride into the creative industry can be daunting. With this in mind, The Next Generation 2021 aims to cushion the transition. With a bunch of advice articles and opinion pieces lined up, we’re gearing up for our annual showcase spotlighting the most exciting talent entering the industry. There’s just over one week left to apply, so get your skates on if you’d like to be considered for a full-length feature on It’s Nice That alongside many other creative greats.

If you’ve recently graduated with an undergraduate degree or will do so in 2021, or if you are less than a year into your creative career, we’d love to see your work. Applications are open until Monday 2 August at midnight BST. Whatever your discipline or medium, we’d love to get a glimpse into what the fresh rush of creatives is about to contribute to the industry.

Before this year, this series focused on new graduates from universities (hence why it was called The Graduates). This year, we decided to revamp it, in turn recognising that a formal university education is a huge privilege and not entirely necessary when it comes to making a career in this weird and wonderful industry we’ve chosen to be a part of. Every year, this celebratory showcase marks a real highlight for the team at It’s Nice That. What is more, year on year, it’s incredible to see what previous grads have gone on to do. We thought we’d share a few of their stories. Who knows, maybe you could be the next creative highlighted in a Next Generation article years from now.

Back in 2017, we came across the work of a budding illustrator when she applied for what was The Graduates. She was selected for the final lineup, and now, Joey Yu is a renowned illustrator and animator with an indisputable, colourful signature style to boot. Her clients include The New York Times, The Guardian, Tate, The British Council and many more. Elsewhere, we first met Tom Joyes in 2016 when The Glasgow School of Art graduate finished his graphic design studies. Since then, he’s completed a master’s degree, cut his teeth as a designer at the London-based studio Kellenberger White, established a new platform for digital art titled Image Breakers and is currently an art director at Elephant Magazine.

Just last year we celebrated photographer Hidhir Badaruddin who recently shot King Kong magazine’s latest cover. We’ve also featured other acclaimed photographers as part of The Grads including Sophie Mayanne, Miranda Barnes and Delali Ayivi. Animation director Katy Wang, fashion designer Paolina Russo, type designer Laura Csocsan, graphic designer James Aspey, illustrators Alva Skog and Molly Fairhurst, and many many more multi-faceted creatives have gone on to do staggering amounts of incredible work in the creative industry. We can’t wait to keep highlighting such awe-inspiring talent going forwards.

If you were hesitant about applying to The Next Generation beforehand, we hope this has convinced you that you should apply! We’d love to hear from you.