South Africa Gains Global Creative Voice As Bananas CCO Safaraaz Sindhi Joins One Show Indies Jury

The One Club for Creativity has announced the jury for the inaugural One Show Indies, and representing South Africa on the global jury is Safaraaz Sindhi, founder/CCO at Bananas in Johannesburg (Image suppled)

The new global competition is dedicated to celebrating the work of independent agencies, design firms, freelancers, creators, and other creative companies worldwide.

Debuting this year within The One Show 2026, The One Show Indies is open exclusively to agencies with truly independent ownership: a minimum 51% owned by founders or staff, and no more than four physical offices.

To encourage participation, the cost of entry is 20% lower compared to other One Show fees.

The jury

Greg Hahn, co-founder and CCO at Mischief, Brooklyn, will serve as jury president, leading the jury and having a vote on the work. Other confirmed 2026 One Show Indies jury members include:

• Ajaz Ahmed, co-founder, Studio One, London
• Rolando Cordova, CCO, Co-Founder, L&C, New York
• Noel Cottrell, founder, CCO, Murder Hornet, Atlanta
• Jolene Delisle, founder, The Working Assembly, New York
• Ulrika Karlberg, CCO, YARD NYC, New York
• Hwee Peng Koh, creative partner, Blak Labs, Singapore
• Suzanne Powers, founder, Co-CEO, All&, New York
• Brian Murray, CCO, Zulu Alpha Kilo, Toronto
• Ariel Serkin, partner, ISLA, Buenos Aires
• Mohammed Sehly, CEO, BigTime Creative Shop, Riyadh
• Sam Stuchbury, ECD, Motion Sickness, Auckland
• Flavio Waiteman, CCO, Tech&Soul, São Paulo

The new competition levels the playing field to recognise the extraordinary role and work of independent agencies, and makes the global spotlight of a prestigious One Show Pencil win even more accessible to a larger field of indie creative companies.

"It’s true that indies are having a moment right now,” says Hahn, who also serves on The One Club National Board of Directors.

“But it’s also true that indies have long been the lifeblood of breakthrough and brilliant work in the corpus of advertising.

“I’m thrilled to be presiding over the inaugural jury of The One Show Indies. And that I got to use the word 'corpus' in a sentence.”

Indie Agency News partnership

To extend its support of this important and growing creative sector, The One Club has partnered withIndie Agency News, a membership-driven media and visibility coaching platform dedicated exclusively to serving independent agencies.

All qualified agencies entering The One Show Indies will receive a 40% off the first year of a new Indie Agency News membership, connecting them to 300+ indie agency members, consultants and industry practitioners around the world, plus video-first editorial coverage, visibility coaching, and two awards programs celebrating indie excellence and the people behind it.

Regular IAN membership costs $695-$1,995, depending on agency size. The special One Show Indies-IAN discounted membership rate is good for one year, then locks in at current rates in perpetuity.

About The One Show Indies 2026

Entry into The One Show indies is designed to be simple, easy and affordable. Eligible agencies, studios, production companies, and creators can submit no more than 10 entries in total, and each piece of work can be entered into no more than three categories.

There are limits on where costly and time-consuming case study films can be used as judging media. Entry fees are 20% lower than regular fees for The One Show 2026.

The regular deadline for entry is 23 January 2026, with the extended deadline on 6 February 2026, and the final deadline on 20 February 2026.

Finalists and winners will be announced in May during Creative Week 2026 in New York. In addition to awarding Gold, Silver, and Bronze Pencils and Merit awards, the jury will also present a prestigious Crystal Pencil to an overall “Best of Indies” winner.

Plans are in the works to host a special One Show Indies celebration in a more casual setting separate from the formal One Show 2026 awards ceremony during Creative Week.

Winners

All One Show winning entries are showcased in the awards archive and are viewable for free for one year.

Winners also receive a complimentary one-year membership to The One Club, as well as full access to the complete One Show archive, made up of more than 250,000 award-winning entries from the past 25 years.

Agencies, brands, production companies, and individuals responsible for winning work each year are highlighted in The One Show Creative Rankings, as well as The One Club’s Global Creative Rankings, which combines points won at The One Show, ADC Annual Awards, Type Directors Club TDC competition, ONE Asia Creative Awards, Art Directors Club of Europe (ADCE) Awards, national competitions hosted by ADCE member clubs, and local shows by The One Club’s US chapters.

Winners are ranked globally, regionally, and by country.

As a nonprofit organisation, The One Club puts revenue generated from entries into The One Show and its other global and regional awards shows back into the industry to fund a range of professional development and education programming for creatives at all levels around the world.