A native of Austria now based in New York, Sagmeister is a boundary-pushing creative leader who has designed for clients as diverse as the Rolling Stones, HBO, and the Guggenheim Museum.  He is a two time Grammy Award winner, and has earned practically every important international design award, including being selected into the inaugural class of ADC Young Guns winners in 1996, says the ADC.

His frequent talks often focus on the large subjects of our lives such as happiness or beauty, how they connect to design and what that actually means to our everyday lives. With five official TED Talks under his belt, he is one of the three most frequently invited TED speakers.

Sagmeister's books sell in the hundreds of thousands, and his exhibitions have been mounted in museums around the world. His exhibit The Happy Show attracted more that half a million visitors worldwide, and became the most visited graphic design show in history, adds the ADC.

"We invited Stefan to host this year's ceremony, as he remains both a pioneer and an uncommonly visionary leader in our community," says Brian Collins, Art Directors Club President, and Co-Founder of COLLINS, based in San Francisco and New York. "He also dresses better than most men I know. That, of course, helps."

"The ADC has always been proof that craft, beauty and commerce aren't enemies — they're co-conspirators,” says Sagmeister. "I'm honored to host a room full of people who still believe that."

The ADC Annual Awards is the world's longest continuously-running global competition celebrating excellence in craft and innovation in all forms of advertising and design. This year's ADC 105th Annual Awards takes place on the evening of Wednesday, 13 May at Capitale in New York, adds the ADC.

Now in its 17th year, Creative Week is a premier annual gathering for the advertising and design industries to come together and celebrate the creative excellence showcased in The One Club's leading global awards shows: ADC Annual Awards, The One Show, the inaugural One Show Indies competition, and Young Ones Student Awards.  

In addition, Creative Week 2026 includes programming around the latest AI creative trends and issues in the form of The One Club AI Creative Challenge and exclusive Executive Creative Summit 2026.

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

*Image courtesy of the contributor