ONE Asia Creative Awards 2025 opens call for entries with fiery “Can You Handle The Heat?” campaign from StudioK110 Seoul

The fast-growing ONE Asia Creative Awards, part of the global nonprofit One Club for Creativity, kicks off its 2025 season with a call for entries campaign from Studio K110 in Seoul that asks creatives in the region “Can You Handle The Heat?”

Celebrating the best and boldest creative work from across APAC, ONE Asia has quickly become recognized for utilizing the same rigorous judging process as The One Club’s prestigious global One Show and ADC Annual Awards, and assembling esteemed juries made up of top creatives in the region to provide prestige and honor to winning creatives, designers and innovators.

Entries to the ONE Asia 2025 can be submitted now, with entry fees increasing after each deadline period. The early bird deadline for entry is June 27, 2025, regular deadline July 28, 2025, extended deadline August 25, 2025, and final deadline September 12, 2025. Finalists revealed in the Fall and winners announced in December 2025.

A hallmark of ONE Asia is its partnership with the creative community in a different APAC country each year. After last year’s successful judging in Manila where Philippine creatives provided a grand experience and supported various programming and marketing, ONE Asia 2025 engages with the Korean creative community for marketing support and soon-to-be-announced judging location in Seoul.

“Focusing on a different country each year supports our mission to build deeper creative connections, grow a region-wide creative ecosystem, and spotlight each market’s unique culture and talent,” said Tay Guan Hin, APAC Regional Director, The One Club.

As part of this year’s focus on South Korea, ONE Asia worked with StudioK110 based in Seoul to develop the 2025 call-for-entries campaign. Inspired by the bold and spicy world of Korean cuisine, the agency developed the “Can You Handle the Heat?” campaign.

The theme plays off the expression “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” and reflects the high-pressure environments often faced by creatives where only the most daring ideas make an impact. The metaphor captures the regional energy, reflects creativity’s intensity, and challenges entrants to match that heat with ideas that are just as flavorful and unforgettable.

At the heart of the visuals is a flame-faced character slurping down noodles with joyful intensity and tears in its eyes, the embodiment of creative passion meeting pressure. Throughout the campaign, the feisty character appears in multiple poses and expressions, playfully encouraging and provoking participants in a variety of ways.

The design language features blazing chili peppers, fiery type, and Korea’s infamous Cheongyang chili, turning up the temperature to reflect the spirited, high-stakes nature of the competition.

“To bring this fiery theme to life, we wanted to draw on one of Korea’s most iconic cultural symbols: the spicy cup noodle,” said Bora Kim, lead graphic designer at StudioK110. “It’s fast, hot, messy, addictive, and a perfect metaphor for creative brilliance.”

“ONE Asia is about more than trophies. It’s about elevating the region’s boldest work on a global stage,” added Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club. “This year’s campaign captures the fire and passion it takes to stand out. Only the hottest ideas will win.”

New for ONE Asia 2025
Notable updates for ONE Asia 2025 include new disciplines for Creative Use of Artificial Intelligence, Media, and OOH, Print & Digital Craft, the return of the Cultural Impact discipline, and changes to existing disciplines including Creative Effectiveness, Gaming, and Use of Humor/Use of Drama.

This year also represents the launch of ONE Asia Marketer of the Year honors. This special award will celebrate a top marketing executive or a top marketing team whose leadership has powered exceptional creative work. Marketer of the Year is non-enterable, and will be awarded to the key marketer or marketing team behind the most awarded work in ONE Asia 2025.

ONE Asia winners have their points recognized in the annual Campaign Brief Asia Rankings.

For more information and to enter, please visit ONE Asia Creative Awards.

Credits
Client: ONE Asia Creative Awards, part of The One Club for Creativity
Agency: StudioK110, Seoul
Creative Director: Jaewon Song
Lead Graphic Designer: Bora Kim
Graphic Designers: Minwoo Song, Hoseok Kwak
Senior Character Designer: Siwoo Paek
Character Designer: Rok Kim
Language & Communication Manager: Se Eun Park