2021 Emerging Designer

We’re pleased to announce our 2021 Emerging Designer Program Winner Jeeyon Shim!

Jeeyon Shim

Twitter: @jeeyonshim
Patreon: patreon.com/jeeyonshim
Itchio: jeeyonshim.itch.io

Jeeyon Shim is a second generation Korean American game designer, multimedia artist, and outdoor educator based in California. Her work is defined by her lyrical prose, innovative mechanics, and ability to create lasting connections between players and the world around them. Jeeyon’s games have been featured on Polygon, Shut Up and Sit Down, and Dicebreaker, among other publications. She likes dirt, animals, making things with her hands, and green growing things.

Emerging Designer Program Finalists

We would also like to recognize this year’s amazing finalists:

Omari Akil

Twitter: @Akilaverse
Twitch: twitch.tv/akilaverse


Omari Akil is a game designer, content creator, and advocate for building a more representative and inclusive gaming community. Omari is the co-founder of Colorway Game Labs, a publishing company focused on developing games that celebrate Hip Hop and Black History and Culture. Omari is also currently serving as the President of the Indie Game Developer Network, a volunteer trade organization that supports indie game developers creating, publishing and promoting tabletop games.


Jennifer Kretchmer

Twitter/Instagram: @dreamwisp/@dreamwisp
Twitch: @dreamwispjen
Linktree: linktr.ee/dreamwisp


Jennifer Kretchmer is a producer, writer, consultant, and performer who has worked in front of or behind the camera on more than a thousand episodes of television. A passionate advocate for disabled accessibility, inclusion, and representation in media, Jennifer is the creator of the Accessibility in Gaming Resource Guide and the Disabled Professionals in Tabletop Directory, and is one of the authors of D&D’s Candlekeep Mysteries, where she wrote the first official hardcover D&D adventure designed with multiple forms of accessibility as a core feature. She appears on Renegade’s Vampire: The Nightlife as Giselle and Demiplane’s Heroes of the Planes as Alyndra, who is also a playable champion in the official Dungeons and Dragons video game Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms. Jennifer’s consulting credits include everything from tabletop apps, books, and game systems to podcasts, board, and video games.


Gabe Hicks

Twitter: @GabeJamesGames
TikTok: @gabejamesgames
Flow.page: GabeJamesGames


Gabe Hicks is a game designer for digital and tabletop. Currently, he works as Game Designer at Roll20. He created the CMM (an alternative character creation tool for 5e focused on class narrative) that has been featured on the DnD twitch channel. He has worked with Paizo, Critical Role, MageHandPress, and Grim & Perilous Studios. Leading a group called Mythic Grove, he focuses on highlighting smaller creators to give them a platform and opportunity through streaming, design, writing, or other creative mediums with the projects that Mythic Grove creates. “Let’s put more magic into the world, together.”

ABOUT THE EMERGING DESIGNER PROGRAM

This program of the Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming amplifies the voices of up-and-coming hobby game designers, with a focus on creators from marginalized communities, by featuring them during an expenses-paid trip to Gen Con. Its inaugural year was 2021, when Jeeyon Shim was our first Diana Jones Emerging Designer.

CONTACTS

Questions? Please reach out to the program’s coordinators at edp@dianajonesaward.org. To contact the Diana Jones Award Committee, email committee@dianajonesaward.org.

SPONSORS

We’d like to thank the sponsors of this year’s Emerging Designer Program for their support: 

  • David Chart
  • Matt Forbeck
  • GAMA
  • Gen Con
  • Onyx Path
  • Renegade Games
  • Unicorn Motorcycle Games

Due to border closures and travel restrictions, for 2021 we limited the award to designers in the USA. For future awards, the program will be open globally. In 2022, all designers from outside of the United States will have an expanded four-year eligibility window to ensure no one loses their opportunity due to the current pandemic.