ABC, as the Jackson 5 rightly said, is as easy as 1,2,3. In fact, when it comes to the English language, the 26 letters are probably the least difficult part to master. But they're not enough for the Art Directors Club, which has asked the creative community to come up with a 27th letter.

April 3 sees the launch of Young Guns 6, the ADC's biennial competition for rising talent in the creative community. The competition invites anyone who is under 30 and has two years' of experience in a creative profession to produce high-calibre visual work that deserves to be added to the ADC's permanent collection.

The launch party at the ADC Gallery in New York will include an exhibition entitled The Undiscovered Letter. Alumni of the ADC Young Guns scheme are also invited to submit their own idea for a 27th letter, and the exhibition will display the competition winners.

The solution could be realised through any subject, form, skill, and/or medium, with an emphasis on pushing boundaries and creating a "letter" that sits distinctly "out of the box". Executive director of the ADC, Ami Brophy, explained: "The idea is what is the 27th letter, what might that look like? And in the context of our time, what could that mean? These symbols are used for communication, used in a variety of ways. Because the nature of the undiscovered letter is such a broad challenge and the core profile of the jury is quite broad, they're likely to have very different ideas about the entries."

A partnership between the ADC and sponsors Moleskin, the project is intended to draw awareness to Lettera 27, an Italy-based literacy organisation, which addresses the issues of education and literacy in creative, inventive ways. One such project is a drive to get more phrases and words from African languages entered into Wikipedia.

Brophy said: "We wanted to do something to launch the call for entries this year in a more important way. We worked with Moleskin and we thought they might want to get involved. Moleskin has a favourite philanthropic org, Lettera 27. It's a non-profit org that among other things promotes literacy worldwide amongst the disenfranchised and less-fortunate."

Moleskin will publish a limited edition volume of select work from The Undiscovered Letter in the autumn, with proceeds going to Lettera 27.