Ukrainian Design is an annual design competition held in Ukraine, covering graphics, web, branding and industrial design. Its tiers descend in order: The Very Best of stands above gold and silver marks, followed by the 'Best of' categories. In the Digital section, Madonna took a place in category B-6, dedicated to digital illustration and graphic design. Besides it, The Very Best of tier was awarded to the Makhno Architects project (Vintage), Huggies Diary by ISD Group, and Alcatel Watch by Denis Nevozhay. Among such works, Madonna stands out because it was made by a studio, not a large client or advertising agency.
Motion as a direction
Madonna is an illustration with animation, and it became the calling card of the studio's motion direction. Sponge began developing this direction deliberately in 2014, and by 2015 motion works had taken a prominent place in the portfolio. The work itself lives on Behance and ArtStation, the two main platforms where designers and illustrators publish projects and receive feedback from the professional community.
The work's success was not limited to the competition. As Sostav.ru wrote, the project was included in the 'Best Projects of Summer from Behance' selection, which Behance compiles from notable publications of the season. For a studio that in 2015 primarily presented itself through websites, such a selection became recognition beyond web design as well.
Four marks of one season
Among all of Sponge's awards, The Very Best of at Ukrainian Design remains its only top tier. In 2015, the studio received four marks at the competition at once. Besides Madonna, these were the Sponge D&D website with the Best of B-1 category, the KTK logo with the Best of C-I-2 category, and the Geeks Empire TV intro with the Best of C-II-3 category. The 2015 season was dense for the bureau in the international web environment as well. The studio's website received the Css Design Awards Website of the Day mark on May 24 with a score of 7.80, and on June 13 CSS Winner selected it as Site of the Day with a score of 7.5. The CSS Winner platform selects sites based on the quality of layout and design and publishes them as the best of the day, week or month. A separate line is Awwwards, an international catalog of websites with jury ratings. On August 8, the Sponge website received Site of the Day there with a score of 7.03.
Within the country, the studio also made its mark. On October 22, 2015, at the 'Golden Site 2015' award, the Sponge website took first place in the 'Digital Agency Website' category, and the Foundator website became second in the financial media category. The award evaluates websites of Ukrainian and Russian-speaking companies and developers, so winning in the agency category directly answered the question of how well the studio could create its own showcase.
Team and approach
The bureau was built by founder Bohdan Hnatiuk and his team. In an interview with Innabits in August 2014, Sponge's executive director Kirill Solyar spoke about the studio's approach to work, while lead designer Sergey Semernyov, then associated with SPONGE STORE, was responsible for visual solutions. It was precisely this combination of designers and managers that allowed the studio to work simultaneously on websites, branding and motion projects without dividing directions into separate departments.
The studio ended 2015 as densely as it began. On December 19, CSS Winner selected the work for Kvadrat as Site of the Day, and on December 21, CSSDA marked it with Special Kudos and a score of 7.60. Madonna remains the studio's only work to receive the highest tier of Ukrainian Design, and it was precisely this work that set the bar for the motion direction that Sponge had been developing since 2014.
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