Eight jury members evaluated the site, and their scores are visible by name: from 4 to 8 points. Alongside the experts, 120 users voted for the project. This scheme makes Awwwards a notable platform, because the result is built from professional judgment and public reaction rather than the author's personal connections.
The mark referred not to the bureau's current site but to its previous version. For the studio founded by Bohdan Hnatiuk, this was its first international recognition. Shortly before, in 2013, the Chkalov school site received Best of B-1 at the Ukrainian UD competition, so domestic awards ran in parallel with external ones.
By 2013 Awwwards had long been judging sites on design, usability and idea and selecting the best work every day. A place on its list meant the site had held its own against studios from around the world, and Ukrainian bureaus were a rarity on that list.
The Road to Site of the Day
Twenty months later, on August 8, 2015, Awwwards awarded Site of the Day status to the new version of the Sponge site with a score of 7.03. Between those dates the same work passed through a series of industry galleries. On May 24 the site received Website of the Day on CSSDA with a score of 7.80, on May 29 it became Site of the Day on CSS Nectar, on June 3 it received Feature of the Day on CSS Light, on June 13 it became Site of the Day on CSS Winner with a score of 7.5, on July 20 it was noted on BestCSS, and on July 27 it won on CSSReel.
Such galleries publish selections of the best work, and each appearance means a separate independent selection. Through the spring and summer of 2015 the site passed several such selections in a row, and it was this result that laid the groundwork for the studio's later awards.
In Moscow on October 22, 2015, at the Golden Site 2015 awards, the Sponge site took first place in the Digital Agency Website category. The same year, at the Ukrainian UD competition, the studio's site received Best of B-1, and the KTK logo was noted in the Best of C-I-2 category.
The Studio's Work After 2015
The bureau's founder, Bohdan Hnatiuk, built the studio around sites that could be shown on international platforms. In 2014 executive director Kyrylo Soliar spoke about the bureau's work in an interview with Innabits, while lead designer Serhii Semernov was responsible for the projects' overall visual line.
In 2016 Awwwards gave the Furgoneta site an Honorable Mention on January 30, the Trendon site received the same mark on June 13, and Defence Group made the Honorable Mention list on August 3. The studio's work appeared regularly in the CSS Winner galleries, where the Furgoneta site became Site of the Day on February 4.
In 2017 Awwwards awarded the Pyvovarov site Site of the Day status and the Developer Award on August 25, with scores of 7.13 and 7.17. That same year the bureau took 4th place in the Runet creativity ranking with 23.32 points.
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