The conversation with Solyar in the "Interview" section offered a rare chance to see the studio from the inside, without the glossy shop-window finish. The bureau had worked with more than 100 illustrators, and it was precisely this network of contractors that stood behind most of the orders. The studio took on projects across a wide price range: from $2,000 to $150,000. Such a scale allowed it to simultaneously handle small jobs for startups and large-scale campaigns that required a big team.
The interview also mentions an internal pseudonym: MZNTRP, which, as Innabits reported, was the alter ego of one of the business owners. A separate area within the bureau was considered the commercial side, run by lead designer Sergey Semernyov. He was the director and co-owner of the merch store SPONGE STORE, opened for those who wanted to wear the studio's products, not merely look at its work.
Motion design, which few in Ukraine were doing
The main bet for 2014 at the bureau was named motion design and animation. According to Innabits, at that time only a handful in Ukraine were engaged in this, so the studio saw in this direction not just a new service but a niche where it could outpace competitors. As an example, the "Alien" video was cited, demonstrating the level at which the bureau intended to work in animation.
The bet on movement was a logical extension of what the studio had already been asserting online. As early as 5 December 2013, the bureau's website received a mention from Awwwards, one of the most authoritative international platforms for web design, which selects work based on visual quality and usability. In spring 2014, Sponge was included in the Nice One I Like selection, and in August of that same year the studio drew attention to the symmetry of the menu on its own website, as reported by DesignWebKit.
Working for free and the question of taste
Part of the bureau's work was done pro bono, and in the interview this was presented as a principle rather than charity. The logo for the Geeks Empire community was made as a gift. The design of promotional materials for the "Pcholka" charity foundation was also done without payment. Among its own projects, the magazine Estetico, the website estetico.me and the project were named.
Estetico became perhaps the most notable of the internal projects. In autumn 2014, at the Ukrainian design festival UD 2014, the website estetico.me received the Best of B-1 award, and the logo for "Pervy Gorodskoy" was recognized in the Best of C-I-5 category. These awards came in the same period when Creativity Ukraine placed Sponge 12th in the interim VRK ranking with 4 points.
"He who has his own system of values can one day himself become a value," said Solyar.
This idea ran through the entire conversation about hiring and selection. The bureau spoke of itself as a filter that does not let everyone through, and as a sponge that accumulates the team's experience. The author of Innabits, summing up, noted the rarity of such an approach: "It is rare to find a studio that has a truly distinctive view of style." The phrasing sounded like a compliment, but it rested on the bureau's concrete work, including websites, logos and animation projects.
Innabits itself continued to cover the work of Ukrainian studios at the end of that same month. On 17 October, AIN.UA published a piece on the bureau's dynamic design, and on the same day Creativity Ukraine updated its interim ranking, where Sponge held 12th place with 4 points. Solyar's interview, published in August, remained one of the few detailed accounts of how the studio is structured from the inside, with its commercial side, charity and internal projects.
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