IGate, one of Ukraine's oldest IT portals, gathers the best statements from industry figures on social media once a week. This is not a survey or editorial interviews: the portal reprints what the specialists themselves wrote and selects the most notable. To appear in such a roundup means attracting the attention of colleagues and those who follow the Ukrainian technology market.
The topics of Solyar's remarks went far beyond his narrow profession. In one issue, he criticized the web version of WhatsApp, which at the time lagged behind the mobile app in features. In another, he brought up crowdfunding. The occasion was the example of New Zealanders who pooled their money to buy a beach. Applying this idea to his hometown, Solyar suggested:
“Let's buy the Odesa archive”
He published that phrase on February 27, 2016. The joke seemed ironic, but behind it lay a familiar interest among digital people in collective financing: in 2016, crowdfunding was just beginning to take root in Ukraine as a tool for projects that could not get money through banks or investors.
Looks.FM and the Product Perspective
In the roundup, Solyar is presented not only as the head of Sponge D&D but also as product manager of Looks.FM. The Looks.fm service caught the attention of Ukrainian media: in February and March 2015, the Korrespondent blog wrote about it. Among the project's creators are Sponge founder Bohdan Hnatiuk and designer Serhiy Semerniov. Solyar led the project from the product side and in 2015 published a column in the Goethe-Institut magazine, which distinguishes him from a typical manager within an agency.
This combination of roles is characteristic of studios that go beyond custom development. In the mid-2010s, Sponge was known precisely for its portfolio: according to CSS Winner, the studio was registered on November 22, 2009, and its founder Bohdan Hnatiuk led the bureau through its first international recognitions.
Awards and Recognition: 2013–2016
The first notable recognition was an Honorable Mention on Awwwards on December 5, 2013. Awwwards, one of the main platforms for web design, evaluates sites by design, usability, and creativity and publishes selected works in daily roundups. In spring 2014, Splashnology placed Sponge 23rd in its '30 Dark Web Designs for Inspiration' roundup on February 9, 2014—that is, among thirty examples of dark web design.
Domestic competitions also provided occasions for notes. At Ukrainian Design 2014, the Estetico.me site and the logo for 'Pershyi Miskyi' were recognized. In October 2014, AIN.UA published the piece 'What Dynamic Design Can Do: The Example of Creative Bureau Sponge.' Not all submissions yielded results: at the 15th Kyiv International Advertising Festival (KIAP) in May 2014, the studio submitted seven works but received no awards.
International platforms where works are judged by a jury or community formed the backbone of the bureau's career. The SOTD (Site of the Day) mark on CSS Winner means the site was chosen as the best of the day. The studio received such marks regularly, and in early 2016 they continued: on March 6, CSS Winner recognized the Carts Guru site, and on February 4, Korrespondent wrote about the Furgoneta project on the same day it received SOTD on CSS Winner.
Spring 2016
The spring months of 2016 brought the studio recognition on Behance as well. This is Adobe's platform where designers showcase portfolios and the editorial team selects the best works for roundups. On March 29, 2016, the Business Logic Group project, developed by Sponge, was included in the Best of Behance roundup.
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