CSS Winner's points were evenly distributed: design, functionality and usability each received 7.6, while content was rated 7.5. The final score was 7.6. For a hotel website, this is a result with no weak spots in any individual criterion. The jury noted that the project is adapted for all devices and defined its audience plainly: the site is made for anyone interested in Odessa hotels.
“for anyone interested in Odessa hotels”
For those unfamiliar with these platforms, a word on how they work. CSS Winner is a web design gallery where sites are rated on several criteria, and the best of the day receive Site of the Day status. BestCSS operates on a similar principle and also maintains a separate showcase of the best work. Both recognitions for M1 Club Hotel fell on 4 February 2017, and this coincidence underscores that the project was immediately noticed in two independent catalogs.
The site was designed by the Odessa studio Sponge. By this point, its work already had a solid history of awards in professional circles. 2015 was especially busy. On 13 June, the bureau's website received Site of the Day on CSS Winner with a score of 7.5; on 20 July came a BestCSS award; and on 8 August the site was listed on Awwwards with a score of 7.03. Awwwards is an international prize judged by independent juries, and for a studio from Odessa, inclusion on its list was considered serious recognition. In addition, in October 2015, at the professional Golden Site award, Sponge's website took first place in the “Digital Agency Website” category.
A Bet on Portfolio
Sponge's profile on CSS Winner had by now accumulated 21 nominations, 6 stars and 9 Site of the Day awards given to various projects by the studio. Such statistics show that the bureau bet not on isolated successes but on regular work with galleries and on building a reputation through external evaluations. Bogdan Gnatyuk, the founder of the bureau, built exactly this model: the studio's sites were published in professional catalogs and then worked to attract new clients.
The Odessa scene was also gaining momentum in 2016 and 2017. In the Golden Site 2016 ranking, the Furgoneta and Trendon websites took first place in their nominations, and in the 2017 Runet Creativity ranking the studio entered the top four with 23.32 points. For the local market, such positions meant that Odessa teams compete with Moscow and Kyiv agencies on equal terms, rather than acting as regional contractors.
What Came Next
In 2017, the studio continued to work in this format. On 17 January, the BizzGrid website received Site of the Day on CSS Winner, and on 1 May the Arbeko project earned a CSS Winner star. On 23 August, the Pivovarov website received Site of the Day with a score of 7.6, and on 25 August the same project was listed on Awwwards with a Developer Award. On 13 September, the Style Whisperer website received an Awwwards Honorable Mention, and on 16 September — a CSS Winner star.
The M1 Club Hotel website also continued to attract attention. On 14 February 2017, CSS Winner marked the Hijina project, an Odessa restaurant chain, with a Nominee mention — and this work again linked the studio's name with city clients, not only with major international brands.
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