The Star mark in the CSS Winner system is given to works that the service's jury deems notable for design quality and execution. The service itself exists as a showcase for web studios: sites are submitted through applications and then receive marks of varying levels, from nominations to Site of the Day. For a studio working in the international market, such marks serve as a simple way to show results to those unfamiliar with its portfolio.
First on the list is the work for gaming company Murka. The Star mark came to it on 11.05.2016, and this was the first time a Sponge site was singled out in this way. In work for a gaming company, speed of perception and careful presentation of complex content are important, and it was precisely these qualities, by the jury's logic, that made the project notable.
Three months later, on 11.08.2016, the Defence Group site received a mark. The company operates in cybersecurity, where a site must simultaneously inspire trust and explain complex services in simple language. For the studio, this was the second project in a row marked by CSS Winner at the Star level, and it showed that the jury's interest was not limited to entertainment topics.
In December 2016, on 11.12.2016, the next mark went to the Simbrella site. This is a telecom platform, a product with a technical core that must be presented without overload. A mark for such a project indicates that the studio can work not only with visually striking but also with technically complex topics, where the main task of design is clarity.
Brands, style and direct clients
In 2017, the list was joined by three works at once. On 01.05.2017, the Arbeko site received a mark. The English caption for the work in the studio's portfolio reads "Website for a Brand Focused on Form and Detail." Such a formulation well reflects the bureau's approach: design is built around the small things that are noticeable to the user but rarely mentioned in project descriptions.
On 16.09.2017, the Style Whisperer site received a Star mark. In the studio's portfolio, this work is described as a site for a personal stylist. The project is interesting because it combines the specialist's personal brand with the visual language of fashion: the site must look as neat as the stylist's own work while easily guiding visitors to services.
Last on the list is Helicopter View, marked on 28.09.2017. This work seems less predictable in topic than the others, but that is precisely why it well demonstrates the studio's range. The list of six marks is as follows: a gaming project, cybersecurity, telecom, a brand focused on form, a personal stylist, and one more project that the jury selected from the same series of applications.
For Sponge, what matters is not only the statistics of awards but also how they add up to a single picture. The studio, founded by Bohdan Hnatiuk, regularly submitted works to international platforms over several years, and CSS Winner became one of the places where its projects received sustained recognition. Six Star marks in a year and a half show that such evaluations are not accidental but the result of systematic work on applications and the projects themselves.
At the same time, the studio's works also appeared in other selections. Thus, on 25.09.2017, the Helicopter View work was included in Best of Behance, a selection of the best projects on the Behance platform, which designers and creative agencies use to showcase their work. Inclusion in such selections is important because the decision is made not only by web design specialists but also by a community that compares works from different fields, from illustration to motion design.
The six Star marks also differ from a typical web studio's portfolio in their geography. Usually such awards go to projects from one or two industries, but here the list includes games, security, telecom, personal style and brands. For clients, this means the studio is ready to work with various tasks and is not tied to one niche, and for the bureau itself, it is confirmation that the skill of presenting information transfers across industries.
The last event in this story remains the Star mark for the Helicopter View site, received on 28.09.2017, and three days before it, on 25.09.2017, the same work appeared in the Best of Behance selection.
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