The phrase "Behance Portfolio Review medal" needs clarification. According to available materials, it refers to a medal for participation in the program, not an award for work. Behance belongs to Adobe and serves as the main showcase for designers, illustrators, and motion artists. Here a profile works like a résumé, and curatorial marks show which projects the platform's editors considered successful. Participation in the portfolio review is marked with a medal, but it is not the same as a competition prize.
The profile's prominence developed gradually. The studio's Behance profile was created on 23.08.2013, and in December of that year the bureau received an Honorable Mention from Awwwards. This is a website competition where a jury evaluates web design and recognizes the best works, and being included in its list is considered a serious sign for agencies. In 2013 the bureau also updated its own website, which likewise became a subject of discussion in professional circles.
Competitions That Shaped the Reputation
The bulk of recognition came from web competitions. On Awwwards, CSS Winner, and related platforms, websites receive the title Site of the Day, and this is the main indicator for web studios. In the series from 24.05 to 14.08.2015, the bureau's works received such marks on several resources at once: CSSDA, CSS Nectar, CSS Light, CSS Winner, BestCSS, CSSReel, and Awwwards, where the mark is dated 08.08.2015. For the American version of the site, One Page Love, BestCSS, and CSSDA Special Kudos were added.
Long before this series, the bureau had already appeared in professional roundups. On 09.02.2014, the portal Splashnology published the piece "30 Dark Web Designs for Inspiration," where Sponge was 23rd out of 30 examples. In May 2014 the studio submitted seven works to the 15th KMRF. There were no awards that time, but in the same year the bureau's projects were included in Ukrainian Design 2014: the Estetico.me website and the logo for "Pervyi Gorodskoi." The animated film Alien in August and September 2014 received a mark in the Motion Graphics category on Behance, awarded by the platform itself.
Hnatiuk, Looks.fm, and the Media
Bohdan Hnatiuk founded the Sponge studio, and his name is linked not only to the agency. He was one of the creators of Looks.fm, a service that Korrespondent wrote about in blogs on 13.02 and 05.03.2015. Forbes, as the magazine wrote, called Looks.fm the discovery of 2015. The project's director and product manager was Kyrylo Soliar, who later published a column in the Goethe-Institut magazine. The work on Looks.fm showed that a team grown from a web studio could produce products that attract attention beyond professional circles.
The bureau's own works also entered the media field. On 17.10.2014, AIN.UA published the piece "What Dynamic Design Can Do: The Example of Creative Bureau Sponge." In that text the studio was examined as an example of how dynamic presentation helps sell design, not just demonstrate it.
What Came Next
In spring and summer 2015 the bureau continued publishing cases on Behance. On 08.05.2015 a case for the studio's new website appeared there. On 30.06.2015 a project dedicated to Madonna came out on the platform, and already in September it was included in Sostav's roundup "The Best Projects of Summer from Behance" in the motion design section. At the same time the series of web marks continued: on 14.08.2015 CSSDA gave Special Kudos for the American version of the site with a score of 7.57.
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