DesignWebKit curates roundups for web designers: ready-made solutions, breakdowns of techniques, and real-world examples. Helen Stark's article is devoted to the balance between symmetry and asymmetry in layout. A symmetrical composition gives the screen order and calm, while asymmetry adds tension and movement, and experienced designers usually choose between them deliberately rather than out of habit.
The Sponge website made it into this roundup as an example of combining the two approaches. The menu items are arranged symmetrically relative to a horizontal line, while the remaining elements on either side of it are placed without strict order. Here is how the author puts it:
"Sponge website depicts a horizontal symmetry of the menu elements"
In translation: the Sponge website demonstrates horizontal symmetry of the menu elements. For an interface, this technique is useful because the menu provides a steady foundation, while the free arrangement of the rest of the content enlivens the screen and keeps it from looking formulaic.
The Studio and Its Website
Sponge operates as a digital agency, and the founder of the studio is Bohdan Hnatiuk. In 2014, the team included executive director Kyrylo Soliar and lead designer Serhii Semernov, who was also director and co-owner of SPONGE STORE. On August 19, two days before DesignWebKit's publication, Soliar gave an interview to Innabits, and the piece on symmetry came out at a moment when attention to the bureau's work was already growing.
That attention was no accident. Back in December 2013, the previous version of the studio's website received an Honorable Mention on Awwwards. Awwwards is an international platform where a jury selects the best websites by design and execution, and even a place on the honorable list is considered a notable mark of quality in the professional community.
Awards of 2014 and 2015
In the autumn of 2014, the studio's work continued to receive recognition. On October 13–17, at the UD 2014 competition, the Estetico.me website received a Best of B-1 mark, and the logo for "Pervyi Gorodskoi" was noted as Best of C-I-5. On the same days, October 17, Creativity Ukraine placed Sponge 12th in the interim ranking with 4 points.
In 2015, the bureau's own website landed in a whole series of professional roundups. CSSDA chose it as Site of the Day on May 24, with a final score of 7.80. Then came Site of the Day selections at CSS Winner on June 13, where the score was 7.5, and at Awwwards on August 8, where the site received a score of 7.03. This streak is explained not by a single successful project but by the fact that the site regularly went through various international competitions, each evaluating execution by its own criteria.
Through the summer and autumn of 2015, the Sponge website continued to collect distinctions in professional competitions, and this series culminated in a Russian award. On October 22, 2015, at the "Zolotoi Sait 2015" awards, the Sponge website took first place in the "Digital Agency Website" category.
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