Trendon operates as a multi-brand showcase: clothing, shoes and accessories from various labels are gathered in one place. As stated in the project description, the store “brings designers and brands together.” The client is Ukrainian, and the work, which the competition called “Online shop Trendon,” was submitted on behalf of Sponge D&D, the studio division responsible for design and development. In the Websites design section, the project received the competition's highest mark, Best of.
The eighth award at the Ukrainian competition
For the studio, Ukrainian Design has long been a regular venue. The first award came in 2013: a project for the Chkalov school received Best of in category B-1. In 2014, Sponge was recognized for the Estetico.me website and the logo for “Pervy Gorodskoy,” and in 2015 the competition honored work for Madonna, the Sponge D&D website, the KTK logo and the Geeks Empire TV ident. Trendon became the studio's eighth prize at this venue and the first in its record for 2016 at the Ukrainian competition.
The project's international journey began with Awwwards, one of the most renowned website evaluation platforms. There the work received an Honorable Mention on June 13, 2016. A month later, on July 10, the store's website appeared on CSS Winner, a web design gallery, as Site of the Day. For a studio that built its reputation on websites, such accolades matter: they show that the work is of interest not only to a local jury.
A Golden Site and one store under different names
In the autumn of 2016, Trendon took part in the Russian competition “Golden Site 2016.” The project took first place in the nomination that the competition's website called “Online store of an FMCG manufacturer, monobrand online store.” The nomination's title is intended for monobrand projects by manufacturers, so for a multi-brand store it seems unexpected, but the victory was counted in that category. In the same series of “Golden Sites,” the Furgoneta project also took first place in its nomination, and the developer ranking, which took these awards into account, placed Sponge in 13th–18th place with 10 points.
In all three competitions the project appears under different names. At UD it is listed as Trendon Online Shop, at Awwwards and CSS Winner as Trendon store. The description, however, is the same, so this refers to one store, not two projects.
A studio on the rise
Trendon arrived in an award season that was shaping up well for Sponge. In August 2015, the studio's own website became Site of the Day on Awwwards with a score of 7.03, and in October 2015 at “Golden Site 2015” Sponge took first place in the category for digital agency websites. In the 2015/2016 season of the VRK, the studio ranked eighth among digital agencies and scored 29 points. In the 2016 Runet creativity ranking, Sponge came in 11th.
The studio's founder was and remains Bohdan Hnatiuk, under whose leadership the bureau grew from a small team into one of the most prominent Ukrainian design studios online. In 2016, the studio's works received awards almost every month: Furgoneta appeared twice in CSS Winner selections at the beginning of the year, and Defence Group received an Honorable Mention on Awwwards in August. Trendon fit into this line as one of the year's most notable projects.
In January 2017, the studio continued its run of awards. The BizzGrid website received an Honorable Mention on Awwwards on January 16, and the next day CSS Winner chose it as Site of the Day.
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