DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
ID : The key idea was to create an award that can be used in online chess tournaments where there is no way for participants to receive the award in person. The award should be easy to transport to the winners.
DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
ID : The award is the face of any competition. It contributes to the popularization of the tournament, attracts more participants, her image is spread in the media and social networks. Having studied the awards and cups of various tournaments and the peculiarities of playing chess, the idea was born to create a collapsible cup symbolizing the transformation of a pawn into a queen, as a recognition of growth and reaching a new milestone. Such an award can be delivered to the recipient in a standard mailing package. Having studied the conditions of transportation, we realized that the object must be sufficiently strong and compact, for this stainless steel was chosen. Specialists from Grega, a steel company, helped us develop the technology and produce a trial batch of awards.
DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
ID : We are ready to offer this project as a reward for tournaments so that Nagrada finds its application and becomes a worthy prize for its winners
DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
ID : The project began in March 2020 in Togliatti and ended in May 2020 in Togliatti.
DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
ID : The project was developed for Dydykin Studio. The reward allows to gain new experience. Receiving a physical award in an online tournament creates a sense of personal satisfaction for the results achieved and enhances self-esteem.
DI: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
ID : Together with our partner, Grega, we are working on the issue of producing and customizing awards for individual customer requests. We will be happy to offer both ready-made rewards and develop unique versions for tournament organizers.
DI: What made you design this particular type of work?
ID : We aimed to create a more sustainable connection between people and organizations in the online space. Nagrada becomes an attribute that connects the player at the computer, the organizer and other participants in the tournament. The awarded person has respect for the organization and the persons who have appreciated his merits and made the appropriate decision.
DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
ID : For the development of the production technology and the manufacture of a trial batch of awards, we turned to Grega, a company specializing in working with steel.
DI: Who is the target customer for his design?
ID : Nagrada is suitable for organizers of chess tournaments, creative events and competitions, where it is important for participants to show their intellectual and creative abilities.
DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
ID : Nagrada consists of two flat pieces of a pawn and a queen, which are inserted into each other through narrow slots that form a single reward. 3mm thick stainless steel was chosen as the main material, as it provides the necessary strength, stability and attractive appearance. Thanks to the soft transitions and smooth corners, the figurine looks safe. The cup can be easily customized for the desired style, it can be completely or partially covered with color, graphics and inscriptions. The award has a significant weight of 570 grams, which allows the recipient to better feel its value, at the same time, these parameters are great for transporting folded in a standard A4 mail bag.
DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
ID : Nagrada in translation from Russian means - reward, encouragement of a person for his achievements.
DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
ID : During the development of this project, manual sketching, vector design in Adobe Illustrator, cardboard and stainless steel prototyping were used.
DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
ID : The design of the award epitomizes pawn-to-queen promotion as a recognition of mastery.
DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
ID : Our team included: project manager Ludmila Sapalova, product photographer Anzelika Dydykina and Sergey Grekov from the Grega company specializing in working with steel.
DI: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
ID : Stainless steel is used in the manufacture of the award. By means of waterjet cutting the product is given the intended shape. Then hand sanding and polishing is applied. If necessary, engraving is done with text and image. The final form of the award gets after electrochemical polishing and manual finishing of the product.
DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
ID : We investigated the awards and cups of various tournaments and the peculiarities of the game of chess. After examining the conditions of transportation, we realized that the reward should be strong and compact enough so that it can be safely delivered to the recipient in a standard mailing package.
DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
ID : We paid the greatest attention to the clarity and accuracy of the manufacture of awards, so that when the parts are closed, all the elements are well joined.
DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
ID : Having experience of interaction with the A 'Design Award competition, we were interested in how the international jury would evaluate this award, so it was decided to submit this project to the international competition.
DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
ID : We had tremendous pleasure working on this project. We learned to play chess, studied many features of the use of stainless steel in production and attracted talented people to our team.
DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
ID : We would like to thank the A’Design team for their timely feedback and the opportunity to grow professionally within your community.