Third Season of HSE CREATIVE OPEN Comes to an End

On April 4, the HSE Art and Design School hosted an award ceremony for the winners and runners-up of the third season of the HSE CREATIVE OPEN international online competition. This season’s categories included Identity, Object Design, Music Release, Advertising Concept, Illustration, and Game Space.

The HSE CREATIVE OPEN was first held in 2022 at HSE University. The main goal of the competition is to combine original ideas and vibrant projects in all areas of design, contemporary art, and fashion in one platform. Recent graduates and students, as well as graduates of any universities (regardless of their geographical location), can participate in the competition.

Mikael Askerov

Identity is an integral part of the life and work of every artist and designer, says Mikael Askerov, student mentor of the Communication Design track at the HSE Art and Design School. ‘The identity contest is, first of all, an opportunity to compete, to have a friendly look at the level of each other’s work. It was extremely difficult to evaluate more than 240 projects, but we received a lot of really strong, good works,’ he said.

Based on the results of the reviewed works, the jury forms shortlists of the most interesting projects and determines the top three. The winners receive cash prizes (first place—50,000 rubles, second place—30,000 rubles, third place—20,000 rubles), as well as assistance with project development and implementation. In addition, the winning projects will be published in a growing online archive of works by young talents.

Evgeny Voronovsky (right)

One of the jury members in the Music Release nomination was Evgeny Voronovsky, musician, sound artist, lecturer and student mentor of the Sound Art and Sound Design track at the HSE Art and Design School. ‘The HSE CREATIVE OPEN is a big breakthrough in terms of music; it gave us an opportunity to promote different types of music,’ emphasised Evgeny Voronovsky. ‘We will work to ensure that the competition becomes large-scale, annual, and that all the latest advanced electronics receive prizes.’

Artem Turkin, winner of the Music Release nomination, created his project in his first year. ‘It was on SoundCloud all this time,’ he said. ‘I’m glad you can listen to it now, because the music is quite soothing, and, on the whole, the work is great, I won’t be modest.’

On April 21, the jury will sum up the results of a special Illustration nomination, in which participants offer new design ideas for Gzhel ceramics branding.

Ilya Kapitonov, winner of the first place in the Music Release category, says that his project is about fantasies and reflections on what the future of people living next to artificial intelligence will be like. ‘People, most likely, will someday be able to upgrade the abilities of artificial intelligence to an uncontrollable state,’ the competition’s winner believes. ‘Accordingly, neuroleptics that can inhibit the cognitive abilities of artificial intelligence are coming to the fore, and our musical work just reflects the possibility that this will happen in the year 3001.’

Anton Ivlenov and Anastasia Goryunova

The winners of the Game Space nomination received their prizes from Anton Ivlenov, author of the Virtual Space in Unreal Engine course at the HSE Art and Design School and lead developer at Snowbird Games. ‘Art and science have helped us expand the boundaries of the cognisable,’ Anton Ivlenov believes. ‘The game appears where the experience that we feel as our own is synthesised. The competition is not so much about game space in the broadest sense, but about a space in which we can go beyond the boundaries of our physical world, go beyond the boundaries of our fantasies.’ Anton Ivlenov explained that he perceives all the works presented at the HSE CREATIVE OPEN as new worlds, as something independent and unique. ‘Everyone who touches these worlds will be able to discover new meanings, will be able to expand the boundaries of perceiving this space,’ he believes.

Anastasia Goryunova, winner of the Game Space nomination, decided to participate in the competition to draw attention to the expressive and narrative possibilities of virtual space, which, in her opinion, are not being used to their full potential. ‘My project was presented as a kind of spatial teaser, screenshots and a video review of a game location were shown, but it will be possible to fully evaluate the game as soon as the full version is released,’ explained Anastasia Goryunova.

Maria Stepanova (right)

Maria Stepanova, Head of the Object and Industrial Design track at the HSE Art and Design School, also shared her opinion about the competition, announcing the winners of the Object Design nomination. ‘Making a product design and furniture project is a very difficult task, since it is necessary to take into account all the criteria formed during the analysis, including those of our partners,’ she emphasised. ‘The exhibition industry is constantly evolving, and the furniture market is very competitive, but despite this, some cool innovative solutions were presented.’

Ekaterina Konovalova, winner of the Object Design nomination, said that her project was originally created as a graduation project. ‘The bottom line is that furniture in libraries is going through a renaissance,’ she said. ‘It is often used, but it is not intended for institutions of this kind. Therefore, I decided to understand the needs of libraries and how I can solve them with the help of furniture. This is how my small line, designed specifically for libraries, was created—these are two options for shelving, a table, a chair, and a trolley table.’

More information about the nominations and winners of the third season of the HSE CREATIVE OPEN can be found here (in Russian).

The fourth season of the competition will include the following categories: Font, Web Comics, Event Design, Fashion Brand, Video Art, and Rethinking Crafts. Registration to participate in the competition will open soon—see the website of the HSE Art and Design School for more updates and information.