Crafting Consistency: The Yandex Plus Email Design Story

This competition was a chance to step back and reflect on the result of months of work. For us, this win is not just a recognition of quality — it’s a recognition of how we work: how we support each other, challenge each other, and grow together. It’s also a chance to share our approach with a broader audience and, hopefully, inspire other teams to showcase their work too.

Our project is more than just an interface or a campaign. It’s the result of true cross-functional collaboration — analytics, marketing, product design, and visual identity all came together.

We wanted to show that a digital ecosystem can be not just smart and seamless, but warm, human, and full of life. We were inspired by cultural context, user behavior, and the pursuit of balance between expressive visuals and usability.

We believe it was the integrity of the vision. We weren’t trying to impress just for the sake of it — we sought honest, clear solutions rooted in real-life user scenarios. We adapted visuals to the platform without losing personality. From the beginning, we knew why we were doing the project, and that clarity kept us on track.

The biggest challenge was aligning a large group of people with diverse perspectives. We had to find a common language between design, engineering, and marketing. It took flexibility, patience, and a lot of prototyping. We tested, failed, debated — and that’s when the strongest ideas came to life.

We hope it becomes a launchpad. Recognition brings responsibility. We want our work to inspire — both inside Yandex and beyond. Perhaps this award will give us more freedom to experiment, take on ambitious challenges, and scale our design processes further.

We received a lot of heartfelt feedback — from colleagues at Yandex to designers abroad. Some noticed the level of detail, others appreciated the emotional impact. But the most valuable thing was hearing that our work inspired someone else.

Don’t be afraid to share your work — even if it feels imperfect. Honesty, consistency, and care for the process often matter more than polish. Build strong teams where debate is safe, try more, document everything, collect feedback, and keep learning.

The industry is becoming more hybrid. A designer today is not just someone who draws interfaces — we are the bridge between tech, business, and culture. We don’t just want to keep up with the trends — we want to shape them through thoughtful, systematic work.

Entering is a way to mark your growth. Don’t wait for the “perfect” project. Learn to recognize the value in what you do, talk about it, and embrace feedback. Awards aren’t about vanity — they’re about evolution.

Listen to each other. Share what you’ve learned. Stay open to new ways of thinking. There’s no one right way in design — and that’s what makes it exciting.

This win is for the whole team. We’d like to dedicate it to everyone who worked alongside us — developers, analysts, product managers, and marketers. Without them, design would be just a picture. We especially want to recognize:

1. Art Director – Rava Elenovich.

2. Operational Director of CRM – Natalya Semagina.

3. Design Lead – Rita Balakina.

4. Creative Director – Yulia Rubleva.

5. Design Lead – Ilya Khusoyanov.

6. Senior Designer – Galina Tretyak.

7. Designer – Alexey Sadchikov.

8. Designer – Raphael Alpert.

A digital experience where you feel not just convenience — but warmth.

We’re exploring a few new directions, and we’re looking for bold, expressive ways to bring them to life — the kind that truly reflects the Yandex Plus spirit. What matters most: never stopping and never forgetting why we do what we do.