How to create award-winning websites without writing a single line of code

Hi, my name is Artem, and I'm a designer. At the beginning of my career, I dived into graphic design, gradually gravitating towards web design, until a few years ago, I realized that I enjoy making products the most. Nevertheless, I did not abandon web design, and it remains my favorite hobby. Today I'm a chief designer at a crypto startup, a judge at The FWA, and a winner of 27 web awards. In this article, I want to share my experience of creating no-code projects and winning various design awards.

In 2017, my best friend and I founded a design studio aimed at creating image websites for businesses that recognize the need for creative solutions. Our first client was a media agency from St. Petersburg, Chameleon Media. Being our friends, they didn't put up any constraints, and we had full freedom of action. Another partner of ours and the main developer took care of WebGL, and we've delivered a product that is still competitive today and matches the trends of the best The FWA works. That was when the site brought us our first awards from the CSS Design Awards, Awwwards, etc. But it was a full-code project.

At my current job, I'm doing functional design, studying human interaction with blockchain, and concentrating on design theory (you can read my article about problems in cryptocurrency market design). As an outlet, I wanted to create creative, bright, and festive stories. But I needed an experienced developer with extensive knowledge in programming languages and 3D. That is when while scrolling through Awwwards I stumbled upon Obys Agency - a Ukrainian agency that was receiving awards for their top-notch projects at a speed The Lord of the Rings was getting Oscars in the early 2000s. Moreover, Obys assembled their sites in ReadyMag builder with no-code and with minor code additions.

What made ReadyMag stand out among other products (WebFlow, Squarespace, Tilda, etc.), was its super simple and functional design. I could feel Apple's approach to product design, which was weird at first, but as you get used to it, you realize that this is the way. I fell in love with RM; it unleashed my potential because now I didn't need a developer to bring my ideas to life.

First Project on ReadyMag

I have enjoyed storytelling since an early age. At the age of 14, I was seriously into directing because I believed (and still do) that the visual arts, and specifically cinematography, are the most graceful way to tell stories humanity has devised. By the way, I believe that Christopher Nolan makes excellent use of all the mechanics of cinema and tells truly remarkable stories better than anyone else. As I grew up, I discovered more and more about political ambition, a thirst for justice, among other things; plus, new ways of storytelling emerged with the rise of the Internet. It is the combination of these factors that led me to write this post.

I've identified several major topics that I intend to tell when creating web long reads on ReadyMag. One of them is a tribute to my homeland, Armenia. I was born there, but my family moved to Russia shortly after, and my acquaintance with my home country was destined to happen years after. I really fell in love with Armenia, its thousands of years of history, great discoveries, and dramatic scars. At some point, while visiting my family in Yerevan, I discovered that in the history of such a small country, there were a number of great figures/events that had changed the world in the truest sense: the world-renowned artists Aivazovsky, Sayat Nova, the Macedonian dynasty, the scientists who invented MRI, the ATM, color television, made US dollar green and much more. It struck me, and I wanted to talk about it through a long read created at ReadyMag.

Live view: https://100.greatarmenia.org

This work brought me more awards with CSS Design Awards, Awwwards, achievement from Behance, etc. It received an overwhelming response from many people, and I realized that I am on the right track to take on the next project.

"The Armenian Genocide" longread and first The FWA

Around the beginning of April, close to the 106th anniversary of the most tragic phase in the history of the Armenian people and one of the most horrific episodes in the world history - the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey), I started thinking about covering this incredibly difficult topic. In fact, I pondered whether I should take on this topic at all for a long time, for the task was to cover a poignant and complicated story.

Thanks to the support of my beloved one, my main partner, and the kindest person I know, I did decide to take on this challenge. I had to digest a ton of heartbreaking information, structure it and tell the most important story of the Armenian people.

The Armenian Genocide was a massacre of children, women, and elderly Armenians living for centuries in the territory (occupied later by nomadic Turkic peoples) of the Ottoman Empire, since ancient Rome and Byzantium, arranged by three rulers who later suffered their punishment. The genocide took place in stages from 1878 to 1939 and took the lives of over 2 million people. This fact, documented worldwide, signed by President Roosevelt, recognized by the whole world, is still not recognized by Turkey.

Live view: https://genocide.greatarmenia.org/

The result brought me my first The FWA award, all category awards from Awwwards, CSS Design Awards, and many others.

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Also, you can follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/artmilitonian
Peace!