Mattia ☀️
Great to see you back here, Mattia! Thank you for the response, although it was quite unfulfilling—for the brilliance of some of these entries can’t be hidden by a carefully worded message.
I wouldn’t expect you to provide a case-to-case explanation for the rejection of any of the submissions. However, regardless of if I’m going to get a response or if I’m going to sound desperate, I hope you’ll allow me this moment to express why this particular outcome has left me genuinely disheartened.
Again, I can admit my own bias, but I am asking because I was left wondering—while both themes are more or less the same but implemented in different ways, I wouldn’t hold back from claiming that mine brought something better—not only in execution but in its depth of research, presentation, and resonance with the community. I also believe it was feasible-enough to mass produce, and if the rules were flexible enough to be changed, the retro-beige version received sincere appreciation from people who understood its design intent. Rest, I am confident that this one would’ve gotten more votes to add to all this.
It’s not easy for me to say, but I was choked to sadness after realising that despite sharing similarity in the theme and clearly better work in other important aspects of it, this wasn’t even a runner-up.
Naturally, it makes me feel that there’s more than just what’s shown and admitted, that is influencing the decision-making.
It’s quite harsh to write this in a tech forum where it’s meant to be all nice and smiles. But I say all of this not out of bitterness, but because the sense of injustice felt was too real to ignore. I’m sharing this not to accuse, but to voice what I feel is a fair and heartfelt concern. I want to believe in the integrity of this process, but experiences like this make it difficult not to question.
I write this with respect, even if it comes across as harsh. I hope you understand.
