Winners Of 2025 Substance 3D Designer Insanity Awards Announced

It's that time of year again: the Substance 3D team has revealed the ten artists whose work stood out the most, earning them a Substance 3D Designer Insanity Awards win. The selection focuses on materials that are technically outstanding and have that extra wow factor. Let's take a look at who impressed the most this year, and see if you recognize any familiar names from 80 Level articles.

First Place: Bagaev Evgenii, Tetris

That's right, it's the famous Tetris game recreated in Substance 3D Designer, and it's fully playable. There's even a settings screen where you can change key bindings or turn off hints. Great job, Evgenii! Any chance you could make DOOM next?

Second Place: Rebecca El Cheikh, Rubik's Cube

This is a fully functional Rubik's Cube system that dynamically adapts and works no matter which direction or dimension you choose to rotate. Rebecca already took second place at last year's Insanity Awards with her Nostalgia project, which we also had the chance to talk with her about.

Third Place: Romain Lemaire, Orb Spider Web Generator

We've featured this project before on 80 Level, but if you missed it, Romain Lemaire has extensively used 3D Designer's spline tools to create these cobwebs. The generator is available for purchase on the artist's page.

Fourth Place: Hyeonyong Jeon, Mountains

Hyeonyong Jeon has crafted a fantastically intricate mountain environment using just a single material. Visit the project page to take a closer look at all the details.

Fifth Place: Javier Perez, Ladybugs

Even those who aren't fans of bugs can admire this one. Truly creative concept, and let's hope we'll get a breakdown of the project for anyone who missed Javier's presentation at Substance Days Los Angeles.

Sixth Place: Cyril Kessin, Stylized Troglodyte Village

Can you make a whole game environment using only Substance 3D Designer? Cyril Kessin did, and it's epic. We spoke with him about the project, so dive in if you want the full behind-the-scenes story.

Seventh Place: Finn Swift, Animated Drill Material

No 3D modeling was involved in creating this project. Finn Swift crafted this animated drill entirely within Substance 3D Designer, using the material graph and the Pixel Processor node.

Eighth Place: Oday Abuzaeed, Rock Formation Generator

This one generates infinite stylized rock formations, converts height maps into real, decimated meshes with a single click, and lets you art-direct everything. Amazing work.

Ninth Place: Andrei Zelenco, 3D Wild Flowers

We're big fans of Andrei Zelenco's work on 80 Level. This generator was created as a way to practice procedural drawing using mathematical functions and an FX map.

Tenth Place: Ric, Nine Dragon Wall

And finally, the oldest surviving Nine-Dragon Wall in China, recreated entirely in Substance 3D Designer by Ric. There's something special about seeing 3D used to recreate ancient, real-world stonework.

Check out all the winning projects here, and let's stay tuned for what 2026 has in store. Subscribe to our Newsletter and join our 80 Level Talent platform, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Instagram, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.