Which Design Platform is Higher in 2024?

If you happen to’re trying to rent a graphic designer for an upcoming mission, you would possibly really feel overwhelmed by scanning by means of portfolios and contacting particular person designers for quotes. Now, you’ll be able to faucet into the facility of crowdsourcing your graphic design. This lets you acquire dozens of designs with out all of the heavy lifting. Is 99Designs vs DesignCrowd the higher match in your design contest?

On this head-to-head comparability, we dive into how you will discover the most effective designers in your mission and which platform is price your money and time. 

Let’s take a more in-depth take a look at what you’ll be able to anticipate from every one. 

TL;DR: Is 99Designs or DesignCrowd Higher for You?

Desire a fast reply about whether or not 99Designs or DesignCrowd is the higher match for you? 

99Designs wins for its clear pricing, flexibility, and ease of use. You will not be confused about the place to go in your contest or tips on how to arrange a contract together with your desired graphic designer. Even higher, they provide a variety of providers, however their money-back assure is a bit more restrictive. 

DesignCrowd has related providers with some notable additions (like outside signage). Their interface is barely clunkier, and their pricing plans aren’t as easy. Nevertheless, their money-back assure is simpler to make use of. It is also simpler to arrange a customized mission with the designer of your selection. 

Overview of 99Designs and DesignCrowd

Let’s begin with a fast overview of each 99Designs and DesignCrowd earlier than we get into the design high quality and submissions course of. 

99Designs

Each 99Designs and DesignCrowd are recognized for his or her crowdsourcing, pairing designers with paying shoppers by way of a contest mannequin. This profitable enterprise mannequin has been round for some time, with 99Designs getting into the market again in 2008 in Australia. They now even have a United States-based workplace in California. 

Designers come right here from everywhere in the world and so they have a terrific platform for safe funds and built-in 24/7 buyer assist for each shoppers and designers. 

They boast that somebody posts a brand new design to their platform each seven to 10 seconds, and so they have awarded over $12 million in contracts. 

DesignCrowd 

In the same vein, DesignCrowd was based in 2007, additionally an Australian firm. They’ve over 1.2 million graphic designers who contribute to their design submissions, with 31.7 million submissions thus far. This platform affords varied providers (extra on this in a minute). 

They pleasure themselves on having excessive design high quality and have paid thousands and thousands out to the artists who undergo their contests. This may be the best way to go for those who’re looking for a legit solution to get some designs by way of a contest with minimal strain to rent particular designers. 

DesignCrowd additionally owns and manages BrandCrowd, their on-line brand maker. Be taught extra about the place to get a brand designed right here.

The Fundamentals of What to Anticipate with 99Designs & DesignCrowd

As a small enterprise proprietor, you may be questioning precisely how one can leverage instruments like 99Designs and DesignCrowd to make your design initiatives transfer easily. Each are nice platforms to attach shoppers with those that have the design abilities to ship. 

Here’s a fast primer on how these providers work and what they’ve to supply. 

How Crowdsourcing Works with Design Contests

When most enterprise homeowners take into consideration getting a design for his or her firm t-shirts or logos, they could instantly consider a personal mission. Nevertheless, narrowing down to at least one high-quality designer generally is a problem, which is the place crowdsourcing is available in. 

Each 99Designs and DesignCrowd focus on crowdsourcing your newest mission. This implies you open up a contest, and varied designers can submit concepts and sketches in your consideration. You get to see the most effective of the most effective when it comes to high-quality designs and determine what is correct in your model id. 

As soon as the competition closes and all submissions are made, you’ll be able to choose one winner and pay just for the piece you fee (plus any posting and transaction charges). 

Vary of Design Companies

While you flip to a web based market for nice designers, you may be questioning precisely what you will get out of your association. You’ll be able to create a contest for a number of classes of providers whereas paying a aggressive value. 

On 99Designs, you’ll be able to rent for: 

• Brand and model id
• Net and app design
• Promoting and promotional supplies
• Clothes and merchandise
• Artwork and illustration
• Packaging and labels
• Books and magazines.

DesignCrowd additionally affords an array of providers, together with a lot of the above, along with outside and signage (together with automotive wraps, billboards, and extra). 

When you rent the art work to be commissioned, you will have to search out printing providers to get the ultimate mission with the design submissions you determine to go along with. 

Rights to Accomplished Art work

All design submissions have an inherent copyright that belongs to the designers. As soon as a mission has been awarded and the ultimate product has been delivered to you, that copyright is transferred to you. At 99Designs, you may signal a Design Switch Settlement, which turns into your private property to make use of as you see match. 

DesignCrowd affords the same course of the place you keep the copyright as quickly as you obtain the ultimate file out of your designer. Additionally they specify that non-logo work would possibly embody objects the designer doesn’t have the copyright for (photographs, art work, and many others.). 

If so, you’ll have permission to print and show these photographs, however the copyright might be retained by the designer or third occasion. 

99Designs vs DesignCrowd: Who Does It Higher?

With among the fundamentals out of the best way, let’s take a more in-depth take a look at how one can leverage these platforms to get extra design submissions and work with top-level designers. Principally, we’ll discuss with the skilled design right here about brand designs for simplicity. 

Size of Time to Obtain Submissions & Variety of Submissions

The design contest course of on each websites requires a more in-depth look. How lengthy do skilled designers must create designs based on your specs, and what number of entries will you obtain? 

At 99Designs, the default size of the competition is seven days. There are 4 days within the qualifying spherical and three days within the remaining spherical. If you happen to want a bit of extra time to overview the entries to your brand design contests, you’ll be able to all the time request an extension. 

Relying in your contest bundle, you’ll get between 30 and 90 designs. 

However, DesignCrowd has the potential to maneuver a lot quicker. You’ll be able to go for a three-, five-, or ten-day contest mannequin. This lets you get to the outcomes a lot quicker for those who’re in a rush to place a brand new brand or advertising out into the world. They estimate that you’ll get greater than 50 designs. 

Ease of Use and Communication

While you’re searching for graphic design providers, ease of use on the platform is a vital facet when deciding which platform wins. Organising a design contest on each 99Designs vs DesignCrowd is kind of easy. You will not have too many questions on the method of contacting graphic designers and tips on how to get your first items. 

Nevertheless, this primary look on the platform is not indicative of your total expertise. 

99Designs has an interface that’s a lot simpler to make use of and navigate. They make it clear the place to go and tips on how to work together together with your freelance graphic designers. This platform retains issues easy: clear buttons to information your course of, no extraneous promoting, and no confusion. 

However, many individuals who use the DesignCrowd design contests discover that the interface is much less optimum. It has further buttons all over the place, which detracts from a streamlined view of the place it’s best to go subsequent and tips on how to navigate by means of your brand design contests. 

Potential to Choose a Freelance Designer

Discovering a very good graphic designer will be like discovering a needle in a haystack. Fortuitously, each 99Designs and DesignCrowd appeal to a big crowd of graphic designers with various ranges of expertise. If you happen to discover an individual you want to work with, how straightforward is it to safe them on 99Designs vs DesignCrowd?

99Designs makes this straightforward: you’ll be able to search by means of their database to search out the skilled designer you wish to work with. All it’s important to do is click on invite on their profile. This units the stage to both definitively work with them one-on-one or invite them to an open contest mannequin. 

DesignCrowd affords a really related service. You’ll be able to invite particular designers to your design contest, however you can too provoke a one-on-one mission. Head to their profile, click on on “View Service,” and you will note their pricing and may place an order. 

Customized Initiatives

Perhaps you already know the fundamentals and do not wish to undergo design contests that may require you to vet brand designers and wade by means of tons of entries. The excellent news is that each 99Designs and DesignCrowd assist you to arrange a customized mission transient and work one-on-one with a graphic designer. 

That being mentioned, 99Designs is generally targeted on the design contest facet of its enterprise mannequin. You’ll discover high quality designers right here, however it’s kind of extra difficult for a enterprise proprietor to provoke a extra customized design mission. 

DesignCrowd affords proficient designers who’re more than pleased to simply accept contracts from you. If you happen to needn’t check a number of designers to create a customized brand, then you definately may be higher off with this platform as an alternative. They make it fairly easy to rent the graphic or brand designer of your selection. 

Cash-Again Ensures

How can you make sure that you get essentially the most bang in your buck? If you wish to get a brand designed, you may be taking a threat by operating a contest for a brand maker. Nevertheless, there are some protections put in place for you if the design high quality is poor. 

99Designs does provide a 60-day money-back assure, but it surely’s difficult to determine for those who qualify. Listed below are the restrictions in your money-back assure: 

• No assured prize initiatives
• No a reimbursement after getting into the ultimate spherical
• No refunds after naming a winner
• Nobody-on-one initiatives.

Equally, DesignCrowd affords a 60-day money-back assure with a handful of exceptions. You’ll not obtain a return of cash paid for posting or improve charges. There are additionally no refunds in case you have dedicated or assured your mission. 

Pricing for 99Designs vs DesignCrowd

If you happen to’ve made it this far, you may be questioning what the pricing plans appear to be for 99Designs and DesignCrowd. Here is what you’ll be able to anticipate to pay to run a design contest on both of those websites. 

99Designs

99Designs has very easy pricing plans. Their pricing is predicated on the kind of design contests you wish to run. 

For brand design, you’ll be able to decide into their Bronze bundle for the bottom preliminary funding at simply $299 (which ought to provide you with about 30 designs). Their charges go all the best way from Bronze to Silver ($499), Gold ($899), and Platinum ($1,299). Platinum provides you entry to fewer submissions however extra from top-level designers. 

You’ll want to choose the precise graphic designs you are eager about to take a look at the price of hiring designers by way of a few of these contests. 

DesignCrowd

DesignCrowd has a barely totally different pricing construction, requiring you to pay a $129 posting price upfront and a 4 p.c transaction price. The price for design contests depends upon the kind of service you need (a brand maker, t-shirt designer, flyer designer, and many others.) 

The draw back is that their pricing is not almost as easy as what you may discover on-line with 99Designs. If transparency is a very powerful factor to you when operating a brand contest, then you definately would possibly wish to rethink if DesignCrowd is the perfect match. 

Ultimate Ideas: Will You Use 99Designs vs DesignCrowd?

99Designs and DesignCrowd are each very talked-about platforms that provide you with quite a lot of design ideas with out having to achieve out to particular person graphic designers one-on-one. For essentially the most half, 99Designs wins on the finish of the day for its easy pricing plans, flexibility, and ease of use. 

If you happen to’re out there for design submissions, pop on over to one among these platforms to see if you will get the emblem designs, t-shirts, or net designs that you’ve got been looking for!