99designs

The​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ Ultimate Battle of the Brushes: My Honest Review of 99designs Finding the perfect designer is basically dating. You imagine a certain "vibe", have a set of expectations, and a wallet that you definitely don't want to open for a "dead-end" first date. For long, 99designs has been the dominant brand in the creative outsourcing world, with a promise that they will connect business owners to a global community of professionals. Now, I have recently tested the platform myself to check if it's still the "gold standard" for branding or if AI tools have taken over. Here is my evaluation of the 99designs service. What is 99designs? Vistaprint owns 99designs, which is a creative marketplace that mainly uses two models: Design Contests and 1-to-1 Projects . Their contest concept is the reason why they have been in the limelight. Instead of looking at portfolios for hours and hoping that you have chosen the right person, you simply make a "brief" which is the description of your needs and designers from different parts of the world submit actual ideas. You only make the payment for the one that you select. This is more or less a large-scale global "audition." The Contest Experience: Seeing Your Idea Come to Life The real charm of 99designs is that it brings together a hundred different brains at the same time. When I issued a test project for a lifestyle brand, I was convinced that I would get five or six different versions of the same idea. But, surprisingly, I received twelve completely different interpretations.

1. The Creative Brief The site really helps you to "talk designer". Via a simple slider tool, you select between "Classic vs. Modern," "Playful vs. Sophisticated," or "Organic vs. Geometric." This turns your vague ideas into technical directions that the artists can use.
2. The Influx of Concepts A couple of days later, my platform was overwhelmed with the work of a number of different designers. There were crews of designers from Serbia, Indonesia, the UK, and Brazil all racing to do my logo. This is the major advantage of the platform: you get to see how different cultures interpret your brand values.
3. The Feedback Loop At this stage, you, in a way, become the creative director. Comment, "star" your favorites, and ask for particular changes can be done publicly or privately. "Can we make the font a bit heavier?" or "Could we try this in an earthy green?" Generally, the designers will be very quick in making the revisions because they want to win the prize money." The 1-to-1 Alternative Instead of dealing with the chaos that comes with a contest, you can directly deal with a designer. 99designs is very strict when it comes to the quality of its designers. Each designer is classified as "Entry," "Mid," or "Top Level" is a testament to this. This is a great relief compared to other freelance sites where anyone with a copy of Photoshop can claim to be an expert. When you hire a "Top Level" designer on 99designs, you are getting someone whose portfolio has been manually reviewed by an actual human curator. What I Loved: The Pros Complete Copyright Ownership: At the end of the contest, once you sign the contract, the design is yours. This is work that is legally "airtight" and is of utmost importance to business owners. The "Money-Back" Guarantee: If you execute a contest and none of the entries from the numerous submissions are right, they will give you a refund. This makes the initial investment feel much less risky. Print-Ready Files: What you get is not just a low-quality image but the "source files" (AI, EPS, PDF) in full that can be used by a printer or a web developer later on.

The Reality Check: The Cons Time Requirement: For getting the maximum benefits of 99designs, you should be an active participant. Giving no feedback means that the designers will also be clueless about how to improve their work. 99designs is not a setting where you work then forget about it. Price Point: 99designs reflects a premium service. It is a lot more expensive than AI tools that one can use or freelance sites that offer cheap gigs. Human talent and a managed platform are what you are paying for, and this is naturally coupled with a higher price tag.

The Verdict: Who Should Use 99designs? 99designs is a very smart investment for any entrepreneur who knows that their logo is the very "face" of their company. It is ideal for the business owner who can see a vision within himself but is willing to see that vision checked with so many different professionals before finally making a call. It is the $20 AI-generated icon that meets the $10,000 branding agency intermediary. Through 99designs, a business with a small budget can afford to get high-end, custom human-made ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌art.