It’s fascinating to see how crowdsourcing has spread to the world of visual creation. There are literally hundreds of places online where you can pay to have a design contest run for your business or personal needs. Their underlying premise is a fairly elementary one. They start off by having you provide a lengthy brief. They then host a competition and provide the brief to designers who have signed up for the site. After considering the brief, the designers will present you with a number of concept sketches. If you want, you can then get in touch with that designer directly. A number of alterations can be made to suit your requirements.
Presenting the Table of Contents
Many individuals with an urgent one-off task have welcomed this idea. Due to the high demand for designers’ services, many have flocked to this industry. Unfortunately, not every online platform for holding such competitions is successful. Before joining any platform, it is important to do one’s homework. Here is a selection of the most reputable online venues for design competitions to assist you in this endeavour:
1. CrowdSpring
CrowdSpring’s website design is extremely basic and straightforward. The second striking feature is the variety of design solutions it offers. It succeeds in standing out thanks to the categorical differentiation of its design solutions. There are an additional six subfields within the larger field of logo and corporate identity design, for instance. To simplify matters, both for the client and the designer, here are the options from which they can choose. As for the rest of the process, it’s the same as any other website hosting a design competition. It has a more thorough method for collecting client briefs during the new project onboarding process and an improved means of communication between team members.
CrowdSpring’s excellent customer service (via phone, chat, and email) is highly valued by both clients and creatives. When compared to 99designs, no other design platform gives its creative community the same level of support as its paying customers. This will make the process much simpler and the resulting custom design much more sturdy.
Crowdspring offers custom branding services in 33 different areas, such as company/product naming, logo design, website design, product packaging, and more.
One-on-one projects with a single designer are available across all Crowdspring categories. You can also choose the Elite category to collaborate with a team of five designers, all of whom will be compensated from the same award.
2. DesignBro
DesignBro is among the most cutting-edge and successful platforms for hosting online design competitions. Clients and designers alike will appreciate their intuitive interface. The bright side is that they only take on five percent of the designers who apply to work for them. As a result, they know they’re working with competent artists. Customers who hire them have a higher regard for and knowledge of graphic design because of this. Whether you’re looking for a logo, a website, or packaging design, they have contests for you. Because there are fewer alternatives for customers to choose from, the duration of each project can be cut down, making the business more lucrative.
3. 99Designs
The 99Designs design contest platform is the largest and most popular of its kind. It was revolutionary for the field of graphic design because it utilised the crowdsourcing model. It has progressed into an all-inclusive design resource in recent years. Logos, websites, apps, books, magazines, illustrations, packages, and more are all part of the service offering. With such a stellar reputation, it handles nearly a thousand orders daily. At the same time, a flood of designers dove in, making for a fiercely competitive environment. It has perfected its procedures over time, making them simple to implement. For established designers looking to build clientele quickly, the company’s inclusion of 1-to-1 projects is a major perk.
4. DesignHill
DesignHill is an up-and-coming competition like 99Designs. It started as a website hosting design competitions, but it has since transformed into a marketplace for creative goods, and it boasts that it is the largest of its kind. The site brags of its +5 million designs, 116,000 happy customers, and 150,000 designers. One possible interpretation of this figure is that it should serve as a warning that there are currently over 150,000 other designers vying for the same jobs as you. It has expanded its services to include a printshop in order to appeal to a wider customer base. Because the designer and the client no longer have to deal with the middleman print shop, everyone wins. It has recently branched out into artificial intelligence (AI) logo creation, which is clearly not going over well with customers because the AI is not yet sophisticated enough to think like designers.
5. Design Crowd
This platform takes its name directly from the process of crowdsourcing for creative projects. The upside is that it has spread to nearly every area of design. Services like apparel and merchandise design, outdoor marketing design, and even digital marketing services are provided in addition to the standard offerings. It doesn’t go out of its way to promote itself, but it’s well-suited for entering design competitions. It’s way too high, involving around 1,000,000 designs, and it may discourage new designers. However, the high number of designers it needs to hire per contest is balanced out by its promise to provide nearly 100 design options to contest entrants.
6. DesignContest.com
A savvy competitor in the design crowdsourcing industry has bolstered its search engine optimization by purchasing a keyword-rich domain. It’s clear from a cursory inspection that the site is still in its infancy and has a long way to go before it can compete with established rivals. There are currently logo design, website design, T-shirt design, and label design services available. When put next to the offerings of similar products, these are considerably lower. It’s good news that, compared to Design Crowd and 99Designs, it only appears to be hiring about 280,000 designers. It integrates with Behance, so you can use that platform to advertise your services to potential employers. Like other popular design contest sites, it provides designers with a variety of payment options.
7. Logo Tournament
This site is exactly what it sounds like: a place to host a competition involving the design of logos. It now only offers logo design as a service. Because of this, navigating and contributing to the website is a breeze. You can see all active competitions on a single, well-organized page. The prize money, the deadline, and the total number of submissions are all listed. Knowing which competitions to aim for based on factors like low applicant pool size or generous prize money is helpful. The client can submit their requirements in the form of a questionnaire and then claim their personalised reward. To its credit, it sticks to its original $275 starting point and seeks a turnaround time of no more than 7 days. This speeds up the procedure overall and increases your earnings quickly.
8. Logo My Way
An additional website devoted solely to logo design via crowdsourcing. In comparison to other top-tier websites like 99designs, its interface is not as polished. In terms of connecting customers with designers, however, it is an adequate effort. The urge to redesign the site from the ground up will be strong if you are a professional designer. In terms of procedure, it’s the same as any other online resource. To look on the bright side, it apparently employs some 30,000 designers. Therefore, it is safe to say that the crowds here are significantly smaller than elsewhere. It’s an improvement over the Logo Tournament in that it announces its competition criteria in advance.
9. CrowdSite
Immediately upon landing on the homepage, it is made abundantly clear that CrowdSite is the best creative agency available. The site is certainly an improvement over the previous two submissions, but it still has a ways to go before it can compete with industry heavyweights like 99designs or DesignBro. The site’s design contests are only $29, which is a major drawback. So you can calculate for yourself if it’s worth it to work here. As an alternative, it has inspired “brainstorming sessions,” during which designers hold open discussions with their clients and offer suggestions. It boasts of currently working with over 90,000 designers. It has adopted a useful practise that other websites should follow and displays the winners of recent competitions. Insight into the intensity of the competition and the breadth of the ideas on display here can be gleaned from this.
10. Hatchwise
Hatchwise is not just a design solution focused crowdsourcing website. Solutions like company/product naming contests, slogan competitions, and tagline competitions have also been implemented. The point is to provide the client with all the support they need in order to get their business up and running. The idea has potential, but it has been poorly implemented here. The website’s main problem is that it’s not very easy to navigate. Even though there are a lot of different kinds of contests, not all of them get enough participation. For a website that has been around for over a decade, it isn’t nearly as developed as some of its major rivals. Freelancers who focus on brand identity design are the only people who would be interested in this.
11. Zillion Designs
When it comes to potential aesthetic outcomes, more is always better. Zillion Designs makes an effort to prove that potential to its customers. The idea is similar to that behind crowdsourcing platforms. It’s up to the users to outline their needs, whether it’s for design or content. Based on this brief, the designers will generate a wide variety of options for you to choose from. Open files are chosen and downloaded, along with any additional files that may be required. Services like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), website development, and other promotional materials are also offered. To the contrary, it boasts a designer pool of over 100,000. Even so, it necessitates a large number of designers because it attempts to supply over a hundred different layouts.
12. 48HoursLogo
The website guarantees to provide you with a suitable logo within 48 hours, as the name suggests. Posters, flyers, labels, packaging, and digital designs are just some of the extras that they now offer. Back in 2019 when crowdsourcing for design was a novel idea, it all began. However, given its 48-hour mandate, its primary concern has always been speed of delivery. That’s good news for designers because they’ll be able to wrap up the project quickly and cash in on their efforts. Users are able to set their own individual budgets, with a minimum of $129 per month. In contrast to sites that allow contests to begin at $5, this makes the entire design process feasible.
Summary
Other sites that host design competitions are not included here. They’re not worth the trouble, though, so it makes sense. Over time, a plethora of new websites have emerged, each one promising cutting-edge ideas and methods. However, they either don’t have a user-friendly interface, a large enough client base, or designers who are committed to their projects. If you’re looking for the best online resources, the ones we’ve listed here are a good place to start. They offer hundreds of competitions daily, and they have a solid system in place to make sure you get paid on time and get credit for your efforts. Participating in these competitions is a great way to earn some extra cash, hone your design skills, and gain exposure to uncharted territory.
