99designs Review

Gone are the days when business was just about crunching numbers and counting pennies. Today, it’s also a great deal about how creatively you make a place in your customer’s minds. Do you remember how Parle-g was the first name that came to the minds of all 90’s kids when thinking of biscuits? It was not just the taste, but the packaging, choice of colors, posters, tagline, Logo etc that did the trick.

This is the magic of ‘Branding’ especially through visual representations which can etch your company’s name forever in the market. In the present times, Branding has moved a step further into the digital world giving you a greater access to your targeted customer base, and here is where freelance logo designing websites such as 99Designs come to your rescue by taking care of all your branding and designing needs under one umbrella.

99Designs is an Australian company that connects a community of talented freelance graphic designers with clients across the globe. They have re-invented the world of designing since its conception in 2008 by letting people take their brands to the next level without having to hire pricey professionals.

fTheir designing categories stretch from simple, minimalistic logos to Packaging, Business & Advertising, Clothing & Merchandise, Book covers, and many more including an entire website or app, and all of these suiting your personal taste and requirements and in minimum time. 

99Design works in a simple three step procedure- Brief, Connect & Collaborate.  

The very first step is letting 99Designs know what you actually want. Visit 99Designs homepage and search for your required design category such as Logo, website, t-shirts etc. Once you reach the page dedicated to your design category, say Logo designing, you will be walked through a process to get acquainted with your preferred styles, colors, patterns and other visual elements. The interface is so intuitive that they gauge your preferences and likings even before you know it yourselves.

99Designs has a vast pool of highly talented graphic designers for any category you need. You can connect with the community in either of the two ways: Design Contest or Hiring an Individual Designer. We will be briefing you on both the options shortly. So, in a way 99Designs gives you the best of both worlds… Contest model like DesignCrowd as well as 1-to-1 model like Fiverr.

You are free to communicate with your designers and make the desired modifications till you get the design that you had in mind. Once you finalize the design, release payment through secure gateways and continue collaborating for your future projects.

This should be your choice when you are open to different ideas and concepts and want to explore the options out there. All you got to do is click on Start a Contest, and three rounds later announce a winner. Most contests (except for web designing) run for 7 days including all the three rounds as follows:

Qualifying round (4 days): Here various designers submit their designs and concepts and you can give feedbacks to make sure they are on the same page as you.

Selection of finalists (Up to 4 Days): Within the first 4 days you must choose up to 6 designers to go into the final round of the contest.

Final round (3 days): For the next three days, the finalists you choose will revise their designs to match your feedbacks and make them perfect.

After the Final round, you must announce the winner within 14 days. Do not worry if you have a tough time deciding who is the best, since 99Designs lets you ‘take a poll’ or even choose ‘multiple winners’ in case you liked more than one designs.

Your design files will be delivered with full copyrights to you within 5 days. If you are in a hurry, you also have an option to buy add-ons such as Fast-track contests or even extend contests to buy extra time for the designers to come up with your dream design.

So are you really crystal clear about your design styles and idea that you think going through the hassles of a contest will be a waste of time? Don’t worry… You can simply hire a single designer browsing through various profiles and making an intelligent decision based on the expertise level, pricing, previous works etc. Here you work on a one-to-one basis in close collaboration with your chosen designer.

Once you make your decision, just brief them about what are you exactly looking for, time and estimated budget and the designer gets started on the project immediately.

You can get your designs in file formats suitable with both Print and digital uses. If you are looking for digital use such as for website or social media campaign, you will need JPG, GIF, or PNG files in RGB color mode. However, if you are planning on getting them printed for business card, letter heads or merchandise, you will need PDF, Illustrator, or InDesign files in CMYK color mode. And all these files you get with full usage rights.

Even though pricing depends on the design category you choose and whether you start a contest or hire an individual, 99Designs might fit your budget as compared to hiring a professional designer in person. However, it is way pricier among the other online freelance designing services. The same quality of work can be obtained at a much cheaper price at Fiverr (but minus the contest feature). Thus, we would recommend 99Designs only if you have frequent long term designing needs and have the cash to spare. 

Most designing services are categorized into Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum depending on the rating of designer, options to choose from and priority support. For ex: Logo designing ranges from $2999 to a whopping $1,299.

If you still decide to stick on to 99Designs you will be happy to know that you can pay through almost any credit card, debit card, PayPal or SOFORT. And if it makes you feel better, 99Designs gives a 100%-money back guarantee in case you are not happy with the designs and withdraw a contest before the final round (except for Guaranteed Contests).

Though we complained a bit about the high prices in the previous section, if you have an elaborate budget, we assure you that 99Designs can give you a never-before experience with its add-ons and extras. 

One of the most striking add-on is the option to keep your contest private and hidden from search engines. You might not even mind paying a little extra for brand guides, social media kits, faster delivery etc.

The 99Design website is filled with help documentations and FAQs to guide you through each step. You can also get active support from the community at the 99Designs forum. Furthermore, there is prompt, world-class support extended 24x7 via Email (through ticket system) and via phone during standard business hours.