99designs is Another Avenue to Affordable Graphic Design

Earlier this year, I wrote about DesignBay, a marketplace for graphic design where you can outsource design projects inexpensively. That post generated several comments, both positive and negative, so I thought I should do a followup post about the market leader in this area, 99designs.

This is how 99designs (and DesignBay) work. Say you need a new logo, or product label, designed. You fill out the specs on their web site along with your budget and wait for the designs to come pouring in. One of the great benefits of this approach is that you don't receive just two or three designs back, you will typically receive dozens of original ideas from many different designers. You will have far more choice and you will likely pay less than if you hired a professional graphic designer.

Now, I know there are many graphic designers who read this blog and who are understandably negative about this idea. The way I look at it is this. If you have a tight budget and simply cannot afford to hire a graphic designer, then 99designs provides an inexpensive option. If you want to make sure that you have a consistent graphic look across all your products, that matches your web site and printed materials, then a professional designer is the way to go. Or if you really want to meet your designer face to face and have a personal relationship with them, then 99designs is not for you.

We work with many startups here with very limited budgets and some of these companies are using 99designs for their product label design. If you are also on a limited budget, or want to see a huge number of ideas, then give 99designs a try.

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