Are you considering using DesignCrowd for your next design project? If so, you’re not alone. DesignCrowd is one of the most popular online freelance marketplaces in the world, with thousands of designers from around the globe. But is it legit or a scam? Let’s take a look at what DesignCrowd has to offer and discuss some of its pros and cons.
DesignCrowd is an online platform that aims to provide businesses and individuals access to a vast community of skilled designers from around the world. With over 1,100,000 designers in its community, the platform has grown in popularity for offering a reliable and efficient way of obtaining various designs, logos, and creative ideas. The platform’s economical pricing and user-friendly interface continue to attract clients who seek professional and unique designs.
Companies and individuals looking for a fresh project perspective can submit their requirements, timeline, and budget to DesignCrowd. The designers then submit their works based on the client’s specifications, and the client chooses the design that best fits their needs.
The platform’s reputation for offering a wide range of innovative designs and making collaboration between clients and designers easy is just one of the reasons for its positive reviews.
What Is DesignCrowd?
DesignCrowd is an online freelancing platform where businesses can find graphic designers, illustrators, logo makers, web developers, and other creative professionals to help complete their projects. Clients can post their projects on the platform and receive bids from designers all over the world.
DesignCrowd originated in 2007, led by its CEO, and is headquartered in New South Wales, Australia. The company has grown significantly over the years, operating as a design crowdsourcing platform that connects businesses with a large community of over 1,100,000 freelance designers and design studios worldwide.
DesignCrowd Services
The platform provides a wide range of design services, such as:
- Logo Designs: DesignCrowd offers professional logo creation for businesses, with hundreds of thousands of logos produced over the years.
- UI Designs: Designers on the platform are skilled in creating user interfaces for websites, applications, and more.
- Business Cards: Businesses can source professional designs for their cards, ensuring a great first impression.
- Illustrations: DesignCrowd’s community is talented in creating custom illustrations for diverse project needs.
- Graphics: Designers create various graphics for marketing materials, webpages, and print designs.
- T-shirts: Businesses can get their unique designs printed on t-shirts and other apparel items.
DesignCrowd Process
The DesignCrowd process consists of a few key steps:
- Project Brief: Clients start by creating a concise brief, outlining their design requirements, preferences, and objectives.
- Designer Pool: Once the project goes live, it is accessible to the broad community of designers on the platform, who will submit their design proposals.
- Feedback and Revisions: Clients can provide feedback on designs, request revisions, and interact with designers to ensure the final product meets their expectations.
- Selection: When a design meets the client’s requirements, they can select it as the winner, pay the designer, and receive the final design files.
DesignCrowd Features
Design Categories
DesignCrowd offers various design categories to cater to various business needs. These categories include logo design, business cards, t-shirts, and more. Clients can choose the most suitable category for their project and receive unique and tailored design concepts from talented designers worldwide.
Designer Finder
The Designer Finder feature allows clients to browse through the available designers on the platform and filter them based on experience, portfolio, and design style. This feature helps clients identify the top designers for their project and ensures they receive high-quality work that aligns with their expectations.
Poll Feature
DesignCrowd’s Poll Feature enables clients to create a poll to gather feedback on design submissions from colleagues, friends, or even a wider audience. This feature allows clients to make informed decisions on selecting the best design for their project while considering the opinions of others.
Design Submission
DesignCrowd encourages designers to submit multiple design concepts for a project, providing clients with a variety of options to choose from. Clients can review and provide feedback on the initial design submissions, allowing designers to refine their work and create more tailored and unique concepts that better align with the client’s preferences.
Project Briefing
A clear and concise project brief is essential for a successful design project on DesignCrowd. Clients create a brief by providing information about their business, target audience, design preferences, and any other relevant details. A comprehensive brief ensures designers have the necessary insights to create designs that appropriately represent the client’s brand and vision.
When utilizing DesignCrowd’s features, clients have access to a broad range of designs and designers with varying styles and expertise. The platform’s features, such as the Designer Finder and Poll Feature, enable clients to make informed decisions and select the best design that suits their needs and preferences. Additionally, the platform promotes collaboration through design submission and project briefing, ensuring clients receive unique and tailored design concepts that accurately represent their business.
DesignCrowd User Interface
Navigation
The DesignCrowd platform offers an easy-to-navigate user interface. Users can effortlessly browse through the website to explore various design services, submit design projects, or even join the community as a designer. The platform’s clear menu structure ensures that users can quickly locate essential features and access their account information, such as current projects, communication channels, and email settings.
Filtering
One important aspect of the DesignCrowd UI is the ability to filter project submissions and designs. Clients can choose from a variety of filters to narrow down their options and find the most suitable designs for their needs. These filters may include design categories, pricing, designer experience levels, and geographical location. By using effective filtering options, clients can conveniently sort through hundreds of design submissions, ultimately saving time and effort in the decision-making process.
Account Management
DesignCrowd’s platform ensures secure and efficient account management. Users can quickly and easily access their account settings, including personal information, email preferences, and more. Designers can manage their portfolios, track earnings, and receive notifications on new projects relevant to their skills. Clients can also keep track of their projects, submit revisions, approve billings, and communicate with designers through the platform.
The DesignCrowd user interface demonstrates a balance between a feature-rich experience and user-friendly design, ensuring that both clients and designers can efficiently accomplish their goals on the website.
DesignCrowd Pricing
Packages and Add-Ons
DesignCrowd offers a variety of packages to suit different business needs and budgets. The platform provides three main pricing tiers:
- Standard Package: It typically includes one custom design, access to the basic designer pool and standard support.
- Premium Package: This package offers multiple custom designs, access to a wider pool of experienced designers, and priority support.
- Elite Package: For a higher budget, the Elite Package grants access to the top-tier designers, a dedicated account manager, and priority support.
There are also various add-ons available to enhance the design process or level of support, such as expedited delivery, private projects, and featured listings.
Posting Fee
DesignCrowd charges a posting fee for each design project. The posting fee is a small one-time payment that covers the administrative costs of running the platform and ensuring a smooth experience for both designers and clients. This fee is separate from the design package and add-on costs.
Refund Policy
DesignCrowd offers a money-back guarantee to ensure client satisfaction. Clients who are unsatisfied with the design submissions received can request a refund within a specified timeframe. The refund excludes the posting fee and any additional funds spent on optional features or upgrades. To be eligible for a refund, clients must follow the platform’s guidelines and terms of service.
In summary, DesignCrowd’s flexible pricing options, variety of design packages, and refund policy cater to different business needs and budgets. The platform ensures client satisfaction by offering a money-back guarantee while maintaining a fair and competitive environment for design professionals.
DesignCrowd Customer Support
Support Channels
DesignCrowd offers various support channels to cater to its clients and designers. Some support channels include phone, email, and a Help Center that answers frequently asked questions. These channels make it convenient for customers to contact the support team.
Customer Support Efficiency
The customer support team at DesignCrowd is known for its efficiency in handling different queries and concerns. Through various channels like phone and communication via email, clients can expect prompt and helpful assistance from the support team.
Furthermore, their live support ensures that customers receive real-time guidance, smoothing the overall process and resulting in a better user experience.
DesignCrowd’s efficient support system enables users to get the required help, saving them time and ensuring they can focus on getting the best design outcomes possible.
Quality of Designs on DesignCrowd
Design Standards
DesignCrowd maintains design quality standards to ensure the best results for clients and designers. These standards prevent using stock images, unlicensed fonts, and copyrighted material in submitted designs. Designers undergo a quality verification process, during which their design submissions are scrutinized to ensure compliance with these standards. This practice guarantees the deliverance of unique, relevant, and memorable designs tailored to each client’s brand identity.
Turnaround Time
The turnaround time for design projects on DesignCrowd is known for being efficient. On average, a client can expect to receive 50+ designs within a relatively short period. This quick turnaround time is desirable for clients seeking to promptly finalize their logo design, graphic, web, or print projects, allowing them to focus on other aspects of expanding their businesses or promoting events.
Design Execution
DesignCrowd excels at executing various types of design projects, including logo designs, emblems, wordmarks, and symbols. Designers on the platform are skilled at creating tailor-made designs that effectively communicate the brand’s identity and message. By adhering to the design quality standards, designers deliver creative, high-quality designs that not only meet but often exceed clients’ expectations.
From logo creation and brand identity to a broad range of graphic design projects, DesignCrowd offers a streamlined process, a swift turnaround time, and professional design execution to ensure client satisfaction. With its strong commitment to maintaining design quality standards, DesignCrowd has become popular for businesses and creatives seeking memorable, unique, and impactful designs.
Reviews and Reputation
Customer Reviews
DesignCrowd boasts an impressive 4.6 out of 5 stars from over 2,000 reviews on their website. Customers praise the platform as an economical and efficient way of obtaining designs or generating new ideas. They find the service user-friendly, with many mentioning the high number of original design proposals they received on the site.
One reviewer states that DesignCrowd is easy to use and provides a plethora of excellent designs. Their experience with designers on the platform was positive, and they found them easy to deal with and responsive. Another customer, Jose Saenz, says that the site was effective and that they received more design proposals than they had anticipated.
Designer Reviews
On the other hand, DesignCrowd’s average rating on Sitejabber is 2.1 stars from 89 reviews, with most complaints coming from designers rather than customers. Some designers express dissatisfaction with the platform, claiming it is a waste of time for them and suggesting using alternative sites like DesignHill or DesignContest instead.
Despite these negative reviews from designers, DesignCrowd demonstrates high customer satisfaction and has a growing community of over 1.1 million designers. This indicates that, while some designers may find the platform less than ideal, it continues to thrive and provide successful outcomes for clients seeking design solutions.
Pros and Cons of DesignCrowd
One of the main advantages of using DesignCrowd is that you have access to a global network of talented designers available to work on your projects immediately. The platform also makes it easy to communicate with freelancers via its messaging system and track project progress through its project management tools.
However, there are some downsides to using DesignCrowd as well. Because you can access such a large talent pool, choosing which design best suits your project cannot be easy. Additionally, because many freelancers offer competitively priced services on the platform, quality can be an issue when selecting a designer for your project.
See Related: 99designs vs Fiverr
Conclusion
Overall, DesignCrowd offers businesses an excellent way to find high-quality freelance design talent worldwide. While some potential drawbacks are associated with using the platform (such as difficulty selecting the best designer for your project), overall, it’s an excellent option for businesses looking for affordable design solutions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the differences between DesignCrowd and its competitors?
DesignCrowd is a creative procurement platform that offers a contest system wherein designers submit designs based on a client’s detailed briefing. Unlike other platforms, DesignCrowd focuses heavily on the contest aspect, giving clients multiple design options. Other platforms may have different approaches, such as connecting clients directly with designers or offering pre-made designs.
How much does it cost to use DesignCrowd?
For a basic logo design, the starting one-time fee at DesignCrowd is $109, which includes 1-3 design concepts and up to 3 revisions. However, the cost may vary depending on the project type, number of concepts desired, and additional features a client requests.
Is DesignCrowd a reliable platform?
DesignCrowd is a popular platform for design contests and receives mixed reviews from its users. Some users have posted positive reviews, praising the platform’s variety of design options and ease of use. However, other users have reported dissatisfaction with their experience, expressing concerns over quality and communication. It is essential to research and review the platform before using it for any design projects.
How does the DesignCrowd contest system work?
When a client posts a project on DesignCrowd, they create a detailed briefing outlining their design requirements, set a budget, and designate a timeframe for submissions. Designers then “answer” the brief by submitting design concepts aligned with the given specifications. The client reviews the submissions, selects a winning design, and works with the chosen designer on any necessary revisions.
Can designers earn a good income on DesignCrowd?
Designers can potentially earn a good income on DesignCrowd, depending on their experience level, skill set, and ability to win design contests. However, as the platform is highly competitive, with designers submitting multiple concepts for each contest, it may take time to see consistent earnings for some designers.
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