99Designs

99 Designs! Getting design work is something that anyone, hypothetically, can do. After all, there are plenty of free tutorials online which can guide you through learning how to use Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and other programs.

But just to be a decent designer, you’re in for several weeks of education. Even then, it’ll take you even longer to get the experience to near the level of a professional.

So, why bother wasting all of that time when you can spend a little money to get a professional to do it for you? By hiring folks at 99 Designs, you can get quality design work done, which is hard to find anywhere else on the web.

There Is A Lot In This Companies Wheelhouse

Let’s start with the obvious: what kind of design work that this business does. And as we’ll see, they do far more than what you might expect.

Logo designed

I know that this might comes as a shock to some of you, but yes, indeed, this company provides logo creation. Based on their past work, they sure know what they are doing and can make your logo to order. You don’t need to have a perfect idea of what you want to see, just a general idea.

Business cards

They say that no one uses business cards anymore, and I'm afraid I have to disagree. While paper media is falling out of favor in most respects, business cards are still a handy way to get your contact info while chatting with a potential client face to face. 99 Designs does this as well, and the quality of their work is stellar if you ask me.

Web page work

Even if you are a professional web designer, it’s always nice to get a second opinion and some additional help when running a website. While these designers aren't going to know how to recode your webpages, they are experts when it comes to aesthetics.

Branding guidance

There is a hell of a lot of work that goes into creating a recognizable brand. You have to have some form of quality product, a tag line or some memorable slogan, and an awesome symbol. Since humans are so visual, that last key is critical to a business's success. This is another feature provided by 99 Designs, so be sure to take advantage of that feature if you're starting or revamping your firm.

Book covers

This is great for authors trying to become the next Tom Clancy. It's great to have a well-written novel or informative book. But the thing that's going to make your book stand out to prospective buyers is the cover. Examples of some of their work include doing covers for The Migraine Mafia, The Rise and Fall of Peter Toller, and Tres Passers. That’s a damn good pedigree if you ask me.

Apparel design

While they aren’t exactly specialists in branding all sorts of clothing, they do decent work when it comes to t-shirt design. As with their other services, you can see plenty of past work on their t-shirt page. To get with this service, just have a general idea of what you want to see, and 99 Designs will pair you up with one of their exemplary designers.

Get The Exact Freelancer To Work With You

When you are getting started with this web service, you get a wide range of options when it comes to getting a freelancer assigned to you. In addition to selecting the specific type of industry you want, you can also pick what experience a freelancer has.

Furthermore, they also have a variety of freelancers who speak all sorts of languages. In addition to English, they have freelancers who speak most western European languages, along with Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and even Indonesian. This is great news for those of you who operate your business all over the world!

They Have An Active Blog, Of Course

About twice a week, these people post informative blogs, and they aren’t exactly light reading either. In fact, it looks like each post is between six to fifteen minutes long. Topics covered include everything from logo and branding, crowdsourcing, and other resources for upstart entrepreneurs and established businesses.

So, even if you aren’t in the market for a graphic designer, you still might want to take their blog a look anyway.

This Company Seems To Be Good About Customer Service

I have often found that a lot of companies are difficult, if not impossible, to get in touch with. It almost seems like they don't want to be in contact, which to me is a massive red flag. Not only is that a problem if you have a series issue, but it puts into question legitimacy.

As far as getting in touch with this company, though, they seem to be pretty good at getting any problems or questions addressed. You can file an individualized help request on the contact page, make public relations inquiries, and even call their official company phone number.

If you’re really in a bind, you might be able to contact them by looking up the addresses of their physical locations to get another phone number. To be specific, their offices are located in the United States, Australia, and Germany, so you English and German speakers are in luck.

Lastly, you can also get ahold of them via email, and there is a comprehensive FAQ as well.

Looking For Work? They Might Take You On

Yes, that is correct. They are hiring people to join their team as well. Anyone is welcome to join so long as you have a background in some form of design work. Once onboarded, you compete with the rest of the community on contests or work with clients one-on-one.

There are a few things to be aware of. For one, you are technically working as a freelancer, so you're not going to be rolling in work all of the time. Second, they actually charge you to hook up with clients.

Referred to as an introductory fee, you have to pay $100 to get work! They also charge a platform fee based on your ranking as a designer. Entry-level designers are charged 15%, mid levelers will have to pay a 10% fee, and top tier workers pay 5%.

Third, you’ll be paid fairly quickly in about three business days upon project completion. However, top designers get priority and will be paid faster.

And from what I understand, it’s not exactly easy going when it comes to climbing the ranks. While you can make decent money through this platform, you are going to need money and have a good deal of patience.

Be Apart Of A Contest And Make Even More Money

In addition to allowing people to make money by working as a designer, if you're a freelancer or looking for a challenge, then you can get money another way. There are design contests going on all of the time, so you might be able to net even more money that way.

And those of you who prefer to see the best of the best and a range of options, you too can set up a contest. There are four options available, all of which have their advantages and hefty price points.

Bronze

Design concepts: 30

Price: $299

With this package, you get complete ownership of the piece you select. Further, if things don't work out, you are guaranteed to get 100% of your money back. All in all, not a bad package if assuming you can afford it.

Silver

Design concepts: 60

Price: $499

This plan is essentially the same as the Bronze package, with the difference being the number of design concepts you get access to. I can't say that it's really worth it given the huge difference in price, but it might work for you.

Gold

Design concepts: 90

Price: $899

The key selling feature of this package is that the only people who will be competing are mid and top-level designers. That means that you are sure to get access to superb submissions.

Premium

Design concepts: 60

Price: $1,299

This package is a little strange to me. You get fewer design concepts despite paying a hell of a lot more. On the other hand, the only contest participants are going to be top tier. Further, you’ll get a dedicated manager and prioritized customer service.

The Client Testimonials Give Me A Lot Of Confidence

To date, 99 Designs has worked with well over 400,000 clients over the years. Furthermore, they got an enormous amount of design contests as well and gotten reviews on those, too. While there are inevitably going to be a few negative ones, they are hard to come by. The vast majority of client reviews are overwhelmingly positive.

And you don't have to hunt around the net to find them. Viewable on the Testimonials page, you'll see loads of reviews happy customers. What's more, all of them use some kind of screen alias or legal name. Some of them even post their faces as well, so you know that they are real people.

Let’s Sum Up This Whole Site

To be honest, this website provides many services, and there's not too much to complain about. I do think that some of you might find the price points to be more than a little scary. So, if you are going to go through this firm, get ready to spend money.

Then again, you are sure to get far higher quality product than you would on a site like Upwork or Fiver.

With all of that said, this has got to be one of the finest design firms I’ve seen online. I’m going to give it four and a half out of five hands and suggest you all check the site out.