99designs Review - What People are Saying about 99designs

The following is a review of the logo design services provided by 99designs. We give you the run down on the service that they offer and how it works. We also provide links to consumers reviews that have been posted on the web so that you can find out what others are saying about this company.

Overview

Based in Australia, 99designs was founded by Mark Harbottle in February 2008. Investors who have helped the company to grow include Matt Mickiewicz who also founded the well known online communities Sitepoint.com and Flippa.com. They have staff based in Melbourne and in San Francisco and have been referenced by the New York Times, Forbes and other mainstream media outlets.

99designs was one of the pioneers in the online logo design contest marketplace. They are a crowd sourcing website that focuses on holding competitions that bring together graphic designers from around the world and businesses in need of design work. Many designers compete on jobs by submitting designs and the contest holder later chooses a winner and awards the prize money.

99designs.com is the largest community of its kind. It brings together a pool of designers that now numbers well over 100,000 people. They have hosted more than 90,000 design contests so far. The sheer size of its design force makes it easily the best crowd-sourcing site for logo design customers due to the large number of design concepts that can be expected.

Products and Services

While we have focused on the logo contests hosted by 99designs, they do also offer design competitions in a range of other categories. These include print and packaging design, T-shirt design, web design, stationery design and several others as well. In fact, you can hold a competition for just about any design task imaginable. They feature live help on their website so it is easy to ask questions if necessary.

As well as holding logo design contests 99designs also has a logo store that sells pre-made logo templates. They will customize these for you with your business name. This option is cheaper than holding a contest but the logos are likely to be inferior. Many are rejects from the design contests and as they can be sold over and over again you will not end up with a logo that is unique.

How it Works

The process of holding a logo contest starts when you submit a detailed brief about what kind of design you are looking for. 99designs guides you through the process of making a clear request that designers will understand.

Next, you choose from a range of packages starting at $295. You can actually set the price much lower if you like by choosing their 'Custom' option. Of course, the higher you go with the price, the higher the prize money will be. More designers will be attracted to your contest if the reward is higher.

Other ordering options include making your contest private or public. Public contests can get more attention and any plagiarism will have more chance of being reported. There are also options to pay extra for projects to be completed in a period that is quicker than the standard seven day contest.

Once your contest is underway you then have to review your submissions and communicate with the competing designers to guide them towards the logo that you desire. Finally, you choose a winner and the prize money is awarded.

Guarantee Policies

One great thing about 99designs is their money back guarantee policy. Unless you offer a guaranteed prize, then you have the right to a full refund.

The catch with this refund policy though is that designers will be more attracted to a contest with a guaranteed prize. Otherwise they could end up doing a lot of work only to find that the contest organizer refunds and cancels the project. Even if you do give a guaranteed prize and give up the right to a refund 99designs will help you if you don't get the results that you expected. They offer to help you to re-write your brief or to re-open your project for an extended time period in the hope of attracting some more designers. Be sure to read the 'Terms & Conditions' section of their site before ordering for precise details on refunds.

User Reviews

We wanted to find out what people are saying about the logo contests at 99 designs so we did a little research online. We wanted to find some comments, complaints or reviews that had been posted by people claiming to have used the service.

We were unable to find any complaints from consumers relating to the logo contests hosted by 99designs. They don't have complaints filed against them at the BBB (Better Business Bureau) or on any of the other consumer complaint websites. We were able to find complaints from designers who have entered contests but not from the customers, or contest holders themselves. The following are a couple of references that we were able to find.

1) One user posted a 99designs review on the YoungEntrepreneur.com forum stating that he had no complaints about the service and that he had some great entries for his contest.

2) On SiteJabber.com one user wrote about his positive experience with 99designs and how he had enjoyed the flexibility to set a price and the variety of entries from different designers. Several other users chirped in as well with positive comments. The only negative comment was from someone who had used their web site design services.

3) We found another review of 99designs logo contests on a business blog at Dma06.com. The writer compares the design contest approach to logo design with other options. The blogger noted that the crowd sourcing approach does have its weaknesses but still recommended it as a sensible option for smaller businesses. They had tried two different logo contest sites and recommended 99designs due to the sheer number of designers and concepts that you get to choose from.

Overall Rating - First Place

To visit the website for more information - 99designs.com