Five Crowdsourcing Sites that Give Small Businesses Quality Designs on a Budget
99designs.com is a Webby Awards winner (based on popularity) and the site with the most numerous community of designers. Customers can submit design briefs calling for any type of design in the following categories: identity design (logo and stationery); web design (web page design, WordPress themes, Twitter backgrounds, banner ads); print design; graphic design (button designs and others); and finally, merchandise designs (like t-shirts, and clothing). The site is the most visually appealing, and extremely easy to use. A 100% money back warranty is also in place (including listing fees).
crowdSPRING is playing with the big dogs. Among their customers, you will find names like LG, SmugMug and others. The company received broad recognition, and a few awards like a Stevie Award in 2009, and the ITA CityLIGHTS Award for a newcomer business in 2009. There are over 65.000 users, a mix of designers and writers, that compete in the following categories graphic design (logo, stationery, illustration, clothing design, print design, and package graphics); web design (widget design, email template design, landing page design, banner ads, icon and button design, header design); industrial design (packaging design, product design); and writing projects (company naming, product name, tagline, web content). A money back guarantee in place as well.
DesignCrowd is less popular and has only something over 16.000 users ready to compete for a project. There are less contest categories than offered by 99designs and crowdSPRING: logo design, web design, business card design, stationery design, brochure design, flyer design, poster design, graphic design, t-shirt design and vector illustration. The money prizes awarded here are lower than expected, but in the end, it's the choice of the customer how much he/she is willing to pay for a design. However, a low budget will not motivate more talented designers to participate, and this will be reflected in the quality of the design entries received. A Money back guarantee in place.
Prova - a Beta newcomer, a bit different from the above, although in essence it seems to offer the same services. The general idea is to let the small business owner submit a brief with design specs for anything they can think of. This includes gift certificates, invitations, announcements, key-chains, magnets, lawn signs, billboards and more. In addition, customers can also crowdsource here voiceover narration, audio books, radio advertisements, instructional videos, TV commercials, website videos and YouTube videos. Prova doesn't look like much at the moment - apparently the site will be redesigned in steps, through contests, by its own community. Interestingly, Prova appears more social than the other sites, and promises to promote the designers that win the contests, and the companies that use their services. A Money back guarantee is expected.
GuerraCreativa - another beta, with less than 10000 designers ready for work. It focuses solely on design, but adds flash and 3D design to the offering. It's an Argentinian-based startup, with wording that raises a few eyebrows, but the quality of the designs featured on the homepage is at lease more decent than the description of the service: "We provide you the battlefield and weaponry to conquer the creative world." In the end, the wording is right on target, after all, "guerra" is Spanish for war. Money back guarantee as well.
To conclude, if you run a small business and you need creative work on a budget, you can launch a contest on any of these sites. Each has its own advantages: 99designs and crowdSPRING have large communities, DesignCrowd is very cheap, Prova allows you to promote your contest and to get feedback from your peers and customers, and GuerraCreativa is ideal for flash and 3D designs. No matter where you go, remember that, among the "cons" faced by the crowdsourcing sites, lack of originality (copied designs) ranks supreme. Always ask for feedback from third parties before choosing a winner. To encourage the more talented designers to participate add a few more dollars to the prize, and make the contest challenging and fun. The bottom line is, services like these can take the pinch out of recession woes, and potentially lead to far more creative collaborations.
crowdSPRING is playing with the big dogs. Among their customers, you will find names like LG, SmugMug and others. The company received broad recognition, and a few awards like a Stevie Award in 2009, and the ITA CityLIGHTS Award for a newcomer business in 2009. There are over 65.000 users, a mix of designers and writers, that compete in the following categories graphic design (logo, stationery, illustration, clothing design, print design, and package graphics); web design (widget design, email template design, landing page design, banner ads, icon and button design, header design); industrial design (packaging design, product design); and writing projects (company naming, product name, tagline, web content). A money back guarantee in place as well.
DesignCrowd is less popular and has only something over 16.000 users ready to compete for a project. There are less contest categories than offered by 99designs and crowdSPRING: logo design, web design, business card design, stationery design, brochure design, flyer design, poster design, graphic design, t-shirt design and vector illustration. The money prizes awarded here are lower than expected, but in the end, it's the choice of the customer how much he/she is willing to pay for a design. However, a low budget will not motivate more talented designers to participate, and this will be reflected in the quality of the design entries received. A Money back guarantee in place.
Prova - a Beta newcomer, a bit different from the above, although in essence it seems to offer the same services. The general idea is to let the small business owner submit a brief with design specs for anything they can think of. This includes gift certificates, invitations, announcements, key-chains, magnets, lawn signs, billboards and more. In addition, customers can also crowdsource here voiceover narration, audio books, radio advertisements, instructional videos, TV commercials, website videos and YouTube videos. Prova doesn't look like much at the moment - apparently the site will be redesigned in steps, through contests, by its own community. Interestingly, Prova appears more social than the other sites, and promises to promote the designers that win the contests, and the companies that use their services. A Money back guarantee is expected.
GuerraCreativa - another beta, with less than 10000 designers ready for work. It focuses solely on design, but adds flash and 3D design to the offering. It's an Argentinian-based startup, with wording that raises a few eyebrows, but the quality of the designs featured on the homepage is at lease more decent than the description of the service: "We provide you the battlefield and weaponry to conquer the creative world." In the end, the wording is right on target, after all, "guerra" is Spanish for war. Money back guarantee as well.
To conclude, if you run a small business and you need creative work on a budget, you can launch a contest on any of these sites. Each has its own advantages: 99designs and crowdSPRING have large communities, DesignCrowd is very cheap, Prova allows you to promote your contest and to get feedback from your peers and customers, and GuerraCreativa is ideal for flash and 3D designs. No matter where you go, remember that, among the "cons" faced by the crowdsourcing sites, lack of originality (copied designs) ranks supreme. Always ask for feedback from third parties before choosing a winner. To encourage the more talented designers to participate add a few more dollars to the prize, and make the contest challenging and fun. The bottom line is, services like these can take the pinch out of recession woes, and potentially lead to far more creative collaborations.
Comments