Crowdsourcing Design Sites- What’s in there for you?

Last updated on November 23, 2017

A few years back, the design world was dominated by design agencies. These agencies backed by a team of graphic designers usually had clients as big corporations. For a small business, it was a big question whether it’s worth to spend so much of money on design works. Also, since most of these businesses had mostly one-time design requirement, hiring a permanent designer was not even in the picture.

Next, came the big wave of freelancers where graphic designers preferred to work individually rather than working for some company. This paved the way for small and medium-sized organizations to get their design requirements fulfilled, at an affordable cost. While it suited the need of the companies there was one problem- what if they do not like the designer’s design? The only two alternatives were either to hire another designer or go with the design that the designer had made.

Then, came what can be called the best alternative for small and medium organizations to meet their design need. Crowdsourcing site resolved the two problems-

• The hefty price that the design agencies asked for the designs.
• The limited number of design ideas for hiring a freelance designer.

How does Crowdsourcing design site works?

Crowdsourcing design sites work on a simple concept- Compete to impress your client. If you have made your mind to crowdsource your work, then here’s a short guide to how a crowdsourcing site works-

• Firstly register on the site, select the design category among the options. You can even select multiple options like logo design plus business card design plus website design.

• Once you select the design category, you need to provide the design brief, upload reference image, etc. The one thing to keep her in mind is that make the design brief as elaborate as possible. Include what your company is, your target audience, your expectation from design, design preferences, etc. This would help the designers to create a design that represents your company theme and one that you would love.

• Once you see design entries flowing, you need to sort the one you love. Interact with the designers and ask them about certain changes that you might think would help to improve the design.
• Among the entries, you can choose the winning design by selecting a particular design as the winner. One thing however you should ensure is that only minor changes can be made in designs, once you have selected the winner.

Benefits of using crowdsourcing sites-

Crowdsourcing design sites serve several benefits for both designers as well as business owners. Here are some benefits that the designers have when working on crowdsourcing sites-

• Zero marketing expenses- Since there are 100s of the project on these crowdsourcing sites in which anyone can participate, the designer does not need to spend money on marketing activities.

• No time wastage on building business prepositions- If the designer is working as a freelancer, then he/she needs to create marketing collaterals, business ppt, etc. This can reduce the amount of time he spends on design works. Alternatively, in crowdsourcing the designer can concentrate entirely on marketing activities, thus wasting zero time on building marketing materials.

• Creates a competitive environment- Since there are several designers that are competing to make the best design for a contest, it’s natural that the competitive quotient is high. Now, this would motivate the designer to do the best and would thus bring out the amazing creativity in them.   

For business owners, crowdsourcing design sites offer the following benefits-

• Affordable Cost- It’s you who set the budget for the design works and as such there’s no extra burden on your pocket.

• Lots of design idea- If you are the one who likes to see several options before finalizing the one that’s perfect for you, then crowdsourcing is definitely the best option for you. You see several designs made by different designers and then chose what is best for you.

• Quality Designs- The designers that are allowed on a crowdsourcing site are the cream of the designers. This can be ascertained by the fact that only 5% of the designers who apply on Designhill get approval to work on the platform.

Now, the drawback that can be for a designer is that at times they might not earn for making a design. But, that’s business, right? You have to take a risk to earn huge! What do you think guys? What was your experience with using a crowdsourcing platform? Do share in the comment section below.