Need Graphic Design? 99designs Works for Designers & SMBs

99designs.com offers SMEs/SMBs* and designers a very worthwhile opportunity. It takes the “put client with a need and expert provider together” business model of sites like Guru.com and Elance.com to a new level.

The Web is above all a communications medium bringing people together. Any number of sites seek to put freelancers and service providers, wherever they might be, together with potential clients, wherever they might be. Great for both parties:

• freelancers cut time looking for prospects down by getting access to people with a defined need for their services — doubly great, no more direct mail and advertising to prospects who may or may not actually need their services.
• SMEs/SMBs* get access to any number of providers via one ad and can then choose from proposals submitted with reference to freelancers’ profiles on the site.

99designs.com is a Sitepoint project spun off into a separate business. It allows you to post design jobs/contests with a declared price/prize and invite entries from the design community they have built up.

The new twist comes in people submitting finished designs, rather than proposals. No need to vet providers and chose one or two.

Designers who think your prize is worth the effort submit a design for rating and feedback.

The approach might not work so well for other types of work — small copy jobs, yes, lengthy projects, no, for instance. And you could find yourself inundated with amateur designs. You can check profiles for designers’ credentials but you probably need to know a little about design and be pretty sure what you want.

Having said that, running a logo design contest through 99designs has allowed me to see a large number of designers’ take on my brief and refine what I need as the entries have come in. The effort involved in achieving the same effect via a Yellow pages/Web search>contact>vet>decide>give brief, more-conventional, process are pretty daunting. And I can’t see an easier way to work with a number of designers simultaneously.

The folks at Sitepoint have done some smart stuff over the years — their site is a great resource. 99designs.com is another smart and useful application of the Web’s ability to bring people together and circumvent traditional channels. Definitely worth checking out if you need some graphic design or a small Web design project done.

*”Small & Medium Enterprises” as per UK commonwealth usage / “Small & Medium sized Businesses” as per US usage