Finding the Best 99Designs Alternative: What Graphic Solution Is Right for You?
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Getting quality graphic design is an important task for many businesses, but in the past it was often easier said than done. Logo design, web design, or other design services, are easy enough for a skilled designer with any amount of experience. For the rest of us, that would be a really difficult mountain to climb. There's little question that 99Designs is one of the most popular options out there. However, there are companies who for whatever reason are looking for the best 99Design alternatives.
There are many reasons you might choose to go with a top-rated 99Designs alternative. This could be because of pricing, past experiences, recommendations. Whatever the reason, the good news is that 99Designs doesn't have a monopoly on good designers. There are several other good options to choose from.
While 99Designs might be the most recognized name in this field, that doesn't mean the alternatives can't be equally as impressive. Whether you're looking for a design contest, online design brief you can go over, or something else in pursuing the perfect logo design, each of the platforms following offer fantastic options.
Want to read our in-depth review on 99designs?
DesignCrowd
DesignCrowd is one of the most common names that comes up when you're looking for a platform to what 99Designs has to offer. They have built a reputation as an inexpensive alternative. While there are good templates offered, the graphic design contests are where DesignCrowd tends to really shine.
DesignCrowd tends to use a lot of the same structure as 99Designs (check out our comparison of 99Designs vs DesignCrowd here). They have a large marketplace of designers who are happy to compete in a design contest for your project. You provide details, describe what you need, and then choose the package that you want to purchase. The prices here are similar to 99Design pricing but tend to be about $50 cheaper per equivalent package level.
There's a lot to like here. They offer a 100% money back guarantee. If you don't get a usable design you don't have to pay. There's a talented group of freelance designers here in the online marketplace. This means a large number of good designs with plenty of variety. You get a large number of designs to choose from for a very reasonable price.
On the con side there is always the chance that you won't get a design you like. That means wasted time. This also isn't a quick turnaround. It may take several days for the best designs to start coming your way.
Fiverr
Fiverr is a platform that everyone is aware of. Reviews are mixed, especially at the base $5 level. That said, you should be looking at Fiverr Pro. Many excellent artists and designers use Fiverr. They may offer something really simple for the basic $5, but if you check out their profile you will see different services that each Fiverr provides. These services are going to be at much higher rates but you also get a lot more for your money.
Many people have used this strategy to find highly rated providers on Fiverr who then provide a logo, design, or something along those lines for a set price. Much more than $5 but often much less than a professional agency would charge.
Fiverr Pro are the best of the best on Fiverr. These are designers who have been fully vetted by Fiverr for both skills and customers service. In this group the prices are going to set much higher. However, you will be able to look over the professional's design brief, be covered by Fiverr's customer support, and get quality work.
Fiverr Pro can be a surprisingly effective way to find some of the best designs out there. Sometimes you get what you pay for. But you can use this platform to find a great design at what ends up being a really reasonable price. The key is going with the Pro section to make this one of the viable alternatives to 99Designs.
DesignEvo
DesignEvo is a really interesting solution to the design issues that many bloggers, marketers, and small businesses have. While many of the top sites competing with 99Designs are fairly similar in setup and design, DesignEvo takes a much more innovative approach. Their tool for designing a logo is 100% free.
So what's the catch? Well professional designers aren't going to work for free. Instead of working with professionals pitching their designs based on your feedback, you're responsible for creating your own design. The use of their online design tool is free. There are over 10,000 pieces of template art to choose from. Mix and match them up as you see fit. Change colors, change fonts, and use the tool to customize.
If you have even some basic design skills you have the ability to put together something pretty solid from the tools that are offered here. Creating your design using these tools is free.
Most of the negatives with DesignEvo come here with the catch. You don't get a package of high-quality images. Not with the free option, anyway. Just two small images at 300×300 one in JPG and one in PNG. Not great. Also if you're using the free option you're “allowed” to use the logo you made as long as you have a link back to DesignEvo and clear wording about using their services.
There's some conflicting language in the pricing page that suggests you need the Plus package at $49.99 to own the actual copyright without restriction, although support confirmed upon asking that if you customized anything and paid anything it's yours, even at the basic package of $25.
These are one-time fees only. They are inexpensive compared to other options, but I don't like the ambiguous (or even conflicting) language on this very important point. Keep in mind you have to be able to design a good logo, as well. If you're not good at that side of things this might be a non-starter for you.
While there's a lot to like if on a shoestring budget, it's hard to overlook the negatives. This won't be for everyone. It is intriguing for DIY guys with some design talent. If you're looking for outside talent than this isn't the platform to give you another option to 99Designs.
DesignHill
Advertising themselves as a top-notch platform for logos, websites, & t-shirts used by thousands of businesses, DesignHill offers a variety of ways for customers to get their graphic design needs done. This variety is definitely unusual compared to the majority of 99Designs alternatives that are out there.
If you are looking for a design you can start a design contest, hire a professional designer directly, buy a pre-made design gig from a freelancer on site, or you can shop to see if there's something on the PrintShop that meets your needs. There's even an A.I. logo maker that attempts to use A.I. and some information you provide to create a logo you will love. As well as one that meets all your design needs.
Logo design is one of the most requested services. For design contests pricing starts at $249 and goes up to $999. There are literally dozens of different specific services offered on DesignHill and pricing for each service. The variety of options here is truly incredible. It's easy to see why DesignHill is one of the largest and most highly rated alternative to 99Designs.
DesignContest
DesignContest is another excellent 99Designs alternative that can provide high quality graphic design work. This graphic design platform focuses on a few main areas like corporate identity, illustrations, advertising, clothing, or even web design. Each of those areas have different sub-projects with very clear pricing.
In fact, this is one of the strong points of DesignContest. When you go to the prices page it is very clearly laid out. Not complicated, not complex. There's a specific price for each service that is labeled clearly. This can be nice since you can budget right away since you don't need to choose between three or four different “levels” of services. The price for the service is the price for the service. That's something about this platform that I definitely appreciate.
There's even a handy currency converter to make ordering from various countries simple. This is one of the only sites that provides this easy budgeting tool.
Penji
Penji is positioning itself as a premium solution to companies or individuals who are going to have regular design needs. They are set up as a membership site that brag about only having the top 2% of designers. Not sure how you can measure that out or prove it, but it does show an aim towards a premium audience.
On the platform you create one or multiple design projects. There's actually no limit once you have a monthly subscription. The Pro package starts at $369 a month while the Team package comes at $479, and Agency at $698 a month.
On Penji you give the details of each project and they match you with the designer or designers who they feel are best suited for what you need. There is no limited to revisions or change requests and you'll see the new design in 24-48 hours.
This is a higher price point. Penji also doesn't make as much sense if you only need a one-time project. However, if you need a team of talented designers on a monthly basis, this can be a great platform match.
Crowdspring
Crowdspring has taken the idea of crowdsourcing to heart. Offering a wide array of design services, there are plenty of options available from this 99Designs alternative. Crowdspring doesn't stick out in a lot of ways with its competitors. There are design competitions. You will also find plenty of freelance designers vying for the opportunity to complete your project.
There is one area where CrowdSpring jumps out. That's with customer service. The general ratings on their customer service has been pretty exceptionally high. There is a very good response when problems arise. Or when help is needed.
There are thousands of positive reviews online. This is a shoestring budget friendly option with pricing at $20, $65, or $80 depending on what you go with. However, this low pricing also means you're less likely to find truly premium level designs if that is what you are specifically looking for from your graphic designers.
Looka
Similar to DesignEvo, Looka focuses on providing the tools, templates, and easy interface needed to help you design your own graphic art. This could be logos, t-shirts, business cards, or a combination of all of those things.
Using these tools is free to see what you can come up with. However, if you come up with something you really like while messing with the logo design tools, you do need to pay in order to get the copyright and the permission to use those owned templates as part of your now new and fully owned image.
As long as you want something that isn't overly complex, Looka can be a good option. There are plenty of tools for use. The color adjustment tool in particular makes custom changes easy. This isn't a bad tool for simple logos. That being said, this won't be the best solution for most individuals with design needs.
In Conclusion
As you can see there are many outstanding options when it comes to finding an excellent option for all your graphic design need. Whatever platform you decide to go with, you are sure to find a small army of graphic designers eager to get you the best possible logo, website, or other design. Prices can vary quite a bit depending on your specific needs, but whatever your budget or needs you will be able to find options to get the best possible work for all your design needs.
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