

Ask HN: What is your opinion about 99designs? - Sealy


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jzcoder
I have used 99designs for two logos and used Logoworks back in 2007 for one
logo. 99designs produces many more creative and professional designs than
Logoworks. Logoworks owned by HP was more expensive and we were ultimately
unsatisfied with the experience after being beaten down going back and forth
on the little choices we had, even after they offered to throw in a few more
"staff" designers.

Getting close to 100 designs with 99designs even though many were variations
still gave us far more alternatives that we were happy with. In fact, it
became difficult to choose a winning design.

You have to stay active during the process. Offering suggestions on what you
want to see and what you do not like. The designers usually do exactly as you
say. After their initial concept they usually just make minor changes.
Comments like "like this but can you be more creative with this part" does not
usually work.

As a startup, I believe it was both cost effective and the best use of our
time. Instead of spending time finding a designer with a portfolio we liked
and then going back and forth with revisions with them. Almost every revision
we requested on 99designs was done within a few hours. I also feel the
anonymous process of 99designs prevents wasting time by trying to be too nice
with comments.

I have not worked with a designer, how many choices are you really going to
get before it starts to be uncomfortable as you are wasting both the designers
time and yours. Five designs? Ten designs? With 99designs you might get 20-40
unique designs. It just seems like better chances for success in a short time.

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Sealy
I've asked different people their opinions. Coders say its great, cheap and
effective. Designers despise its existence.

The designers argue that it is bad for them, however from my perspective it
lowers the barriers for entry if you are a young talent trying to build a
name.

How easy is it to put a value on good design? I see big companies out there
with what I believe to be terrible logos that I know would have costed
hundreds of thousands. On the other hand, I see companies like facebook and
twitter that started out with plain text logos and spent nothing yet still
have a powerful brand.

------
gyardley
I've used it twice in the past for logo work, with good results both times.
Comparable to using a professional design shop, which I've also done multiple
times.

However, some notes:

\- You'll want to pay more than the average to attract a wide range of
designers. It's still cheaper than a professional designer, but don't think
you can lowball the 99designs market and still get good results.

\- 95% of what you get back will be utter crap, and responding to this can
will up a _lot_ of time, much more than working with a professional design
shop.

\- Both times my winning designer was someone from southeast Asia with a shaky
grasp of English. Perhaps my experience was atypical, but I suspect you'll
have to deal with this as well.

\- Some of the nicer-looking stuff was ripped off from elsewhere with the
colors re-changed, which I only caught through some image searches. You may
pick a winner you don't actually own, and I don't know how to guarantee
against this.

\- In both cases I had a good sense of what I wanted in advance and provided
very specific instructions to the designers. If you're looking for someone to
brainstorm ideas your results might vary.

\- Yes, it's spec work and since I wouldn't work for spec, asking someone else
to do it is sort of problematic. But no one's forcing the designers at
gunpoint to use 99designs, and there's no denying the cost difference
(although it does come with significantly more hassle.)

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keiferski
If you can afford it, hire a real designer directly. Look around on
<http://www.dribbble.com>, find some designs you like, and contact the
designer. 99Designs will get you subpar work _and_ you'll be slowly killing
the design industry.

------
LarryMade2
As a fledgling designer, I think it has some cool features:

a) Gives you an place to see how other designers interpret a concept, some
good some not so good, helps build your eye for your style.

b) Gives you a chance to show/hone your work, build your portfolio, and get
clients.

------
t0
<http://antispec.com/>

~~~
Sealy
What are the options for a cash strapped startup? Would it really be justified
to spend $10,000+ on agency work without even being established yet?

~~~
t0
You didn't mention if you were looking to use 99designs or work for them. I'd
never recommend doing free design, but it can work out if you're looking for a
designer.

You can certainly find lowend design agencies or student designers, so
thinking you'd otherwise spend $10,000+ isn't completely accurate.

I challenge whoever downvoted this to come up with a good reason why. This
debate is really over personal preference. I've simply given evidence against
it. I don't even completely agree.

~~~
Sealy
Sorry, I should clarify. I'm looking to use the for a new logo.

What raised the question was a friend of mine who is a designer who blasted me
for using their service. He said its branding that I'm after, not logo design.
To that, I disagreed so I wanted to get the communities thoughts.

