The traditional route of getting a professional logo design can be long, arduous, and downright painful. Writing a “request for proposal”, searching for designers to send it to, attending “needs assessment” meetings or conference calls, reviewing proposals and quotes, and finally crossing your fingers and selecting a designer for the job. It’s no wonder that many entrepreneurs simply shrug their shoulders, type in “free logo maker” into Google and generate a generic, clip-art based logo for their business.
Thankfully, there is a much better way to get a great outcome, for less money. Over the last two years, the emergence of “Crowdsourcing” as chronicled by Jeff Howe in his book and in Wired Magazine has enabled website owners, entrepreneurs, and business owners to tap into a global pool of talent.
Here’s how crowdsourcing, frequently dubbed design contests, works:
1.) You go to the website of one of the design marketplaces. 99designs is the biggest and most popular, with over 70,000 designers registered.
2.) Set your budget. That’s right — rather than receiving bids or proposals, you tell the designers how much money you want to spend. The more you offer, the more designers will participate in your design contest.
3.) You write a “creative brief”, outlining in simple terms what you’re looking for in a logo design. Tell the designers about your company, your brand, how and where your logo will be used, and what kind of image you’re looking to portray.
4.) Post your project! Within hours, you’ll start receiving design submissions from designers all over the world. Rate them from 1 to 5 stars, provide written comments and suggestions, and after a week select your favourite and that designer will get your money. A typical project will see 70 – 200 design concepts, but 500 or 1000 is not unheard of.
Click here to see a typical logo design contest.
By: Matt Mickiewicz.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This is exactly the kind of the thing that graphic designers are trying to squash. This is spec work which means that designers don't get paid for their time. I subscribe to your blog and as an entrepreneur running a graphic design business, I am extremely disappointed that you would promote this.
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