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99designs has a rating of 2.4 stars from 410 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about 99designs most frequently mention contest holder, graphic designer, and current quality problems. 99designs ranks 579th among Graphic Design sites.
This company does not typically respond to reviews
When we start a new company or concept, 99designs is the only place we go for design work. We can put our concept out to hundreds of designers at once and whittle down to what we like. Many of these designers have incredibly original and inventive designs. We like being able to "tweak" designs as we narrow down, and always are more than satisfied with the end results. The timeframe is perfect for us - giving us time to make a decision while not feeling the process becomes "stale". And, customer support with 99designs, in my opinion, is TOP-NOTCH. Contacting me when needed but not pushing anything. If I have questions, I get answers quickly and professionally. Highly recommend!
My designer level has dropped, but my graphic design skills are still strong, and my communication has improved, which makes clients happy with my designs, I already have many art school certifications. I have been a talented designer for 12 years. However there are still empty slots on the project browser, and they have stopped working on limited to 15 contests. 99designs is not a good platform for them.
Just to add my experience. I also found myself thrown out of 99designs despite positive feedback and decent star ratings. I was in the middle of reading a forum post and they literally logged me out. I couldn't log back in and later discovered the delightful email in my inbox pretty much telling me I wasn't good enough and to go back to school! I've been designing for years and find this quite insulting.
Even if a designer isn't up to the mark, surely a better system would be to subject potential designers to a vetting system so they do not waste their time and effort. Either that or lower the limit of contests they can enter until they improve via a polite message, instead of such a heavy handed approach, actually throwing them off the site as though they were a criminal.
Like an earlier reviewer, to add insult to injury, I couldn't log back in to unsubscribe from their email notifications. I wish I had read reviews about 99designs before signing up, but was lulled into a false sense of security by the fact that my husband has used them as a contest holder in the past. He was reasonably satisfied with his experience at the time, but he will not go near them in future, after witnessing the callous way in which they treat some of their designers. I feel very uncomfortable about the fact that I had to upload a photo of my passport and am now worried about what 99designs will do with that information. Well, lesson learned, I guess, better to stick to traditional work methods.
I started on 99designs two years ago from scratch. I was a big 0 in design. In just two years the awesome staff and the amazing community of designers helped to create a great portfolio, wherever I show it, people are amazed by it, not speaking about my little overall experience.
I really learned a lot and everybody was ready to help even when I failed. So thank you 99d, you are amazing.
I had no job and no profession, 99d helped me to feed my family for 2 years and then I was able to get a nice job in design. (and I can still use 99d for extra income)
As a designer it's an awesome place. I do not recommend it however for those who are not willing to learn, who don't like to play fair and be nice and for those who are dumb. These people will most probably get themselves a ban for good reason.
For customers I can safely say that there a ton of really really good designers and it is impossible to not find a man for the job. You just have to know at least partly what you want and invite the right man to your contest or for 1to1.
But rule of the dumb applies here as well. If you are dumb don't come, you will be disappointed most likely and just make designers waste their time. If you are normal guy with more then 80 iq you can come safely, you will get what you want. And if you have questions just ask the customer support they are awesome and happy to help.
Cheers to the normal people ;)
As a 8 year graphic designer I decided to give 99designs a shot. I designed a logo for a pizza company and followed all the procedures necessary to enter the design contest. However, within a day my account was suspended from 99designs. I don't really know why it was suspended but from the email they sent me it stated "As a result, we have put your account on hold. We encourage you to improve your design skills." I thought this was a slap in the face and really unprofessional the design contest that they host should be decided by the client and not 99designs cause ultimately the client is more important. My suggestion to all new business owners out there please hire a freelance designer that will take care of your business in the long run. The best designers build companies a brand identity not just a logo. 99design robs freelance designers for there craft. They get a bunch of designers thinking they are going to win some quick cash but they end up spending more time and work then the actual cost of the design. The one element that is missing is the personal relationship between the designer and the client and that is something you cannot replace I wouldn't recommend 99designs to anyone after this incident.
This is a buyer beware for anyone using 99Designs. I hosted a contest for a book cover and selected the $299 option for prize money. The process was easy and I received several good designs from which I awarded a winner. I immediately got a bill from the designer for $50 to purchase the stock image used. The design page stated the designer used stock images, but did not state I had to pay for them. The stock image cost $15 with $35 as a fee to the designer. Contacting 99design support, they told me I had to pay. I refused and they encouraged the designer to redo the design with free images. I selected one of the three options of lesser quality because I had no other choice. To get the files for the book cover, I had to award the money to the designer. When I downloaded the files, I found that I could not use or edit them without purchasing a software program costing $600. I asked for the files in a different format, yet the designer stopped working with me. 99designs have ignored my emails and messages for help.
Our 99Designs experience was AMAZING! Provide just a bit of information and your world opens up to some talented designers and their incredible skills!
Quick and easy to use website from start to finish. Great to be able to request slight changes from the already submitted designs. Have created another project already for www.coinschedule.com
Hi Paul,
Thank you for such a great feedback.
We are glad to hear that you find the process to be easy to use and it was a pleasure to have worked with you with your design needs. Should you need any assistance on your new project, please do not hesitate to contact: https://support.99designs.com/hc/en-us/requests/new and we will respond to you as soon as possible.
- Jerlyn from 99designs
99 designs is the worst service to use they ripped me off and kept my funds.If you are starting out stay away from this place a acomplete SCAM! SCAM ALERT
I got a lot of great covers to choose from very promptly. They kept to their timetable very well and designers were quite responsive
Products used:
book cover contest
Like so many others have said, then frequently ban your account if the site owners think your standards are not up to scratch. Even if you were a finalist among contests. Their support team is non existent, yet they sit and police people's submissions. Its nonsense. Im sure they scam more people and there are a lot of fake reviews here. Stay away from them. Bunch of idiots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFss5cTlIl0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlpy0ESmBgQ. A quote from the video above """""A good number of "clients" on these crowdsourcing sites are associates working for large corporate ad/imaging/graphics firms... What they look for are either ideas or designs for the smaller non-contractual "penny ante" clients on a limited budget (usually $5K and less), and then go to these crowdsourcing sites, and hold contests in order to get their pick of a cache of designs, and either pay the winner pennies on the dollar, or (more often) not at all... Then the associate re-works the project to make it feasible for print, or for the web, and then sells the finished project to the actual client at market price, and is still able to devote all their creative time towards the large scale big money contractual clients, while making extra money for the company, or for themselves on the side..."""""
UPDATE: As usual those morons copy/paste a generic reply below. Dont use their site or give them any business.
Hi San,
I understand how disappointing it is to see your account placed on hold. We certainly did not mean to demean you in any way, shape or form. Hopefully, you can see by our email correspondence that this is not a permanent hold. We only ask that you submit a portfolio because your current entries do not appear to represent our minimum quality standards.
99designs is a professional marketplace, and we are dedicated to cultivating a community of designers who are consistently creating unique, well crafted designs. To this end, each designer account is reviewed personally by a 99designs staff member. In order to remain objective, we do not judge quality on things like education, certifications, or even contest ratings but rather on the actual quality of the entries themselves. We use these basic, universal graphic design principles as our forms of measurement: https://support.99designs.com/hc/en-us/articles/204862935-What-are-99designs-quality-standards-
During this period of absence, we encourage you to work on your designs skills. Your suspension is *not* permanent, please make note of this. You will be able to re-apply once we open the application period, so you have a chance to reinstate your account.
Best of luck - we hope to see you in the next application period. Feel free to contact our support team with any further questions: https://support.99designs.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
- Jerlyn from 99designs
Brilliant service, exciting and professional - I was lucky enough to work with a top designer for my logo - he was genius!
This is a total waste of time and a ripoff. After spending a month with them and selecting a design, they couldn't deliver. They also refuse to honor their money back guarantee.
I would recommend 99 Designs for anyone embarking on a logo or design project. The site is easy to use and the designers were all helpful
Very useful for creating branding logo for our non-profit organization. The designer we ended up choosing was a delight to work with. Great value!
Tip for consumers:
great value
Products used:
logo design
I submitted a contest and got over 200 ideas for various designers. The hardest part was to choose the best one.
Hi Gyda,
We appreciate your review! :) We are so happy to hear that you got to choose from a lot of great designs and we hope that you indeed got the best one.:)
We look forward to working with you again on your future design needs.
- Jerlyn from 99designs
This platform is amazing, i started my career with them as a concept artist and now i'm a top level one.
Very good experience with them, nothing bad to say, the pricing is a bit on the steep side but overall ok
This company is everything they say they are! My designs from even mid-level artist were phenomenal! Well worth the money
Hi Melissa,
We are excited to hear about your great experience on the site. It was a pleasure to work with you and we are glad that you've found a design that works for you.
Thank you for the confidence you place on us and we hope to work with you again in the future!:)
- Jerlyn from 99designs
Using services like 99designs degrades the quality of the creative industry. Designers get extorted in competitions creating ideas for free...
Hi John,
Thank you for leaving us a review. We value both our clients and designers and we appreciate your feedback on the site. We would love to hear more of your thoughts to better improve our service - not only for our clients' benefit but also of our designers'.
If you want to discuss this further, we have a designer and customer support team that would happily accommodate you. Please feel free to contact us with your best contact number and time, and we'll be happy to reach out: https://support.99designs.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
- Jerlyn from 99designs
This process was actually fun. We got great designs, made a contact, and the competition helped market the business too.
Tip for consumers:
Do it.
Products used:
Facebook cover
Exploitation of designers. Too many hours of work wasted to this platform. Asking for revision without a clear winning.
Products used:
Worked as a Designer
IF YOU REGISTER IN 99DESIGN YOU ARE LOSE IN LIFE! WHY 99DESIGN ARE TRAVELERS WITHOUT CONTROLLING THE LAW. WOULD APPLY THE PENALTIES OF MANY PERSONS WHO HAVE TO SEND THIS SITE THE SITES SIMILAR TO THAT. 99DESIGN TO BE ANY COPYRIGHT RULES. THEIR ASSISTANCE IN DESIGN WAS INCOMPETENT, 99DESIGN IS NOT A TRANSPARENT SITE WHY HIDE INCOMPETENCE. NO EXIXST CURRICULUM ONLINE OF PEOPLE THAT WORKING IN 99DESIGN AND LESS THAN THEIR NAMES. MANY PEOPLE WANT A WRITTEN VERTENCE THROUGH THE LAWYERS. TAKE CARE PEOPLE! THIS IS NOT POSSIBILITY OF WORK THIS IS SCAM!
Was running a contest to design a mascot got all the way to the end and only found one designer was worth dealing with. I called up and asked for advice on how I could only work with the one designer so I didn't lead the other designers on.
The advice came back from 99 Designs to eliminate all of the finalist and just work with the designer you like, which I did. With three days from the end of the contest I had a call from 99 designs saying the brief wasn't clear and the finalists you eliminated weren't happy. Also you are expecting to many illustrations from your designers so could you find a winner and create another 1 on 1 Project with the winner to finish the illustrations.
That would be another $400AUD. (I don't think so 99 designs)
I stressed to the caller from 99 designs to please sort this out as time was a problem for me as I had a deadline to produce a mascot in three days. She said that she will call back that day and let me know the outcome!
I had no one called me and once I got home from work I found out the contest has been put in dispute and will be resolved and 59 days!
All the work and time put into the contest from myself and the designers was gone!
Thanks for wasting my time and the designers time! I will not be using 99 designs for a contest again!
If you're a serious designer this is not the site for you. I work as a professional designer and after I had a complaint that buyers kept canceling the competitions after work was submitted and said I think it's a scam, they emailed me this.
Thank you for your interest in 99designs. However, the current quality of your work does not fit our site standards. As a result, we have placed your account on hold.
We encourage you to take 3 months to improve your design skills. We suggest finding tutorials online to improve your design skills heres a great starting point: http://99designs.com/designer-blog/category/design-tips-and-resources/
After 3 months, we encourage you to come back and reapply to be part of the community. How to re-apply:
Create a portfolio of 4 to 5 new designs in vector PDF file format
Send your new designs to *******@99designs.com with the subject line Portfolio review: louiseasha
We will then review your work and determine if your account will be reactivated.
Thank you and we look forward to reviewing your work in 3 months.
Regards
99designs Community Team
Really? I have photos showing the bias I am talking about and really would just like to let people know they shouldn't waste their time. You're better than this garbage site.
Paid for the base level $300 logo and got over 200 logos. Lot of good ones to choose from and loved the end result!
Hi Alex,
We are very excited to hear that you had a pleasant experience. Thank you for coming to us for your design needs.
And we look forward to working with you again!:)
- Jerlyn from 99designs
The process was easy. The designs were exactly what we were looking for. Even had too many to choose from, making our decision tough.
Hi Dee,
Your feedback is highly appreciated!
Thank you for trusting our Global Creative Platform with your design need and it's great to hear that you were able to choose from a number of amazing designs from a great pool of talented designers! Glad to help you find the design that you love and we hope to be able to work with you again with you future design needs!:)
- Jerlyn from 99designs
Gain trust and grow your business with customer reviews.
99designs is the global creative platform that makes it easy for designers + clients to work together to create designs they love.
Founded in 2008, 99designs has grown from a small, online forum into a global community of talented designers that is now the go-to creative solution for businesses, agencies and individuals. We are headquartered in Melbourne, Australia with operations in Oakland, California and Berlin, Germany.
Hi Josette,
I understand how disappointing it is to see your account placed on hold. Hopefully you can see by our email correspondence that this is not a permanent hold. We only ask that you submit a portfolio because your current entries do not appear to represent our minimum quality standards.
99designs is a professional marketplace, and we are dedicated to cultivating a community of designers who are consistently creating unique, well crafted designs. To this end, each designer account is reviewed personally by a 99designs staff member. In order to remain objective, we do not judge quality on things like education, certifications, or even contest ratings but rather on the actual quality of the entries themselves. We use these basic, universal graphic design principles as our forms of measurement: https://support.99designs.com/hc/en-us/articles/204862935-What-are-99designs-quality-standards-
The reason for the three month period is that we want to make sure designers really take the time to improve in the principles of typography, visual hierarchy, composition and color, as well as technical skills. We have to remain consistent with all designers in our procedure for portfolio review. As such, our staff will not review a portfolio until three months past the date of your account-hold.
Please note that our Identity Verification is solely for internal purposes and we would never share your personal details (https://support.99designs.com/hc/en-us/articles/205460145-What-is-identity-verification-).
If you feel these designs did not represent your potential, we encourage you to submit your portfolio in three months. Feel free to contact our support team with any further questions: https://support.99designs.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
-Rosalie from 99designs