99designs

As a designer with over 35 years of experience working in the design-for-print industry and with a Degree in Design I can honestly say I was 'slapped with a damp squid' today by them. I decided I would give them a try as I am now freelance. Don't get me wrong, my last position for 20 years was Creative Director. I know my job and history has proved me a great designer. My experience is vast. Being freelance gave me the ability to move to another country and marry the woman I loved. My choice, otherwise I would still be in the UK working 10 hours a day. Today they wrote to me and said...
You've been suspended
Your account has been suspended forever for the following reason:
Hello, Thanks for your interest in 99designs. Unfortunately the current quality of your work does not fit our site standards. As a result, we have put your account on hold. We encourage you to improve your design skills. You can find design tutorials and inspirational work here: http://99designs.com/designer-blog/category/design-tips-and-resources/ After you have spent 3 months on your designs, please create a portfolio of 4 to 5 of your new designs in vector pdf file format based on contests from our site: 99designs.com/contests Please send this portfolio to *******@99designs.com with the subject line "Portfolio review: (Your 99designs username)". When submitting your portfolio, please zip the files and include the link to each contest from which the designs were created in the body of your email. We will review your submissions and determine if your account will be reactivated. We will not review your portfolio if you send it in before three months. Do not attempt to create a new account while yours is on hold. This is against our Code of Conduct and we will close the account without notice. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask."...

Honestly '... current quality of your work does not fit our site standards. As a result, we have put your account on hold. We encourage you to improve your design skills"...

My skills have been honed over 40 years! And well paid!

ALL I CAN SAY IS 'AGEISM'! Other designers beware - well at least experienced designers be wary:-(

Great company, easy to use website, talented designers, fast turn around, excellent product. I was very happy and will use this company again.

I am a designer and I've been registered recently, but I had enough time on this platform to understand how everything works. (more than 6 months)
It is a total scam for professional designers. They keep the best designers and the most creative ones to entry level and they let mid and top level copy and steal the concepts from the first ones. I have experienced more than 3 times this kind of modern scamming. They take my concepts, modify the design slightly so they would give the same exact response at the end (that the overall look is different and the concept is common so they didn't steal it from me) and let the amateurs win. Ironically nobody thought of that exact idea before I submitted it. Most of the designers have 0 creativity so they go on by stealing other people's ideas. Even in a blind contest I was scammed. The client himself showed my concepts to another designer and he mixed them and won the contest at the end. I noticed from the usage of the same exact font and color palette, which is totally impossible in blind contests where nobody can see what I've submitted, unless the client sends my work to them (or the platform does in this case).
I would not recommend this platform for professional designers, and the clients have been unsatisfied more and more because all the best designers have left this platform. I will probably be gone too, very soon. Even when the winner has not copied the design from other contestants, they copy it from the internet and the clients end up paying $400 for a $5 logo or even worse (someone won, in one of the contests I participated, using a free logo from freepik.com and he just outlined it). Pretty unbelievable, but it happened!
I wrote this and wanted to be 100% honest because I would have wanted to read this before I registered to that awful workplace.

The site does NOT answer anything this happens to me for buying cheap stuff im going back to hire some real pro people

99Designs treats our designers so awful it is shocking. Firstly you work on spec brief which is worth almost double then what they pay.

Secondly they suspend anyone who the judge and in their opinion doesn't fit their site. When I was suspended only after 3 contest enteries it really was a kick in the teeth as I got qualification in graphic design and been a freelance graphical artist for 6 years. When I sent across my portfolio of logo designs fron actual paid client they more or less sauud they not good enough. I think it is really bad that they suspend designers like that just because in their opinion isn't good enough.

After research this company I found this company may be in breach of many laws specially In the UK. You see they advertise that they are a middle man service between designer and company so when the suspend designer they are breach if sales of good act which cover services as well because us designers isn't being provided a good service. Furthermore they actually has suspended people who won contest with money on accounts these in it's self is theft and also breach of their own terms and conditions as they have physical evidence they are good match for their site.

99Design doesn't care about their designer who respect them. They know they treat the designer specially when the hide comments on their social media site it just shows how bad they operate against designers. STAY AWAW FROM THIS SITE AT ALL COSTS

This website has absolutely no respect for the designers who make it happen. I have been wasting my time with this website for the past week. I only submitted 4 contests and they already banned my account because my designs do not fit their quality standards, even though it fit the standards of the customers I was making them for.

For 2 out of the 4 contests I entered, one of them messaged me right away and said it was exactly what they were looking for, and the other said they liked mine a lot and I kept making changes that they specified. For the one I kept making the changes for, I submitted a creative design that one would not normally associate with the name of the podcast. It got rated 5 stars, so all the other designers after me copied my idea. This happened in almost every contest I saw. Designers just copy other highly rated designers.

While I was working on designs of other contests I was going to enter, I suddenly got an email saying that my designs do not meet their quality standards and that my account was on hold. I cant log in anymore, meaning all the contest submissions I spent so much time with just disappeared without warning. Alarmed, I called the help number. Apparently, there is a customer support number, but no designer support number. I was told they cant help me. I emailed the design support that Im sure doesnt exist and I will probably never get a response. Even if I did, it would be too late as these contests are ending. Never use this website if you have any sort of respect for yourself as a designer, or if you respect designers. The most awful experience Ive had in my life.

99designs is a fantastic way to get many different concepts for your project. The designers are fast, talented, and kind.

Great site - really loved the process and would recommend to anyone looking to make a good logo for a web project.

It literally changed my life for a better!

As a designer, being able to pick projects that I like, from clients from all around the world, that otherwise I would never had chance to meet, is absolutely amazing!

It all started several years ago while I was working in an advertising agency. A friend of mine have told me about 99designs and I decided to gave it a go. One by one, I've entered 15 contests with some visually amazing work, but with no single win.

After some time I tried to think of what I was doing wrong and changed my strategy. My new designs were not anything better than the previous ones, but were more client-centric.

Finally, I started winning contest. Today, my stats are: 67% finals (50% of that wins) On average, I'm winning every 3rd contest. All those wins also generated me a lot of 1-to-1 projects and long term collaborations with several clients that consider me as a reliable member of their teams, and I love working with them.

Of course, that personal success gave me wings to quit my daily job and start freelancing exclusively. Im getting enough of work from my regular clients, so lately I participate contest on 99designs only for fun.

P.S.

Im noticing a lot of reviews here that are totally unfair / wrongly addressed. 99design is open service, meaning anyone can create contest, and anyone can participate as a designer. In real life there are two types of people, of course there will be some not so great clients and some not so great designers on 99design too, but it's not fair to blame it on 99designs.

I'm sure that 99designs among other awesome things, makes real effort of increasing quality of designs by suspending accounts of low quality designers, and limiting number of contest that new designer can participate.

Terrible experience. The site lacks some of the important qualities of a "real contest" and you are completely at their (99Designs) mercy. I participated in many contests. I was selected as a finalist in six of them. Of the six two selected other winners (totally ok) and two selected me (that was awesome of course) but two never selected a winner at all... they just let the contest go stale. Then, out of the blue, with no warning after just a few months, I got an email stating that my account with them had been suspended. Just like that - they stated my designs did not meet their high standards. Well, first of all, what exactly are their standards? There is no documentation other than a single page that provides a few suggestions about how to make your design more favorable. Second, how could I have made it to the final round in six contests and how could I have received four star ratings and positive comments on my designs if the quality of my work was so poor. Lastly, so what if it wasn't Manhattan advertising pro quality. Why shouldn't I have the same opportunity to submit a design to a contest as any other person. Isn't it the very definition of "contest" to provide fair competition among people with varying skill and experience allowing the "best" to filter to the top? Interestingly they suspended my account (meaning I had zero access to it) while I had funds waiting to be transferred to me. My recommendation - avoid at all costs. Another thing to consider, something I found frustrating when I was working with them was that they advertise original designs but allow their participants to use stock images and clip art in their designs. Unfortunately these are the people that win the most contests. If you really want to do this type of design work, there are other crowd sourcing sites out there - or you could just start your own freelancing site and really exercise your creativity.

This site promises you a way to build your career and portfolio while making money. This couldn't be farther from the truth and in reality diminishes the profession and the creativity of a graphic designer. You put in countless hours into contests with minimal odds of you winning. Pretty straight forward but after a couple weeks of watching and submitting to contests I noticed a few thing that should drive every designer, amateur or experienced, away from this site.

1) Contests disappear regularly without warning. This mean all your work (while having low odds in the first place) was for not. For the contests that do stay up you can be contacted by the client to change this and that just to have them eliminate you completely.

2) There is little to protect your work. In open contests you are constantly subject to forgery by other designers. 99designs seem to have no issue with this. This is probably because once you submit a design it is theirs. There is no way to retract your work.

3) This is an homage to #1 but not only do designers copy your work but so do the clients. They can easily cancel a contest after designs are submitted and steal your design which is probably the reason so many contests disappear.

When I questioned 99designs about the above concerns my account was suspended due to "sub-standard work" and I was told to educate myself and return. I have over 4 years freelance work, a client base to back me up, and a degree. From the other reviews I have read this is a common occurrence when designers question their sketchy practices. It's their way to silence any negativity on their site to help them maintain a false positive image.

99designs is the equivalent of a 3rd world sweat shop or a pyramid scheme. They pump out all this hype of success and riches while in reality they pay chump change and steal your work. They profit off those that dont know better while putting minimal effort in themselves and silence anyone that remotely questions their ethics.

If you have any respect for your profession stay away. Build a portfolio and market yourself through Linkedin or other similar sites.

I'm a designer working full time in a graphic studio and doing occasional freelancing. I've been winning identity and packaging contest on this site since the month I signed up and those are my thoughts about it: A designer can make some money out of this site provided that she doesn't do much research beforehand and goes with first, obvious, mainstream ideas. Cliché is given applause. Too many dots to connect is not welcome.

I've won with designs that made my boss, an art director with a fine art degree and 25 years in the advertising go 'meh', and got eliminated after submitting great, creative designs made after hours of research and brainstorming. To have good work rejected and get paid for mediocre work is well, kind of disappointing.

Company owners who use this site instead of finding a designer in their area don't care for design much, really. They just want a pretty picture. There are exceptions among the contest holders, though. Companies just starting out and on a tight budget, who will very likely replace the place-holder identity from 99designs within a year, if they will survive that long. Then there are ones who don't know any better, but have time on their hands to guide designers (well, pixel pushers in that case) to a decent solution.

Design quality seems to be slightly better in the platinum category, but there are platinum users who do design below site's average and basic users who do better than platinum but just didn't sign up to platinum verification.

Another issue is the business model 99designs has that is hurting designers both on and off the site: every designer on 99designs works on speculation of getting paid, which basically means free work, unprotected with any agreement until (maybe) awarded, which means contest holders can save the propositions and cancel the contest, share the insights a designer has made in an attempt to sell her design in public comments and to promote/rate high on copycats. Faint chance of winning a contest a designer is really interested in, means having the urge to join mare contests, spending less time on each one. The result being lower quality work and giving the designer profession a bad name.

Our team enjoyed an easy and well managed process. The designers were responsive and took creative criticism well. We are very happy with the result.

I am not sure why but most of the reviews i found for 99designs says "Can't Login". Feeling curious, why?

Easy to use. Brilliant designs submitted. Extremely satisfied with the whole process and final design.

Can't wait to use again.

The companies don't pay you and they steal your design. Don't use. Only if you expect not to be paid

99 design is very harmful site designers dont use this site after you won the contest they suspend your account and stole your prize money. They are very worst and bad site STAY AWAY FROM 99 DESIGNS

I had a very focused goal: To hire an expert in Squarespace I could utilize to accelerate the learning of the front end authoring environment so I could build my own website.

I am a management consultant and am proficient enough in design to do it myself. It's the only way to go.

I found a smart gal to provide me 2 hours for a coaching, teaching engagement.

To my regret she helped me get started learning SS so I could build my own website. But there was really no pedagogical approach. In other words I would have benefitted from an overview of how SS organizes its web-based interface, the design conventions of SS. That didn't happen because the designer has no teaching ability and it WAS MY FAULT I DID NOT STRUCTURE THE TWO HOURS MORE EDUCATIONALLY. I didn't give her the guidance. And she went very quickly. My fault again.

She was very technically capable and a good designer but her communication skills were atrocious. She encouraged me to follow up afterwards with questions. Well she went AWOL. I was never able to followup. Very disappointed. Like a lot of hired guns she took the money and ran.

$250 an hour for a graphic designer through a middleman? If they can earn that I am worth $450 an hour. Very expensive. It would help to know how much 99designs earns as the bodypusher middleman. I am guessing $100 an hour? But since I don't know it is difficult to assess if the designer was paid fairly. $150 an hour because the bodypusher gets $100? That's fair to the designer. $30 an hour to 99designes and $220 to the designer? I would never pay a graphic designer $220 an hour directly absent the middleman.

You will have to trust me that I am a paying customer to 99designs for an SS website that is live but which I prefer to go unnamed for obvious reasons. People need to feel free to tell the truth without fear of retaliation.

I hired the designer in early August. Paid 99designs $500. Definitely too much for what I got.

Very affordable and easy to use site. Makes the process of designing a new brand easy and effortless.

Quite simply, we got more than we expected for less than we could have hoped. The platform worked perfectly and the results were even better.

I am a freelance graphic designer, and i have tried some crowd sourcing websites, 99designs is the best and a better place than the others

Easy to use, great selection of choices given from designers that listened and wanted to help you get what you wanted

I got a good logo from many people working on it. It's creative that way. It was a good time. Thanks what I think.