The Problem of 99Designs
You’ve heard of 99Designs. We all have at this point, right?
Pretty cool concept: you pay around $500-$800 for designers across the world to work on your project for free and pitch logo ideas to you. You get to choose your favorite and ask for iterations. You only have to pay if you like the work in the end, no matter how many designers work on your project.
But, it feels kind of shady right? Has anyone actually liked their logo in the end? Apparently so… 99Designs is worth $100m.
99Designs is attractive to small business owners because its affordable and the consumer has full control. You can ask for endless iterations and have dozens of designers working on your logo. You get dozens of options, its awesome, isn’t it?
“Can I see it in a slightly darker green?”
“Try making it bigger, or maybe tilting it?”
It’s like having your own design servant. You’re the leader and your personal designer does whatever you want. Want it pink and green? They’ll do that!
You keep iterating it because it “doesn’t feel right.” In the end, you’ve tried everything and its still “not quite there.”
99Designs produces options, not winners.
This is 99Designs: endless options, endless iterations. Its a plague to hundreds of businesses and designers across the world.
The problem is, although you have complete control, you don’t have an expert working on your behalf. They may have the software skills, but design is thinking, not execution.
Design is: what does this communicate? What does this brand represent? What do I want viewers to feel? What do I want them to do?
Design is not: what color should we use? Can we make it “pop”? Let’s make it bolder.
Imagine going into a restaurant and ordering whatever kind of food you want. They have the stovetop and ingredients, just call out your order and they’ll make it. The power is exhilarating, until you realize you aren't sure what you’re hungry for and how to make that one thing you really like.
Pay $5 at Subway and get whatever you want. Pay $50 at a nice restaurant and get what actually tastes good.
Not only is this terrible for business owners, it’s terrible for designers. After failing on 99Designs, founders will look for better design talent elsewhere and they’ll approach the project the same way:
“Hey, I tried 99Designs and it was okay, but I like this concept, can you make it better??”
After having too many options, they want more options. Just better ones. “I’ll know it when I see it” kind of concepts.
Design doesn’t work this way.
Good design comes from laborious time spent thinking of what your brand stands for, how you want customers to feel, and many other factors that eventually manifest in brand colors and shapes. If you start with the shapes, you begin down a road of endless options and no good result.
A good designer spends more time thinking than executing. Find one committed to understanding your business instead of just presenting options.
