There is no shortage of design companies and creative agencies to take on your most pressing projects. If you printed your Google search query all on one page, we’re sure it would be the length of a whole New York City block (or a CVS receipt).
Choosing one may be just as hard as picking only one streaming service forever, or just one type of candy. With so many design businesses to choose from, how does a brand go about making the final choice? Especially when that final choice is between two great companies.
We’re going to take some of that weight off your shoulders and narrow it down to two: here is our comparison of 99designs vs. Designity.
Who is 99designs?
99designs is a crowdsourcing marketplace that’s based in Melbourne, Australia. What initially started as a small spin-off to the web developer forum, Sitepoint, eventually became the freelance marketplace that it is today.
They were acquired by Cimpress, the parent company of Vistaprint, in October of 2020.
Who is Designity?
Designity is a collaborative US-based platform for creatives of all backgrounds, experience levels, and specialties. This allows them to form diverse virtual teams and support companies with a wide variety of design and marketing projects.
All of the creative teams are supervised by a designated creative director as a main point of contact to create consistency and a hassle-free experience for clients.
A comparison at first glance.
You may be thinking, “These two companies sound exactly the same. How are they different?”
Sure, they are both internet/online design marketplaces with tons of creatives, but that’s the only similarity that these two platforms share. Here is the high-level comparison:
Let’s take a closer look at how these companies work and what makes them so different.
99design’s process
Onboarding
99design’s onboarding process is fairly straightforward. Potential customers sign up for an account online. There is no real onboarding process, introduction into how the platform works, or any guidance on navigating their site.
You do have the option to call their customer support number and they also have a ‘submit a request’ option that connects you with an agent via email. Other than that, you navigate your own onboarding process from start to finish.
This is certainly a plus for people who know exactly what they’re looking for and just want to get right to business. If you are someone who likes a little bit more guidance, this might be a thorn in your shoe.
Finding a designer
The process of finding a designer with 99designs is quite different than say, using a branding and design agency. Let’s say that you are a marketing manager with a custom graphic design project.
You would have to enter their marketplace and search for graphic designers yourself. As in, filter, sort, and sift, through their freelance marketplace until you narrow it down to your chosen one. Another option is to start a ‘Contest’.
Their contests typically span a total of seven to eight days. Four of those days are focused on getting the designers and you have another three to four days to narrow down and refine your selection to one.
Overall client experience
Whether your experience is positive or negative depends wholly on your project, the way you prefer to work, and whether or not a designer’s location is important to you.
Their pool of creatives spans the globe. This means that you may find a creative whose portfolio and contest stand out to you, but if you’re in Los Angeles and they are in Budapest, this can seriously affect your timelines.
Perks of working with 99designs
The perks of working with 99designs largely depend on your preferred style of working with creatives.
If you like managing the creative process from start to finish, don’t have very strict timelines, and don’t mind going to market to find your own creatives, then they might be a fit for you.
Designity’s process
Onboarding
Designity’s onboarding process is, for lack of a better word, detailed. You request a consultation call with one of their agents and are walked through the platform and process from inception to deliverable.
You are assigned a creative director after the initial onboarding discovery. The creative director is matched with you based on personality, industry expertise, and project-specific requirements. Their job is to navigate the creative process with you from start to finish.
Finding a designer
Before we dive into the nuts and bolts of assembling creative teams, we have to mention Designity’s vetting process for creatives. Designity only works with US-based creatives who have to pass an in-depth vetting process.
This includes a challenge that they are required to complete within a specific amount of time, ensuring that their talents are fresh, real, and reliable.
Designity foregoes the fancy alma maters in favor of real, raw talent. Sometimes, that freshness can be found in emerging designers who are typically overlooked because they don’t have years' worth of experience.
Your creative team is assembled based on your project needs. While the creatives themselves may change depending on the project (copywriting versus web design), your creative director remains the same.
All in all, this platform is anything but a freelance marketplace.
Overall client experience
Clients prefer different things from their creative partners, but overall the client experience with Designity is smooth and virtually seamless. Because all of the creatives are US-based, clients are matched with teams that are in their time zone.
This ensures that deliverables are always sent on time and that their creative director is available when they are needed.
Like any platform, clients’ preferences aren’t always the same. Where some might see Designity’s process as too involved or too detailed, others might find comfort in the fact that someone is always at the helm of projects.
Perks of working with Designity
From onboarding to completion of a project, Designity functions as an extended arm of your own team. You only have one point of contact which means that you aren’t overwhelmed by calls and emails.
Your creative director also manages the creative team for you so that you never have to worry about getting your deliverables on time and can focus on other, more important to-do’s on your list.
Pricing and packages
99designs: How it works
99designs’ cost depends entirely on your project. You would have to sign up for their service (at no cost) and find/hire your chosen creative. At that point, you would submit a payment for the project and 99designs holds that payment until the project is completed. The funds are then released to the designer.
For the contest, however, you are required to pay an upfront contest fee in full. If you do not like any of the entries or decide to go a different route, you have to contact them directly to get a refund.
Designity: How it works
Designity functions as a subscription service. There are package options available that depend on the number of creatives on your project. Renewals can be monthly, quarterly, or annually, whatever works best for you. Their 2-week trial period allows you to take your creative team for a test drive before you sign up for one of the packages.
In a nutshell, Designity’s payment model gives clients unlimited design requests, revisions, and a team of creatives who are supervised by a creative director for one, flat monthly fee.
Designity or 99designs? The verdict.
In the end, choosing the better buy is wholly dependent on your own specific needs. Before you make your final decision, ask yourself:
When you clicked on this article, you probably thought that we were going to bash the competition. We don’t do that sort of thing around here. Every design company and creative agency has its strengths and weaknesses, it just all depends on your own unique needs.
We hope this helped narrow down your search. Stay tuned for more comparisons!
