Finding the right design partner for your creative projects isn’t always easy, especially now when there are so many options to choose from. Brands need to decide if they’re going to tap into the freelance pool, hire in-house designers, hire a creative agency, or sign up for a design service.
If you are going the design service route, then you may be looking at several different players who hang out in the same space. In this comparison, we’ll help narrow down the search for you. Let’s take a closer look at Design Pickle and Designity.
Which is the better buy?
Which platform is easier to use?
How does the pricing compare?
Keep reading to find out!
What is Design Pickle?
Design Pickle was founded in 2015 as a creative services company that caters to both the US and international markets. They offer unlimited creative work (design and illustration) at a flat monthly rate.
They are based in Scottsdale Arizona.
What is Designity?
Designity is a US-based creative platform for creatives of all backgrounds, experience levels, and specialties. The variety in specialties allows them to cater to companies with a wide variety of design and marketing needs.
All of the creative teams are supervised by a designated creative director who has at least fifteen years of experience in their creative field. Creative directors work directly with clients and act as creative partners throughout the design process. This creates consistency and a hassle-free experience for clients.
A comparison at first glance
<div class="c-blog_table"><div class="c-blog_table-top"><div class="c-blog_table-row"><div class="c-blog_table-main"><div class="c-table_column cc-main cc-empty"></div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column cc-top_orange"><img src="https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/61cdf3c5e0b81507b4e010e2_table_logo.png" loading="lazy" alt="Designity" class="c-table_designity"><div class="c-text-1 cc-table_title cc-designity"><strong>Designity</strong></div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column cc-top_dark"><div class="c-text-1 cc-table_title">Design Pickle</div></div></div><div class="c-table_row"><div class="c-blog_table-main cc-left"><div class="c-text-2">Creative Director Supervision</div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column cc-orange"><div class="c-text-2">Yes<br></div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column"><div class="c-text-2 cc-table">No<br></div></div></div><div class="c-table_row"><div class="c-blog_table-main cc-left"><div class="c-text-2">Creative’s Location & Vetting </div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column cc-orange"><div class="c-text-2">US-based; intensive vetting process<br></div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column"><div class="c-text-2 cc-table">Global, short vetting process<br></div></div></div><div class="c-table_row"><div class="c-blog_table-main cc-left"><div class="c-text-2">Sourcing Creatives</div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column cc-orange"><div class="c-text-2">Creative Director sources for you<br></div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column"><div class="c-text-2 cc-table">Automatically assigned a team based on your project<br></div></div></div><div class="c-table_row"><div class="c-blog_table-main cc-left"><div class="c-text-2">Number of Creatives per Project</div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column cc-orange"><div class="c-text-2">Depends on package<br></div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column"><div class="c-text-2 cc-table">Depends on package<br></div></div></div><div class="c-table_row"><div class="c-blog_table-main cc-left"><div class="c-text-2">Unlimited Project Requests and Revisions</div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column cc-orange"><div class="c-text-2">Yes<br></div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column"><div class="c-text-2 cc-table">Yes</div></div></div><div class="c-table_row"><div class="c-blog_table-main cc-left"><div class="c-text-2">Communication</div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column cc-orange"><div class="c-text-2">Weekly calls with your CD <br></div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column"><div class="c-text-2 cc-table">Tech platform, Slack integration<br></div></div></div><div class="c-table_row"><div class="c-blog_table-main cc-left"><div class="c-text-2">Client Onboarding</div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column cc-orange"><div class="c-text-2">Matchmaking process <br></div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column"><div class="c-text-2 cc-table">No real onboarding<br></div></div></div><div class="c-table_row"><div class="c-blog_table-main cc-left"><div class="c-text-2">Pricing</div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column cc-orange"><div class="c-text-2">Packages start at $3,495/month<br></div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column"><div class="c-text-2 cc-table">Packages start at $499/month<br></div></div></div><div class="c-table_row"><div class="c-blog_table-main cc-left"><div class="c-text-2">Trial Period</div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column cc-orange"><div class="c-text-2">Up to a three-week trial<br></div></div><div class="c-blog_table-column"><div class="c-text-2 cc-table">No trial<br></div></div></div></div></div>
Let’s dive into each of these sections and explore the detailed differences between Designity and Design Pickle starting with…
Creative Director supervision
Design Pickle
When you work with Design Pickle, you do not have access to creative directors. Depending on the package that you sign up for, you may get a designated account manager, but they will not have the same experience or expertise as a creative director.
The lack of creative direction is a major downside for some companies, but it isn’t a bad thing if your project is short-term and very small. If you don’t need a strategic creative thinker to help you navigate the design process, this may not be a problem for you.
Designity
At Designity, every single client that signs up for a package is assigned a designated creative director no matter the package size. The creative director is much more involved than Design Pickle’s account managers, but this is because the creative directors are meant to act as an extension of your team.
The creative directors in this case go beyond simple project management and setting timelines. You are actually encouraged to bounce ideas off of your creative director, work through creative struggles, and keep an open line of communication via weekly video calls.
Designity’s creative directors also manage the entire creative team so that you don’t have to.
While this approach is great for clients who prefer a more collaborative approach to their creative projects, some businesses might prefer a more removed approach.
Creative’s Location & Vetting Process
Design Pickle
Location: Design Pickle’s creative team is global. You could be assigned a graphic designer in Germany or in Colombia, for example. For some marketers, this is a huge plus, especially if they are trying to break into a new market in a different country.
The downside here is that international designers may not be in your time zone.
Projects may take longer because of this.
Scope: Design Pickle’s scope of services is very limited, with only four service offerings. They are: graphic design, motion graphics, custom illustration, and presentation design. On the plus side, this indicates that they do graphic design really well.
The downside is if a marketer has multiple projects on deck that require a wider range of creative services, then they would have to source creatives from multiple avenues.
Designity
Location: Designity’s network of creatives and creative directors are all US-based, spanning all US time zones. The reason for a solely US-based team is that it makes it easier for clients to collaborate on projects with a creative team in their time zone.
Scope: The scope of services offered is broad and is not limited to just design projects. In addition to the full gamut of design services, Designity also offers content and copywriting, coding and development, and brand audits for companies that may want to refresh their current marketing strategies.
Vetting
Design Pickle
Creative hiring process: Design Pickle’s creative hiring process is to the point and fairly quick. Creatives are encouraged to apply based on the country that they live in and the available positions in that country.
After completing the application, creatives are then required to complete a video interview to determine whether or not they are a culture fit. Once the video interview is complete, creatives are moved on to the next stage of the process where they are required to complete a test project.
If they pass the test project, they are added to Design Pickle’s creative pool and are ready to accept new projects.
Sourcing for creative projects: Because Design Pickle doesn’t utilize creative directors, no one is in charge of sourcing the right creatives for projects. Instead, clients submit a queue of projects via their platform, and those projects are arranged by priority.
Designers are assigned to your projects and all of the collaboration is completed via their tech platform. One important thing to note is that clients do not get a designated team of designers who consistently work on their projects with the entry-level package. The designers can be changed at any time by the platform.
Designity
Creative hiring process: Designity works with a wide range of both full-time and part-time employees as well as recent design school graduates. The hiring process is lengthy, and creatives must complete two rounds of interviews before being given a ‘challenge’ project.
The creatives set their own deadlines for this project and must adhere to them. Delivering a challenge late is automatic grounds for not moving forward with the applicant. Challenges vary depending on the creative’s specialty.
Once the challenge is submitted, it is reviewed by a team of creative directors specializing in that particular field. The team scores the project, and based on that score, the creative is either terminated or approved for the final round of interviews.
It’s important to note that only the top 3% of applicants are approved to move forward, which is why Designity’s creative team is more exclusive than other players in the design space.
Sourcing for creative projects: Once you submit a project request, your creative director is tasked with going into Designity’s creative pool and sourcing the right creatives based on your individual project needs. This is a much more customized approach than Design Pickle.
For example, if you are a healthcare client and you are running an ad campaign, you can request that the designer and copywriter on the project have prior healthcare experience. If you want to narrow it down further to only recent grads or maybe creatives with multiple years of experience, you can also do that.
Communication
Design Pickle
Communication with your creative team is extremely limited, if you ever get to speak with them at all. Design Pickle’s platform is entirely virtual and tech-first. This means that rounds of feedback are completed directly in the platform or via integrations with various platforms like Slack.
Due to their various integration capabilities, Clients are able to communicate directly with their creative teams via Slack or other integrations. This feature is only available during your graphic design team’s business hours in the country where they are.
For marketers who prefer to steer the creative process themselves, these integrations are a bonus in helping manage their creative team. This means that marketers are communicating with a team versus having one point of contact for all of their project needs.
While this is a plus in certain situations, a lot of marketers find it difficult to manage the added weight of managing their own creative team. The other downside is that the Slack integration is only available for the higher packages.
Designity
This depends on the plan that you have. You may get one, two, or three recurring weekly video calls with your designated creative director. The calls are used to discuss projects, brainstorm ideas, and general alignment.
Besides those recurring calls, you can also communicate with your creative director via email. They also have the option to schedule additional meetings as needed. Designity is very well structured around strategic and meaningful communication to increase efficiency.
From onboarding to completion of a project, Designity functions as an extended arm of your own team. You only have one point of contact (your creative director) which means that you aren’t overwhelmed by calls and emails from multiple departments.
Client Onboarding
Design Pickle
Client onboarding is a very basic process for Design Pickle. Because they are a tech-first platform, the only real onboarding experience that potential clients get is the initial demo call before committing to a package.
Clients are then shown how the platform works and how best to work with their creative team. Once they commit to a package, they integrate the platform into their tech stack and are able to begin submitting project requests.
Overall, it’s a very quick, no-frills process.
Designity
Designity’s onboarding process is very detailed. The first step would be requesting a consultation call with one of their creative consultants. At that point, potential clients are walked through the platform and process from inception to deliverable.
You would then complete a matching process where you are assigned a creative director. The creative director is matched with you based on personality, time zone, industry expertise, and project-specific requirements. Their job is to navigate the creative process with you from start to finish.
Billing cadence, pricing, and trial period
Design Pickle
Billing cadence: From what can be seen on their website, Design Pickle only offers one, monthly billing cadence.
Pricing: Design Pickle’s pricing model is very straight forward. They offer three packages, starting at $499 per month for their entry-level package, $995 for the mid-level package, and $1,995 for their premium package.
Each package includes access to their platform and graphic design services, but the higher two packages include things like Spanish speaking designers, a wider scope of services, and Canva delivery (premium only).
Trial period: As of this writing, Design Pickle does not offer clients a risk-free trial. Once a client is onboarded and commits to a package, they can’t begin a project until payment is received.
Designity
Billing cadence: The billing cadence depends wholly on your specific needs and is entirely in your control. You have the option to sign up for a monthly, quarterly, or a yearly billing cycle and can change your billing cycle depending on your needs.
Pricing: Designity’s pricing model is very straightforward but more expensive than Design Pickle. They offer three plans, starting from $3,495 per month for the Essentials plan, to $5,495 per month for the Plus plan, and up to $8,495 per month for the Premium plan.
The higher the plan, the larger your team and the more projects you can complete at a faster rate. Clients can choose between three different package options and can fluctuate between the three whenever they want, depending on their needs.
Trial period: Designity offers all clients a two-week, risk-free trial regardless of the client’s commitment. If a client signs up for a quarterly billing cycle, then they get a three-week trial. If they sign up for an annual billing cycle, then they get a four-week trial period.
<div class="c-blog_comp-cta cc-component-1"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-wrap"><img src="https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/6369722e59155470b6840033_Potential-clients.png" loading="lazy" alt="" class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-img"></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-right"><div class="c-blog_comp-content"><div class="c-text-wrapper cc-mb-32"><div class="c-title-4 cc-bold"><strong>Want to save money without sacrificing the quality?</strong></div></div><div class="c-text-wrapper"><div class="c-text-2">Say goodbye to traditional, expensive agencies and unreliable marketplaces. Say hello to Designity.<br></div></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-wrapper"><a href="/pricing" target="_blank" class="c-button cc-primary cc-inverted w-button"><strong>Get Your 2-Week Trial</strong></a></div></div></div>
The Verdict
There is no ‘wrong’ answer when it comes to choosing the best creative service for your needs. Whether you choose to go the tech-first platform route, or the highly specialized and custom route is completely up to you.
Because Designity and Design Pickle are so different when it comes to pricing, scope, and approach, making the choice between the two wholly depends on a client’s specific needs. If they need a more hands-off, cruise control approach with a wide array of service offerings and don’t want to manage or assign creatives, then looking at a platform like Designity would be the right choice.
For companies with one-off, short-term projects, Design Pickle would be a great place to begin your creative journey. Their limited scope of services and straightforward communication strategies are ideal for the small business that only needs design services and not a wider scope.
