Before we explain why, let us clarify how these crowdsourcing design sites work. They offer rock bottom prices for your logo or design project where you’ll get six or so design options, usually with a ‘satisfaction guarantee.’  It’s all done online and paid for upfront.

So why would we celebrate when our clients choose them instead of working with us? Well, we get the fixup jobs when it all goes wrong.

Let’s be clear: crowdsourcing absolutely has a place for the cash strapped needing design work.

However it pays to remember:

–  You won’t speak to your designer or know where he or she is in the world;
–  You’ll get minimal revisions and extras beyond that can be costly;
–  You’ll likely get a rush job as the designer is being paid so little they can’t afford to spend hours getting your draft right;
–  You are not likely to get your files in a variety of formats – GIFS, TIFFS, JPEGS, and PSDs which are essential for printing business cards, letterhead or flyers, or branding on your website;
–  You may not know fonts or the colour palette which also creates headaches for print jobs down the track;
–  There can be a lot of back and forth and Chinese whispers when you explain your feedback – all online – you may find your very clear feedback is totally misinterpreted; and
–  There’s a change you’ll choose a logo which is actually the property of another brand.

We’ve recently bailed out a few clients with repair jobs to crowd sourced logos and we’ve had clients come to us for entirely new design. In both cases it wasted their time and even more money the long run. So know what you’re in for, before choosing this way to go.

Here’s a few examples of recent design competitions:

designcrowd.com/vote/new-zealand-wellington-city-alternative-logo-voting-poll
medium.com/swlh/in-the-past-couple-years-startups-have-started-realizing-that-good-design-can-make-the-difference-2fdeb90d390a