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Review: The Truth About 99Designs

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Getting graphic design work done can often be a challenge. Where do you even start? Hiring a full-time graphic designer is expensive and risky. Hiring a freelancer online can take a bit of time. And often times, your designer works in a completely different timezone, making collaboration near impossible.

That’s where 99Designs come in. The company offers a talent-sourcing platform where you can create a design contest and have designers from all over the world submit their entry. You pay 1 flat fee for the contest and guaranteed many drafts. Sounds too good to be true? Let’s find out!

99designs Review

In order to review 99designs accurately, we prepared several projects to submit on the platform. These projects are things that we actually have a need for and may use if the design results returned are good enough.

We’ll go through the entire process that 99designs laid out and follow all rules and instructions given to us. Upon receiving the design work, we’ll pass it around internally to 10 people in our office and simply give a yay or nay. Whatever the results are, will be the numerical grade given. Let’s begin!

What 99designs can do?

In short, just about anything but they’re limited to just graphic design. In our quick 99designs analysis, they offer the following design services:

  • Logo & identity
  • Web & app design
  • Business & advertising
  • Clothing/Merch
  • Illustrations
  • Packaging
  • Books & magazines
  • And more…(the remaining categories are a bit obscured or too niche to list)

It’s a fairly extensive list and seems like if you’re a new startup or business, they’ll cover most of your initial design needs.

What 99designs CANNOT do

As the name implied, 99designs only offers graphic design. They can design a website or app for you, but you will need an independent development team to code it. 99designs also currently don’t offer content support, which isn’t that unusual. Whatever you want designed, you’ll need to provide all of the content before hand.

And that also means you need to do all the proofreading as well. Whatever you submit to be designed, will be designed. The designers usually won’t comment or question your grammar mistakes. So be sure to double and triple check all your content before submitting it to be designed.

Another thing to note, 99designs cannot deliver on time. The delivery runs on a rather flexible schedule that can take up to 2 weeks or longer. So if you need something done fast, 99designs may not be the best solution, even with the expedited delivery add-on purchase.

99designs’ ACTUAL pricing

When we audit 99designs’ pricing structure, we found a few of their categories to be confusing. Categories such as Logos, Web & app design, and Business Advertising can be misleading or vague. For example, when choosing a logo design, you might think you have to buy one of their packages that starts at $349. But with a bit of patience and knowing where to navigate, you can actually just buy a single logo design without any add-ons.

To avoid confusion, I’m going to break down a few of the categories below just so you know exactly how things are priced.

4 Different Tiers

After you fill out the first page of the project brief, 99designs will ask you to pick a tier. The lowest tier will give you the fewest number of design submissions and will usually be assigned to junior artists. Meanwhile the more expensive tiers get more design submissions and often given to more experienced designers.

The price breakdown below assumes you’re going with the lower price tiers, since that’s what most people tend to choose.

Logo & identity prices

Logo alone: $299
Packages: 5 packages offered between $349 – $599

Web design, Website Re-design, and WordPress Theme design prices

The $599 promotional price is NOT for an entire website design or re-design. This is just for ONE page. If you want multiple pages to be designed, 99designs will charge you PER PAGE. The more pages you want designed, the most it will cost. However, you’ll get a steeper discount per page if you request multiple pages at once.

As of now, 99designs only offer up to 5 pages designed initially. If you need more than 5 pages designed, you’ll likely need to hire a designer from 99designs afterward to continue working on the project.

1 page = $599.
2 pages = $749.
3 pages = $899.
4 pages = $1049
5 pages = $1199

Landing page design prices

Landing pages are charged at a flat rate of $349 since it’s just 1 page. There are no options for multiple pages. If you want additional pages to be designed afterward, you’ll have to create another $349 landing page contest, and that’s not cost-effective. If you have a landing page with multiple pages, you’ll have to cough $599 for the web design package.

App design prices

For the advertised price of $599, you are NOT getting an entire app designed. You’re paying PER page of the app to be designed. The more pages you want done, the more it’ll cost. But it’s the initial page design that will cost the most. The more pages you need done, the cheaper it is per page to be designed.

1 screen = $599
2 screens = $699
3 screens = $799
4 screens = $899
5 screens = $999

Business & advertising

The prices for Business & advertising are all over the place and might not make any sense. For example, why does it cost $299 for an Album cover design…when it costs only $199 for a Podcast cover? They’re both square dimension graphics with basically the same requirements. If you need an Album cover design, you can just request a “Podcast cover” to save money.

Anyway, here’s a breakdown of what you can get at each different price points.

Starting at $149: Billboard, Tradeshow banner, Banner,

Starting at $199: Postcard, Flyer, Leaflet, Direct Mail, Poster, Podcast cover, Signage, Menu, Website header, Resume, Word Template, Tradeshow Booth, Other business advertising

Starting at $299: Album cover, Brochure, Booklet, Pamphlet, Email, Email newsletter, Powerpoint template,

Starting at $349: Car/truck/van wrap

Starting at $599: Infographic

Extra Add-ons

In addition to the base cost of the project, you can pay for additional add-ons.

Dedicated support: For a price of $129 extra, you can have access to dedicated customer support should you run into any problems.

Guaranteed: This doesn’t cost anything, but it basically negates your 100% money-back guarantee with 99designs. The reason they offer this is because how designers are paid. Often times, they’re paid pennies for participating in your design contest. Out of possible 20 – 30 design submissions, they will only get paid a reasonable fee IF you choose their design.

If you request a refund, no one gets paid. Therefore, if you choose this option, designers have more confidence that there’s a stronger chance you’ll commit.

Here’s what 99designs promises if you choose to negate your guarantee.

  • Have more designers participating
  • Receive 50% more designs on average
  • Get a wider range of creativity

Private contest: This $59 add-on gives you the assurance that your design/intellectual property won’t be leaked onto Google or used by designer. Designer will sign an NDA to ensure they protect your privacy. You can even use your own NDA.

Duration: Typical turnaround for 1st draft is 4 days. Need the design in a hurry? Pay a small fee for expedited delivery.

99designs pricing review

Overall, the prices can fluctuate quite a bit depending on which tier you select and how many add-ons you buy. I wouldn’t say 99designs prices are cheap, because they’re fairly expensive for just 1 design. They are cheaper than hiring an in-house designer or a design agency, but there are definitely much cheaper options. The one benefit of 99designs’ model is that you get a lot of drafts for that price, so you have much more to choose from during each round of revisions.

How long it REALLY takes to get your designs

There’s 5 rounds total that you need to go through before you can get your design files. Each round can take anywhere from 1-2 days up to 14 days to complete. Most of that does depend on you. If you give feedback quickly, you’ll get your design files much faster. Here’s a breakdown of the 5 rounds.

Round 1: Qualifying round (4-5 days)
In this round, 99design sends your project out to all qualified designers in their talent pool. Designers can choose to accept or ignore your contest. Once enough designers have accepted your contest and submitted their design work, you move onto Round 2.

Round 2: Select finalists (4 days)
It’s probably 4-5 days now since you started the contest and your designs are finally in. You’ll have a lot of designs to choose from. Now you have 4 days to review the designs and select up to 6 designs that you like. Any designs you don’t select will be rejected. Designs you select gets to move onto the next round.

During this round, there’s a 99designs review feature that lets you share the submissions with others via a shareable link. You have 4 days to select your finalists! Once chosen, the contest will be moved to the 3rd round.

Round 3: Final round (3 days)
In this round, you’ll need to leave revisions for the selected finalists. Your finalists will work on as much revisions as you give them in this round. If you don’t like something, you can request more revisions and they’ll keep submitting. Keep in mind you only have 3 days for this round.

Round 4: Choose a winner
Contest is now officially over and a winner must be selected. In this round, you can create and send a poll to everyone you want feedback from to see which design is the best. You can only select 1 winner.

Round 5: Handover (5 days?!)
Your designer now has up to 5 days to hand over all of the design files and any copyright materials to you. Yes, you read that right. 5 days.

So…how long does it really take?

Let’s assume that you’re super responsive and you complete YOUR part the same day 99designs notify you…

Round 1: 4 days for all initial designs to come in
Round 2: 1 day to select finalists (because you’re responsive)
Round 3: 3 days for final round of revisions
Round 4: 1 day to pick a winner (because you want the files fast!)
Round 5: 1-5 days to get files

So you’re looking at between 10 – 14 days to complete a single design project. If you’re a new startup or business that doesn’t have strict deadlines to meet, this delivery window is perfectly fine. If you’re more established and looking for someone to help you meet an aggressive marketing schedule, 99designs may not work for you.

How to get QUALITY designs from 99designs?

If you’re coming to 99designs with a limited budget for graphic design, then chances are your results will vary. From my experience, the lower tier designers often just use templated graphics from Freepik or Envato.

If you want high quality designs from 99designs, here’s what you’ll need to do.

  1. Sign up for higher tier: Choose Gold or Platinum plans. They’re significantly more expensive, but that’s what you need to get experienced designer’s attention.
  2. Fill EVERYTHING out: When creating your project brief, do not skip any steps. Fill out as much information as you can and spend time creating a solid brief.
  3. Give additional examples: The last field on most form will ask “Is there anything else you would like to communicate to the designers?”. Use this opportunity to give more information. Also include even more examples of what you like and don’t like. This helps the designer narrow down your preferences.

Pros & Cons of 99designs

We’ll start with the PROS

  • Affordable compared to hiring an inhouse designer
  • No hiring or managing of designers. They do all of that for you.
  • Lots of designs to choose from for each round
  • One platform can cover most of your design needs
  • Easy to use platform
  • Clear indicator of how far along your design is
  • Offers a 100% money back guarantee

Now for the CONS

Who is 99designs really for?

99designs is best suited for startups, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and anyone just starting out. The prices are affordable and you get a lot of selections. Having 20+ drafts submitted to you is a great benefit, especially if you’re starting out and have no idea exactly how you want to brand yourself.

For larger businesses, marketing teams, and agencies, 99designs may not be the best fit given how expensive the bill will eventually be if you need 10+ designs per month. The 10 – 14 day delivery window can also be a major setback if you’re trying to meet deadlines.

  • Can get expensive if you have consistent design needs
  • 10 – 14 day delivery
  • Design quality is mediocre unless you’re willing to pay a premium
  • No real way to interact with designer except through feedback
  • Customer support is a paid add-on

Business

Here’s How You Can Scale Your Business Beyond a 7-Figure Revenue

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how to scale a business

With the right attitude, courage, and determination, many business owners have proven that achieving a 7-figure revenue is more than possible. However, they can also tell you that going beyond that is where the difficulties start. Here are seven steps to help you scale your business:

1. Leverage Your Unique Selling Point

Ask any seasoned entrepreneur, and they’ll tell you that establishing a unique selling point is essential. It is what will make you cut through all the noise and make your business more agreeable to consumers. Having made the 7-figure mark can mean that you already have this.

What you can do is improve on it. Better product development or superb customer service may be the keys, but it’s more than that. With so many competing for customers’ attention, it pays to have a specialization that can target a smaller market but can pay off so much more in loyalty.

2. Optimize, Optimize, Optimize

A big part of how to scale your business beyond the 7-figure mark is by optimizing every aspect of it as much as you can. This does not necessarily mean gathering more resources or spending more on advertising. The operative word here is optimization.

Take your website to the highest level by optimizing it. Take a closer look at your lead generation strategies and optimize them. Get insights for your sales conversion and create marketing strategies never tried before.

3. Focus on Lead Generation 

While maintaining a certain quality level for your business is important, lead generation should always be on your top to-do list. Never take it for granted, and use every available means to generate more. Whether it’s outbound or inbound marketing, make sure that you focus on generating new leads.

Ensure that potential customers get sufficient information about your brand to have them think of you when the need arises. Better yet, create strategies that would make them want and need your services even before this need comes. 

4. Get the Most From Sales Conversions

Take a deeper look at your sales conversions and study what happens down the funnel. This way, you can determine what’s working and what’s not. You can then adjust your conversion strategies accordingly. This will help boost lead generation and customer conversions without increasing your acquisition expenses.

While many think that lead generation is the only way to increase revenues, finding out what causes conversions to happen can be crucial. Knowing what stops a customer from buying allows you to nip it in the bud and find ways to purchase.

5. Know Your Customers’ Worth

Provide value to your customers by knowing their worth. This will help you understand what you need to do, acquire, and spend time on. Don’t just focus on bringing in the new customers, aim your attention at your loyal customers.

You can always look at opportunities for upselling, down-selling, and even cross-selling. These are very useful if you want to increase your customers’ lifetime value.

6. Get Busy with Triple-Win Partnerships

Business-to-business plays are advantageous, so use them when you can. Build relationships with companies that you work with. The following are what you can reap when you enter into these triple-win partnerships:

  • New customers
  • The partners get commissions
  • The referred person receives a discount, bonus, or benefit

7. Have a Referral Program in Place

If you still don’t have one, create a referral program for your business. This will make selling easier and faster for you without spending a ton of extra cash. Let your fans and customers do it by offering them perks when they get referrals.

You can set up a system that gets those who refer incentives such as cash, discounts, gifts, and many more. This will get you new solid leads as the referrals come from customers who like your products or services.

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Business

Know These Logo Statistics and Facts to Grow Your Business

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A logo is more than just a visual sign for your business. It’s the symbol of your brand’s vision and identity, and carries the weight of your credibility. In 2026, when brands are competing ever so fiercely for the audience’s attention, it has become a crucial part of earning the customers’ trust and loyalty.

Here are a few facts and statistics related to logos to help you make data-driven decisions when it comes to the visual asset that represents your brand, especially now, in a digital-first world.

Brand Recognition

coke
Photo by alleksana from Pexels

Did you know that 94% of the population can recognize the iconic Coca-Cola logo? Apart from being a huge and long-standing brand, they were able to use the classic red color and the Spencerian script to their advantage. Even if they tweak their logos over the years, they maintain their signature design elements, making it easier for people to identify the brand.  

What does this mean for your logo? 

There’s nothing wrong with redesigning your logo, most especially if you want to make it relevant and timely. But as much as possible, keep your prominent design elements. Otherwise, the market might be confused. 

Cost of Logos  

logo design
Photo by Roman Pohorecki from Pexels

Most people undervalue the work needed to create a compelling logo. Sure, you can get affordable ones online. But the question is, will it represent your brand’s vision and mission? 

This is precisely the reason why you need to hire a professional graphic designer. They don’t just create logos based on visual appeal. There is science behind every stroke and color. 

Data tells us that the average logo price sits around $800, with high-end lgoo designs costing up to $1,500. That’s not entirely bad news. However, this shows the need for more business owners to understand that logo is an investment. 

But let’s make it clear. Paying a huge fee isn’t a guarantee that you will have a good business logo. It still depends on the skills of your designer and how clearly you provided the instructions. Take note that some of the biggest brands like Google and Nike started with cheap and even free logos. So you cannot base the effectiveness of your logo on its cost. 

Graphic Designers for Logos

Since there are more than 500,000 freelance graphic designers online, the prices of logos can be extremely low. This is due to the high competition. Yet again, among the 500,000 designers, only a few can deliver superior output. 

To be honest, looking for the perfect one can be tedious and time-consuming. We would encourage you to work with on-demand graphic design services as they have already selected the best graphic designers for your logo. Take a look at Penji’s business model, where you only pay a fixed fee every month for unlimited graphic design requests. This includes your logo. 

Colors in Your Logo 

logo starbucks
Photo by L Ǝ N S I Q from Pexels

At first, you might get too excited to design your logo. You would probably ask your designers to go all out and crazy in terms of colors. But remember that the most effective logos only contain one or two colors.

In fact, 81.6% of the largest enterprises in the world use one or two colors in its logo. Looking at the data, they clearly have something in common. And as a startup and medium-sized business, it wouldn’t hurt if you follow their lead. 

In addition, the choice of color is important too. Let’s use Starbucks as an example. They use green to symbolize mother earth and universal love. Lo and beyond, it has become a universal drink. This is where color psychology takes place. 

Now, you might want to use gradient, but the fact is, only 34 companies in the Fortune 500 use the style. It might be too risky to follow that path. 

Symmetrical vs Asymmetrical Designs 

According to studies, people perceive asymmetrical logos as an exciting brand. You can see that transition when Burger King changed their logo. If you are about to build one, you might want to stay away from the plain font view and tilt your text, if possible.  

Using Hidden Messages on Logos 

logo statistics fedex
Photo by Kelly from Pexels

Many logos have hidden messages. This includes Baskin-Robbins, FedEx, and Tostitos. There are two major reasons for doing it. One, this sends a subliminal message to your audience. Another is that it pays tribute to your company’s legacy. Either way, people love solving hidden messages. 

Animated Logo Designs are on the Rise 

logo statistics google
Photo by AS Photography from Pexels

Since many people have their own gadgets, animating a brand’s logo seems to be the trend. Just take, for example, Google and Netflix. But this takes a different level of expertise. Too much animation can also be a distraction, so you have to use this technique with caution.

Just a quick trivia. This isn’t a new style. Remember MGM Studios’ classic lion? Yet again, it is only recently that companies have taken the approach.  

When to Rebrand Your Logo 

logo statistics netflix
Photo by Han from Pexels

We’ve already mentioned the possibility of rebranding. But take note that you shouldn’t change your logo just because you feel like it. There should be a strong reason why you would alter the design elements. You need to make sure that corresponding marketing will take place to reintroduce your logo to the market. Here are a few reasons why you might need to rebrand your logo. 

  • There’s a change in leadership
  • Business expansion or mergers  
  • Outdated logo design 
  • Recovery from a controversy

You have to be careful when you are about to redesign your logo. According to logo statistics, those who are highly committed to your brand will take the change negatively compared to those who are not highly engaged. This means you have to watch out for your loyal pool of customers when you plan to change your logo. 

Cost of a Poor Logo Design on Your Business 

In case you are still not convinced about the role of logos in your business, this data might change your perspective. 

Data says 60% of consumers don’t support ventures with poorly-designed logos.

Isn’t that counterproductive and impractical? 

Conclusion

Learning these logo statistics could help you brainstorm a design that will work best for your company. We also want to enlighten you on how important it is to choose the right graphic designer. If you are to start your logo design project, go back to knowing more about logo statistics and use it as a reference. 

Featured Image Credit: Photo by George Milton from Pexels

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Business

What’s the Best Design Agency in Las Vegas?

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TLDR: Looking for great design in Las Vegas? Penji graphic design service provider does not get better. Penji is scalable, reliable, and budget-friendly. With unlimited revisions and fast turnarounds, everything marketing managers dream of for high-velocity graphic design queries is here.

Searching for a new branding launch, scanning up your advertising graphics, or a daily operational partner for all your graphic design queries? The Best Graphic Design Service Provider you could want is right here. In this article, we provide you with a complete overview of the Top Graphic Design Service Providers in Las Vegas. We include subscription-based, unlimited services, digital agencies that do it all. Here’s everything you need to know to get your hands on the creative partner that’s right for you.

1. Penji

Looking for the Best Graphic Design Service Provider? Something you can rely on and that moves at your pace? Penji is the best graphic design service provider, going above and beyond what other graphic design agency offer.

Penji graphic design service provider has the answers to all your needs. You do not have time to waste with a flyer that takes weeks to print or a partner with surprise hourly fees. With Penji, request as many designs as you need for a single flat monthly fee. Forget about hiring that pesky human resources team and the operational fuss of a full design team.

Pros:

  • Scalability: You can upgrade or downgrade your plan instantly based on your seasonal workload.
  • Cost-Efficiency: A flat monthly rate means predictable budgeting, no matter how many revisions you request.
  • Speed: fast turnaround times ensure you never miss a market opportunity.
  • Versatility: Covers over 120 design categories, including print, digital, UX/UI, and illustrations.
  • Risk-Free: Comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Cons:

  • Remote-First: While highly efficient, you won’t have in-person coffee meetings (though our platform communication is seamless).
  • Not for One-Offs: The subscription model is built for companies with recurring design needs, not just a single flyer.

2. Art Version

graphic design agency

If UX and digital storytelling pique your interest, Art Version might just be the Best Design Agency in Las Vegas. They focus on aesthetics but prioritize “experiential design.”

Art Version collaborates with their brand partners to completely transform their digital presence. They focus on more than just how things look. Making sure the UX and usability work well is their forte.

Pros:

  • Strategic Depth: Excellent for full brand re-launches and complex UI/UX projects.
  • Cross-Industry Experience: They have a strong portfolio across finance, healthcare, and technology.
  • Full-Service: capable of handling strategy, design, and development under one roof.

Cons:

  • Cost: Likely requires a significant budget suited for enterprise-level projects.
  • Speed: Traditional agency workflows can be slower compared to on-demand models.
  • Project-Based: Usually involves contracts and scopes rather than a flexible subscription.

3. Chudovo OÜ

graphic design agency

Chudovo OÜ might be far-flung in name only. They have solid roots in the Las Vegas market. They work in spaces where high-level design meets complex technology in the business world. This is no graphic design agency. Chudovo OÜ are full-cycle software developers who place priority on high-end designs.

If your business requires more than just great design and is looking for ways to use a standout design in proprietary software, then Chudovo OÜ is the graphic design agency you need.

Pros:

  • Technical Expertise: Unmatched ability to implement designs into complex, working software.
  • Industry Knowledge: Deep experience in healthcare, finance, and logistics.
  • Transparency: Known for clear visibility on work progress and budget.

Cons:

  • Not “Creative-First”: May lack the marketing flair needed for advertising or brand awareness campaigns.
  • Scope: Best suited for large-scale development projects, not day-to-day graphic design needs.
  • Complexity: Their processes are designed for software builds, which is heavy for simple design tasks.

4. JG Digital Agency

graphic design agency

Last but not least is JG Digital Agency. They view design as performance marketing. If you are looking for a Best Design Agency in Las Vegas to help design graphics to generate leads and sales, then JG’s focus and modus operandi speak to you. This agency is a digital marketing agency focused on performance marketing and improving conversion rates. They work primarily on B2B and B2C growth, focusing on what visuals can do to grab attention and drive traffic.

Pros:

  • Results-Oriented: Design decisions are backed by data and performance metrics.
  • Integrated Services: They can handle the ad spend and the creative, ensuring alignment.
  • Google Partners: Recognized expertise in advertising platforms.

Cons:

  • Design Limitations: Creative work is focused on ads and performance, potentially lacking in broader branding capabilities.
  • Ad-Centric: If you aren’t running paid campaigns, their value proposition decreases.
  • Boutique Scale: A smaller team might struggle with massive volume compared to scalable platforms.

Credit for Cover Image: Photo by Antoni Shkraba

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