10+ Great Design Contest Websites to Try Out

Design contest websites makes it possible for designers and business owners to find each other and work together in new but very effective way.

For a freelance designer finding new clients to maintain a steady stream of income is pretty important but not that easy. Finding new clients is time consuming and takes focus from the creative work. Likewise it can be just as hard for business owners on a tight budget to find the right designer and manage the process without taking a significant risk.

The online freelancer or what is recently known as cloud worker lifestyle is a rapidly growing movement which may eventually change how creative and IT people work in the future. It is huge in online marketing (SEO, content production etc.), web development (e.g. WordPress themes), but the trend is likely to be adapted by larger companies to pick e.g. the best developer skills when they are needed – on demand skills and resources.  In the design space online freelancing, with no physical contact to the client, can be very hard. Good design require rapid feedback on the visual deliveries and several iterations.

Design contest websites seeks to solve this issue by offering features that makes it possible for designers and clients to collaborate online in an efficient way. Further the contest element allow anyone to join the game and it is not just an advantage for the client receiving hundreds of designs. It is also a possibility for designers to get in touch with new potential clients without spending time and money on sales and marketing activities. A designer with good creative and communication skills, that understand the needs of the client will be able to win design contests and make a good income online.

Below you will find design contest websites for running projects to get unique designs for logos, t-shirts, products, web designs, WordPress themes etc.. This is a just a shortlist, so there’s a possibility that we miss some of the design contest websites worth including. If you know any please share with us in a comment. Meanwhile, we encourage you to go over these design contest websites and see how they work. You are of course welcome to share your observations, your experiences and your comments about these design contest websites in a comment.

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Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links (at no extra cost to you). I recommend that you do your own independent research before purchasing any product or service. This article is not a guideline, a recommendation or endorsement of specific products.

Freelancer

Freelancer is one of the largest sites for pairing business owners with freelancers. The are more 2 million freelancers looking for tasks here and recently Freelancer added a pretty cool contest capability. This site is a must try if you need a high quality but cheap design created.

99 designs

99designs is the #1 marketplace for crowdsourced graphic design. It connects passionate designers from around the globe with customers seeking quality, affordable design services. It works in three easy steps. First, you launch your design contest. Clients do this by simply giving a clear outline of what you need designed. To begin, post this brief to 99designs and choose a design package. Second, you collaborate with the designers. Designers then submit concepts to compete for your prize. Be sure to provide continual feedback to help the designers deliver a concept you love! Third, choose your favorite design. At the completion of your contest, you’ll need to pick your favorite design and award a winner. You’ll then receive the final design along with copyright to the original art work.

DesignCrowd

DesignCrowd is an online marketplace providing logo, website, print and graphic design services by providing access to freelance graphic designers and design studios around the world. DesignCrowd gives you access to a ‘virtual team’ of 73,314 designers from around the world (via a process called crowdsourcing) – helping you to tap into the very best international design talent available, at a low cost. Post a project on DesignCrowd and watch designs pour in from around the world (the average project receives 50+ designs).

MycroBurst

MycroBurst is a community of more than 30,000 graphic and logo designers from around the globe who compete for your business. Competition drives results. Just like EBay, you can name the price you want to pay for your graphic or logo design project. Then you can invite designers to participate in your design project, easily evaluate and give feedback on your designs on one simple platform. Since the designers want to win your business you’ll receive diverse, original, custom graphic and logo design concepts.

48hoursLogo

48hourslogo is a place where small business owners can have their company logos created in just 48 hours. It takes only 3 simple steps: Fill out a logo questionnaire and set a prize amount for your logo project. The minimum prize for your logo is only $89; you can even start your project with initial payment of just $29, and pay the remaining balance after you have seen the logo concepts created by our designers. After that, designers submit their logo ideas while you provide feedbacks. Once your project is live, designers will submit their logo design concepts. You can rank each concept and provide feedbacks for improvements. Lastly, you select a winner and download your logo files
After your project ends, you have up to 7 days to select a winning logo design. The designer will be notified, and you will receive the final design in a logo package.

LogoMyWay

LogoMyWay connects clients needing logo designs to a thriving community of more than 15,000 talented logo designers from all over the world. LogoMyWay follows the contest process in this wise: First, you describe your business and give the designers a few key points that will help them get started. The minimum amount to start a contest is $200 maximum is $1000. Once you have filled out the contest brief and launched your contest the designs will start to roll in within hours in real time.
You will then be assigned a dedicated design specialist that you can call or email at anytime with
questions or concerns you might have during your contest. Once your contest goes live to over 15,000 designers you should rate the designs and give feedback to the designers, this will help you find that perfect logo design for your business. At the completion of the logo design contest you will choose a winning design. The designer will then upload their completed designs so you can download it from your account. You can also request variations of your new logo at no charge.

Hatchwise

Hatchwise is another design contest site that allows you to run a contest where you can rate, review and provide constructive criticism on the custom designs you receive. Here you can make contests for such projects as logo design, writing and naming projects for brands and companies, tagline and slogan creation. With many design projects around, you can post your project for only $29. Pay the prize amount only when you have found a design that you are totally satisfied with!

CrowdSpring

CrowdSprng is a marketplace where you can post projects for logo design, web design, industrial design and copywriting. At CrowdSpring, when you post your project, you decide exactly how much it will cost! It only charges a listing fee plus a 15% commission to host the project and give you access to over 115,302 designers and writers. Also, instead of working with one or two designers and choosing from several designs, you’ll work with dozens of designers, choose your favorite from an average of 110+ custom designs, and get full rights to that design.

Logo Tournament

In Logo Tournament the contest runs after clients fill out the logo brief and prepay the prize through their Visa, Mastercard, or Paypal account. The contest will go live instantly once payment has been completed. A contest will run over a 6 day period, and will consist of two phases. First is the Open Phase – 3 Days. This is the initial “audition” part of the contest where all designers will be able to submit their logos. Designers need time to develop their initial ideas, so most of the entries won’t start showing up until the last day or hours of this phase. Next, comes the Top 5 Designer Phase – 4 days.
In this phase the field is narrowed to allow to work your five favorite designers, which can be changed at anytime. Limiting submissions to the top 5 designers ensures more personalized attention and dedicated service. A designer is much more likely to go the distance with you if they are only competing with four others, instead of dozens and dozens.

Logo Design Guru

One of the amazing features of Logo Design Guru, is you can name your own price! The more you invest, the more designs you’ll receive from designers. Prize amounts vary from affordable rates as $199 to over $5000!. Logo Design Guru will charge you 20% of the prize money for holding the project. You can also add additional services to your Project. Once your project begins, the global design community attached to Logo Design Guru will submit design concepts based on your creative brief. You can rate the uploaded drafts and communicate directly with our community. Designers will happily provide revisions based on your feedback. Your Project will be complete after 7 days, unless you decide to extend your project for 3 days for only $29. Once your project is complete, you will have 7 days to pick a winning design. After you select the final design through your panel, Logo Design Guru will receive the final files (EPS, AI, JPG, GIF, etc.) from the designer, and will then email your final designs to you. Logo Design Guru will then release the designer’s payment from escrow to pay
the winning designer.

Choosa

To get started at Choosa, use our easy-to-use design brief to describe what you need designed. At the same time, you can tell the design community how much you wish to pay for the design work. Designers will then start to submit concepts to compete for your prize money. Make sure that you provide ongoing feedback so you get a design that exactly meets your requirements. Once the contest deadline has been reached and you are happy with the entries, you simply choose your favorite design and award the winner. The designer will then send you the design and will provide you with complete copyright to the original artwork.

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Sonny M. Day

Sonny M. Day is a passionate SEO and web design enthusiast who loves photography, mountain climbing, snorkeling and dirt bike riding.