Crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks to a large group of people (a crowd) through an open call. Crowdsourcing allows many people to bring their ideas to the table and is ideal for many projects especially within the design industry.
Design crowdsourcing involves a client creating a brief and opening it up to the world by placing it on a website (such as a site like DesignCrowd). Once the brief has been created the client will then select the budget and any other features (such as a private listing or white labelling). Once the client has selected the budget and extra features they can create a payment and the brief will be uploaded to a website where thousands of graphic designers compete for the client. When this happens, the designers compete on quality (not cost) and the client gets the best result.
Crowdsourcing allows you to choose the best designer for your project by offering you many alternatives in a short time period. Crowdsourcing your design allows for a level of immediacy and competition that is otherwise unattainable by using a design studio.
Here are 10 designs you can crowdsource to get amazing results:
1) Logo design – logo design is the perfect crowdsourcing project. You need to get your logo design right and, if you are just starting you can’t risk using just one designer who might not get you what you want and potentially cost you money (which is in short supply for a bootstrapped entrepreneur). If you want to eliminate risk from your logo design project, if you aren’t exactly sure which designer to choose, you should consider logo design crowdsourcing.
2) Home page web design – there are millions and millions of web pages on the Internet, you do not want your web page to be lost in the mix. By crowdsourcing your web design you increase your chance of getting an innovative, creative web design in a short time frame. Rather than crowdsourcing your whole website, HTML and coding, just crowdsource your home page design. It is a simpler discrete project, perfectly suited to the design crowdsourcing process.
3) Flyer design (single page) – innovative flyer design can make a huge difference to response rates and ROI on a print marketing. Flyer design is also simple enough to crowdsource (unlike a 50 page brochure design). By crowdsourcing your flyer you will have greater access to more ideas and can ensure you get a flyer that stands out.
4) Business cards – your personal reminder in everyone’s wallet. Your business card should represent you, your company and your ethics all in one small rectangle. With limited space there is a limited capacity for design. If you crowdsource your business card not only will you get wide and varied submissions but it will open up your idea of what a business card could really look like and the submissions will hit you after the first day.
5) Stationery design – stationery is not just your logo on a business card and letterhead. It is part of your corporate identity and it is important. Crowdsource your stationery design and you will be surprised at the creativity a designer can put fit on the back of a business card.
6) T-Shirt design – are you sick of going to company golf days and finding the same old pictures with the same old slogans? Do you want to skip the bad jokes at your next team building event? Crowdsource your T-shirt design and get ahead of the crowd. Crowdsourcing is the best way to access new trends and gives you the opportunity to access fashion ideas from all over the globe without having to hire a designer from Milan.
7) WordPress theme design – WordPress theme templates are a dime a dozen. They start at $3. If that’s all you can afford, go for it. But if you want a quality, unique WordPress design consider crowdsourcing it!
Personal brand – Create your own brand, your own blog, your own stamp on the world is becoming increasingly possible. If you want your personal brand to stand out, access a crowdsourcing site and ask them to represent you as you see yourself or want to be seen. Start developing your own personal brand and crowdsource yourself today.
9) Poster design – a poster needs to stand out from the crowd (excuse the pun) and be viewed in transit as well as standing up to close scrutiny. If you need a fresh idea, or find your posters looking like every other poster try crowdsourcing. When you crowdsource a poster you will typically get 25 to 50+ concepts from various countries, you may find that the cultural change is just what you need to get noticed or that getting 50 or more designs has opened your eyes to what a poster could really look like.
10) Website banner ads – when advertising online (via banner ads) your click through rate (CTR) is critical. A good banner ad can double or triple your CTR and sales from a campaign. Crowdsource banner ad design through a site like DesignCrowd and ask the thousands of graphic designers from around the world to create banner ads for you.
In summary, for any graphic design project that requires creativity, for any project you would like to see lots of options and for any project where you are open to ideas, crowdsourcing is the option for you. The more creative you want it, the better it will be if you place your idea on a competitive marketplace and let creative minds do the work.
