Why You Should Crowdsource Your Next Design Project

The next time you need a design for your business, you should consider crowdsourcing. While you probably won’t be able to get designs for free from others, there is a way to get multiple designs that you can put in front of your audience. In this post, we’re going to look at why you should crowdsource your next design project, and how you can do it.

What is Crowdsourcing?

First of all, you might be asking yourself—what is crowdsourcing? Merriam-Webster defines it as “the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers.”

As we mentioned earlier, you won’t be able to get designs for free from your fans. The exception will be if you have a hugely popular brand that a lot of people love or a brand that designers would love to have on their portfolio.

So what are you crowdsourcing? In this case, you will be crowdsourcing opinions. This process will entail getting multiple designs for your project and crowdsourcing opinions on which design is best.

Why You Should Crowdsource a Design Project

Next, you might be asking yourself — why I should do this? Why should I crowdsource opinions about a design project for my business?

The answer is simple. It’s a great marketing strategy. Here are few examples of design projects you could crowdsource and why.

• You can crowdsource opinions for your next logo design. This will put your business back in the minds of your fans.
• You can crowdsource opinions for your next website design. This will remind your fans of your website and, once the new design is complete, you will be able to invite them to go take a look.
• You can crowdsource opinions for your next business card design. This will put your business, phone number, and website in front of your audience again.
• You can crowdsource opinions for the cover design of your CEO’s next book. This will get people excited about the book before it goes into publication.

On top of all of the above-mentioned benefits, crowdsourcing your next design project will give you a chance to engage with your fans. People love to give their opinion, and they’ll be happy to help you shape the next change for your business.

How to Crowdsource a Design Project

Finally, you might be asking yourself – how do I crowdsource opinions on a design project for my business? You will need to start by getting lots of designs for your specific project. The best way to do this quickly is through services like 99designs, DesignCrowd, and CrowdSpring.

These services allow you to hold a design contest. You will choose a pricing plan or package, and you will specify the requirements for your design project. Designers will compete for your business by submitting designs (anywhere from 30 – 100+, depending on the service, price package, and project type) for your approval.

This is when the crowdsourcing of opinions comes into play. You will choose your favorites from what the designers submit to your contest, post them to one or more of your social media profiles, and ask your audience which one they like the best!

The one thing to keep in mind about this tactic is that if you have a particular favorite, but your audience votes unanimously on another design, you might be stuck going with their vote. After all, you don’t want to invite people to give you their opinion and then snub them by going with something else.

In Conclusion

To summarize, the goal of crowdsourcing opinions for your next design project is to help you find a great design while simultaneously drumming up audience engagement and promoting your business to the audience. Overall, you can’t go wrong. The worst-case scenario is that you will have a lot of great design options to choose from for your next project. And that is never a bad thing!