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JUMPSTART
JUMPSTART
5 SIGNS
YOU SHOULD CROWDSOURCE
YOUR NEXT DESIGN
By Laura Windisch
Laura Windisch is a senior member of the marketing team at 99designs,
which launched its localized Hong Kong site in 2012.
There are a ton of
important things that go
into launching your own
business, and guess what?
Being an entrepreneur
means you’re in charge
of every single one of
them. Part of that involves
building a network that
you can rely on for help.
F
or one, you need a graphic designer
to help you create a compelling visual
identity for your brand – and the first
step is a customized logo. Branding
is often thought of as something
that can be put off until later, when
business is steady and time allows for
you to focus on the process. But it’s
important to create a memorable logo
early on to be able to achieve that
success in the first place. For many
entrepreneurs, crowdsourced design
is an ideal way to create a visual
identity in order to launch as quickly
as possible. Here are five signs you’re
one of them:
1: WHEN IT COMES TO CREATIVITY,
YOU WANT OPTIONS.
What if instead of having to rely on
one single designer to nail it the
first time, you were able to tap into
a resource that connected you with
thousands of designers, dozens of
whom would work on your design
project at the same time? That’s the
beauty of crowdsourcing.
Here’s how the process works at
99designs, the world’s largest graphic
design marketplace: You hop on the
website, describe the design you’re
looking for, and decide what you want
to pay. Designers from around the
globe then submit a wide variety of
concepts and you give them feedback
to refine the designs. Within a week,
you pick your favorite and become
the owner of an original new design.
2: YOU HAVE A STRONG
APPRECIATION FOR EFFICIENCY.
Chances are your schedule is packed
with meetings, interviews and the
critical day-to-day tasks required to
run your business, leaving you just
enough time to skim the surface on
other important projects. Running a
lean startup is about getting things
done and launching a minimal viable
product quickly.
There are a ton of
important things that
go into launching your
own Crowdsourced
business, and
guess what? Being an
design enables
entrepreneur means
you to save time
you’re in charge of every
and money by
single one of them. Part
communicating
of that involves building
with dozens
a network that you can
of designers
rely on for help.
simultaneously. As
the design concepts
pour in, you can
quickly decide
whether designers’
i