A tip to anyone who hasn't treaded these waters before:
Do not, under any circumstances, bring up 99 designs when speaking with a professional designer.
I warned you! But seriously, most entries for logo contests on 99 designs were already templates. If you look through a contest you'll see tons of leaves, swooshes, stylized people, etc... This just drives the cost down in most cases (the average contest is at least $99).
> most entries for logo contests on 99 designs were already templates
What's more relevant, there are a lot of quick-buck rip-offs created by simply copying a piece from http://logopond.com and tweaking it slightly. You buy one of these and you are on the hook for your name being dragged through the mud and for a copyright violation lawsuit.
Perhaps they have implemented a proper due diligence process for their $99 store, i.e. they do verify the authenticity and uniqueness of the design before accepting it for sale. If so, then great. If not, then just use http://brandstack.com which was the first place to let the designers sell their unused concepts.
Too true. I considered using their logo contests when I was looking for a designer for my logo.
A quick browse through the current contests showed that most 'designers' had not even read the brief and were submitting generic logos that in no way reflected the company's aims. That was enough to make me realise that 99designs was a false economy.
You get what you pay for. It's not the economy that is false — what is false is your expectations of what you can get for about one hour of a professional's time.
Good advice. I'm very tied to the design community (my wife is a brand identity [i.e. logo] designer as are several of our friends), cheap logo services and contests boil their blood. Tread lightly :)
Do not, under any circumstances, bring up 99 designs when speaking with a professional designer.
I warned you! But seriously, most entries for logo contests on 99 designs were already templates. If you look through a contest you'll see tons of leaves, swooshes, stylized people, etc... This just drives the cost down in most cases (the average contest is at least $99).