Finding the right (outstanding) designer

[BlahBlahBlah]

Hi,

I recently launched my first e-commerce store and I am very happy with it.

Now got an idea which is totally unrelated to it and will open a separated website for it. This will be very simple and straight forward: I will be selling T-shirts for a very specific target of people, very easy to get started and very scalable. Don't think I will have any problem finding a good t-shirt supplier on Alibaba and marketing will be 100% done via Facebook, overall a much easier business than my first e-commerce site.

One thing however will be absolutely key, and it is for me to find the right Designer for these t-shirts. I am happy to pay quite a bit more than standard prices found for example on Fiverr, but I really need someone who understands the concept of what I look for and also has imagination to create designs related to the topic in question.

Getting the right designer is for me the #1 priority and the key for getting this business to succeed. I posted my requirements on Fiverr and within a few hours I got 30 applicants, I guess if I do the same via Upwork I will get the same result, which is great, however it is not an easy task to short-list the right candidates and pick the right one.



So my question is: is there any sort of website out there where I can start some sort of competition giving some high-level requirements of the first design, and then the candidate send their design to me and I can pick which one to go with and hire?

I don't expect the design to be 100% as I want from the start, but at least will give me a good starting point and understand who understands the concept and I can start working with?


Thank you for your help.

 

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[Andy Black]

Hi,

I recently launched my first e-commerce store and I am very happy with it.
Now got an idea which is totally unrelated to it and will open a separated website for it. This will be very simple and straight forward: I will be selling T-shirts for a very specific target of people, very easy to get started and very scalable. Don't think I will have any problem finding a good t-shirt supplier on Alibaba and marketing will be 100% done via Facebook, overall a much easier business than my first e-commerce site.
One thing however will be absolutely key, and it is for me to find the right Designer for these t-shirts. I am happy to pay quite a bit more than standard prices found for example on Fiverr, but I really need someone who understands the concept of what I look for and also has imagination to create designs related to the topic in question. Getting the right designer is for me the #1 priority and the key for getting this business to succeed. I posted my requirements on Fiverr and within a few hours I got 30 applicants, I guess if I do the same via Upwork I will get the same result, which is great, however it is not an easy task to short-list the right candidates and pick the right one.
So my question is: is there any sort of website out there where I can start some sort of competition giving some high-level requirements of the first design, and then the candidate send their design to me and I can pick which one to go with and hire? I don't expect the design to be 100% as I want from the start, but at least will give me a good starting point and understand who understands the concept and I can start working with?

Thank you for your help.

I edited your OP to make it easier to read...

 

[Andy Black]

is there any sort of website out there where I can start some sort of competition giving some high-level requirements of the first design, and then the candidate send their design to me and I can pick which one to go with and hire?

99designs?

 

[BlahBlahBlah]

99designs?

Great, thanks! this is the type of site I was looking for, a bit pricey though. Would you know if after the designer is selected you can work with him privately, or every time I require a new design I would need to go through 99designs.com?

 

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[Andy Black]

Great, thanks! this is the type of site I was looking for, a bit pricey though. Would you know if after the designer is selected you can work with him privately, or every time I require a new design I would need to go through 99designs.com?

I've never used it myself so would have no idea.

I haven't solved the graphic design conundrum yet either.

Might be worth having a look at designpickle and monthly services like that.

Good luck!

 

[Smoothsailor]

I would try also Behance and maybe Odesk (now Upwork). You can screen 10s of individuals' design works and reach out to them and see which ones you reach are looking for work at the moment. Those will be the ones that are most willing to do a great job for you. As you take a few rounds of interviews just tell them you would like to see a preliminary trial.

Also don't feel like you are obliged to the platform you reach them from, just move on to Skype to be more comfortable and the rest is quite up to your leadership, negotiation and motivational skills/efforts.

I gotta say i recently ran a fairly big e-commerce company and we got some really cool custom design projects done for very cheap prices, it's really about how much you research and interview with candidates.

Tip: Regarding their capability, their portfolio should be your best guidance to judge their skills.

Good luck!

 

[TheHawk]

Great, thanks! this is the type of site I was looking for, a bit pricey though. Would you know if after the designer is selected you can work with him privately, or every time I require a new design I would need to go through 99designs.com?

99Designs is great, recently got my logo completed and very happy with the result.

It would work really well with t-shirt designs, pitch the type of design you want and you will have a bunch of submissions from different designers. If you find a designer you like the style of then you can easily PM them for further alterations/future work. If you can't find anything you like then you can always get a refund - it's guaranteed as long as the contest isn't in the final stages.

 

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[BlahBlahBlah]

Yeah, I think I like the 99design type of idea, will save me a lot of time rather than scouting designers separately, I also found some similar sites:

http://tshirt.designcrowd.com/

https://www.hatchwise.com/

https://www.crowdspring.com/

Want to see what I get, if it doesn't work out as well as I hope I will search in Upwork/Fiver.

 

[ZeroTo100]

I have used 99Designs for one of my logos. In fact, I was very impressed with the service. The designers were very skilled (I paid for the $500 service). After choosing my winning design, my designer and I maintained contact for a long time and I hired him for other projects as well. I don't think it's necessary to choose the most expensive option but I really didn't have a budget at the time and wasn't concerned with starting a "lean" business. These days I'm all about lean business and bootstrapping. When you start with less, you have less to lose!

If you're interested, his name was Dan Budzy and this was the logo he did for me...

https://www.facebook.com/BudzyGraph...0669970969721/565410003495714/?type=3&theater

(I tried to unlink this so that you can just copy and paste it. I Don't like to drop links on the forum but that's the only url that had the image that I could find)

If you want to know about the business, it was a failure but I learned a lot. It was also prior to reading TMF which I finished a few days ago. I'm gearing up for something new

Stevie

 

[TheHawk]

Yeah, I think I like the 99design type of idea, will save me a lot of time rather than scouting designers separately, I also found some similar sites:

http://tshirt.designcrowd.com/

https://www.hatchwise.com/

https://www.crowdspring.com/

Want to see what I get, if it doesn't work out as well as I hope I will search in Upwork/Fiver.

PM me if you decide to go with 99Designs, pretty sure I have a referral email which will give upgrade your contest (attracts more designers) for free

 

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[juan917]

Just chiming in to say that I have had very poor luck with 99 design's.. I do not recommend. I'm sure it was great at one point.. When did you guys use it? I think the good designers are now off the site

 

[Jon L]

I usually have good luck finding people on Upwork. Designers, however, have been a challenge for me. One guy said he'd done work for Forever 21. When I asked for a reference at the company, he suddenly 'lost' all the emails they supposedly exchanged.

I do custom software, so take this with a grain of salt. That disclaimer aside, consider:
In your line of work, the difference between a t-shirt that sells ok and one that really takes off is potentially worth $1000s to you. A design that is just ok might make $1000. One that has that 'something extra' in the design might make you $10,000 or much more. I'd consider finding the best designer you can find. And...really good designers don't hang out on 99designs. (I have an aunt that does graphics for big-name companies. She charges a flat $85 per hour. She doesn't spend any time on 99designs.)

I have no experience with this website, but you might find someone really good here: toptal.com

 

[BlahBlahBlah]

Thank you all for the info/tips, very much appreciated!

 

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[BlahBlahBlah]

I am travelling at the moment, so will get this moving on Monday when I am back home - I know it is not part of the topic, but as it is part of the project I think it's ok to ask here, maybe it saves me some time. Could anyone advise a good quality t-shirt supplier (China-based I guess) ? There are millions on Alibaba, so will take me a while to short-list a few, if anyone is already using a supplier there and can recommend it would be very welcome

I was thinking to find a supplier that is on Alibaba and also Aliexpress, so I can order a simple t-shirt for each via Aliexpress and then if quality is good can contact them for EOM development via Alibaba - would anyone know a quick way to see if a supplier is in both?

Thank you!

 

[Smoothsailor]

I am travelling at the moment, so will get this moving on Monday when I am back home - I know it is not part of the topic, but as it is part of the project I think it's ok to ask here, maybe it saves me some time. Could anyone advise a good quality t-shirt supplier (China-based I guess) ? There are millions on Alibaba, so will take me a while to short-list a few, if anyone is already using a supplier there and can recommend it would be very welcome

I was thinking to find a supplier that is on Alibaba and also Aliexpress, so I can order a simple t-shirt for each via Aliexpress and then if quality is good can contact them for EOM development via Alibaba - would anyone know a quick way to see if a supplier is in both?

Thank you!

Hey BlahBlahBlah, (great name btw)

I have friends from textile industry dealing with EM countries including China and one specific friend who has a t-shirt e-commerce startup. (As I remember, custom printed t-shirts.)
if you Pm me your exact request I can help you get answers from them, or hook you up later so you can directly try to get information.

Bon voyage!

 

[BlahBlahBlah]

Hey BlahBlahBlah, (great name btw)

I have friends from textile industry dealing with EM countries including China and one specific friend who has a t-shirt e-commerce startup. (As I remember, custom printed t-shirts.)
if you Pm me your exact request I can help you get answers from them, or hook you up later so you can directly try to get information.

Bon voyage!

PM sent!

 

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