Oakland – July 20, 2016 – 99designs, the world’s largest online graphic design marketplace, announced today that its community of graphic designers has now earned more than $150 million USD through its platform. With more than $3.5 million USD available each month to its global design community via 90 design categories (including emerging categories such as Mobile App Design and Book Cover Design), 99designs has built the number one freelance design community through its commitment to helping designers around the world find access to work and expanding their access to applied learning.
"Design is shaping future careers and the next generation of business across the globe and we are pleased to be playing a part in this phenomenon. Our unique combination of education and competition has accelerated the careers of designers all over the world," said Patrick Llewellyn, CEO and President of 99designs. "Education and ongoing access to work is central to what we do at 99designs and key to helping us achieve our vision of owning design online."
Over the past eight years 99designs has expanded its commitment to educating the world’s designers and continues to devote significant resources that help designers grow their skills. The design community is an integral part of the 99designs story and one out of every four employees of 99designs works in a role that engages directly with them, including a team dedicated to curating, educating and nurturing its members. Educational resources are available to all designers via several avenues including the blog, forum and community based educational programs.
Other initiatives include an Advocates Program, comprised of members of the community, that is dedicated to mentoring other designers through peer portfolio reviews and by hosting webinars, and the Top 9 program, which celebrates top designers on 99designs each month and inspires them to challenge and push themselves. Recently, 99designs launched its inaugural 99awards where top designers from the past year were recognized by their favorite customers, 99designs employees, and by other designers on the platform.
99designs continues to give back to its community and starting today, designers registered on 99designs will also receive a 30-day trial of Lynda, from Linkedin, where they will have access to over 1,000 design courses including inspirational documentaries from professionals at the top of their game, real world conceptual design skills and in depth coverage of every major professional design tool. All designers are encouraged to participate in a one-week curriculum curated by the design experts at 99designs to learn new design techniques and challenge their skills. Designers can learn more about this offer at this page.
About 99designs
99designs is the world’s largest on-demand design marketplace, connecting a global community of freelance designers with businesses of all sizes to complete their design needs. Created by designers for designers, 99designs began with a group of designers who were competing together to create the best designs. In 2008, that friendly competition grew into a unique design marketplace that has now become the world leader in online graphic design. 99designs is changing the lives of designers around the world by providing them with an opportunity to access customers globally, to earn income, and to build their portfolios. 99designs has paid out more than $150M to designers around the world to date at a rate of $3.5 million per month. Headquartered in Oakland, Calif., 99designs has operations in Australia, Germany, Japan, and Brazil.