SYDNEY, February 15, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Australian crowdsourcing startup DesignCrowd has launched a UK crowdsourcing service to help local UK entrepreneurs 'crowdsource' design projects.
DesignCrowd has today announced the UK launch of its crowdsourcing service -- DesignCrowd.co.uk. The new website will allow UK businesses to outsource or 'crowdsource' logo, website or graphic design projects to DesignCrowd's 60,000 designers from around the world as well as a new (first of its kind) UK crowdsourcing service.
The UK-only service enables businesses to crowdsourcing graphic design services exclusively from UK designers. The UK-only service will allow UK businesses to engage local design talent in the same time zone, supporting the local design industry and combining the benefits of crowdsourcing with the benefits of using local providers.
The new website will also offer the option to transact in pound sterling, 24-hour customer service for UK businesses on business days, and a directory of UK designers, important features for small business owners who are heavy users of the platform.
DesignCrowd has launched the service to help local UK businesses save money, help UK designers find work and meet the UK's growing demand for crowdsourcing.
Alec Lynch, CEO of DesignCrowd, said, "We've decided to launch in the UK because the UK market is ripe for crowdsourcing. We can see the UK economy struggling and we know crowdsourcing can save businesses money and help people find work. UK businesses are crying out for crowdsourcing - almost 10,000 UK businesses and designers use our existing Australian service, so we wanted to build something to target this demand. We also predict that the London Olympics will stimulate economic activity and see many new businesses launch so we wanted to capitalise on this."
DesignCrowd already counts some high profile UK businesses amongst its clients including HI-TEC and SwapMyCityPad.com.
HI-TEC used DesignCrowd to crowdsourced icons for its shoes and received 67 designs for GBP500. Duncan Patmore, the Global Product and Marketing Director at HI-TEC, said "By using DesignCrowd we have saved at least 50% compared to the costs of our normal creative agencies. Crowdsourcing is a brilliant way to pick the creative brains of a global design team and home in on a solution that is right for you."
Prominent London based startup SwapMyCityPad.com crowdsourced its logo via DesignCrowd and received 33 logos for GBP150. Zoe Zine, the founder of Swap My City Pad, said, "Using DesignCrowd to design my logo was the best move I have made during the start up of my new business. All the designs submitted were of an incredibly high standard. DesignCrowd provides an excellent service. It was well worth every penny!"
To mark the launch of the UK crowdsourcing service, DesignCrowd will offer UK customers a 100% discount on DesignCrowd's fees for any logo, website or graphic design posted to the UK website before March 31st, 2012. The free posting discount is valid for all design categories, giving UK customers an incentive to post multiple projects for any type of design to the website.
The launch of the UK service follows a busy 3-month period which has included senior appointments to the DesignCrowd board, the launch of the Australian crowdsourcing service, a $3M capital raising from Starfish Ventures, the acquisition of US business Brandstack.com and the launch of BrandCrowd.com.
About DesignCrowd
Launched in January 2008, DesignCrowd is a leading online graphic design marketplace for design contest, logo contest and graphic design outsourcing services. The platform enables buyers to post a logo, website, print or graphic design project on the DesignCrowd network and select their favourite design of hundreds received from designers around the world.
DesignCrowd's multi-million dollar business spans 159 countries and 60,000 designers and is headquartered in Sydney. In 2011, DesignCrowd received a $3M of investment from Starfish Ventures.
About BrandCrowd
BrandCrowd.com (formerly Brandstack) was launched in April 2008 and is the world's largest marketplace for ready-made brands and logo designs. BrandCrowd helps logo designers monetize their unused logo designs, brands and domains. BrandCrowd is owned by DesignCrowd.
