At first glance...
Design Pickle is…
"The world's leading flat-rate creative services company, offering professional graphic design and custom illustrations for a simple flat rate."
Design Categories:
Design Pickle has an extensive list of designs they can create. Customers can request unlimited graphic design from any of the 50 categories they offer. Here are some of the categories.
- Packaging
- Social media ads
- Book covers
- Landing pages
- Infographics
- Flyers
- Logos
- Podcast graphics
Offered plans:
Summary of the Sign-up Process:
Design Pickle offers two tiers of plans for graphic design - scale and pro. The scale plan is priced at $499 and provides a 1-2 day turnaround, while the pro plan, which is $995, offers same-day turnaround, time zone selection, and integrated slack communication. I went with the scale plan as I’m the only one who needs graphic design.
They also offer two other plans for needs other than basic graphic design: custom illustrations, motion graphics, and presentation designs. So, if you require these graphics, you need to purchase the plans separately, or you can check out other unlimited graphic design companies such as Penji and Kimp that offer those in their plans already.
After filling out basic information and entering my payment information, I was given access to Design Pickle’s platform. Overall, the sign-up process was quick and easy to complete.
For this review, I created a fake brand called Dolled Up, which sells skincare and cosmetics brands.
Creating my first project
Design Pickle asks you to fill out a form on their dashboard to request designs. I was asked to give the request a name, which I called “Dolled Up Logo.” The form asked for basic information that any designer would ask for designs such as type of design, dimensions, preferred file format, etc.
For the description, I asked for a Victorian-style mirror with the brand’s name, “Dolled Up,” in fancy script. To help the designer create the best design, I provided supporting materials: fonts I liked and a picture of a Victorian-style mirror that I found off Google. I was impressed by how easy Design Pickle made it to share files. Here’s a picture of all the different ways you can share files with Design Pickle, including Google Drive, DropBox, and OneDrive.
I did the same for the second project.
Overall thoughts on Design Pickle Designs
Logo Design
Total Delivery Time: 2 ½ days
The logo design took quite a couple of revisions to get right. For initial instructions, the designer followed all instructions. However, the design didn’t look appealing. There was a problem with the first revision where the designer failed to follow one of the instructions: changing the logo to black and white. I decided to let the designer take control over the direction of the design for the second revision. The second revision came back better and more put together.
Package Design
Total Delivery Time: 1 ½ days
I was hesitant at first after seeing the first design. After requesting some edits, the design came back better. I like how the designer took the initiative to add his style into the design when I requested him to be creative. He took the design to a better level and formed my idea.
Design Pickle Review:
Pros:
- Great dashboard. It’s effortless to navigate and understand how to use the dashboard.
- Easy to fill out and just the right length form
- Customer support is very responsive, friendly, and quick
- Designers were responsive and friendly
- Designers were skilled and creative with designs.
Cons:
- No point and click revision option is available. Revisions are only able to be requested via text.
- I wasn’t a fan of their messaging system on projects.
Rating:
Quality of Designs: 4 stars
The initial design for the logo did not come out well. However, the design was improved after feedback was given. The designer understood the direction I wanted the design to take. I took off one star because the designer did mess up by missing one of my instructions. Still, the logo design looked nice regardless. As for the package design, I wasn’t sure if the design would look nice from the initial draft. The result was great, though. The designer took the initiative and gave the design his creative take.
Turnaround time: 4 stars
Turnaround design was as promised within the 1-2 day turnaround. I took one star off because the first designs felt lacking. For the second design, the designer sent a half-completed revision and communicated that he would send the finished version.
Communication: 5 stars
Designers updated me on the progress of designs regularly. They also were friendly throughout the entire process.
Customer Service: 5 stars
Customer service is very responsive and helpful. They had detailed articles and suggestions for problems I had while waiting for them to respond to my questions.
Ease-of-Use: 5 stars
The platform was very user-friendly and without fancy gimmicks. You can easily intuitively understand how to use Design Pickle’s platform with little learning.
Total Score: 23/25
Final Verdict:
My overall thoughts on this Design Pickle review is that it is a great unlimited graphic design service if you have clear direction on what designs you want. If you expect the designer to take the lead on creativity, you may struggle to receive a design you like and cost you time on revisions.
Another great part is that Design Pickle has a 30-day money-back guarantee. One of the longest among unlimited graphic design services. You can keep all designs within that money-back period.
Looking for something different? Here are 7 Design Pickle alternatives you may like instead.
