What are unlimited graphic design services and how can you use it?

There’s no denying that visual content is a crucial factor in business success. According to FinancesOnline, 69% of digital marketers believe that visuals are essential in their marketing strategies. 

However, finding a reliable, accessible, and affordable source of graphic design can be a struggle. And maybe that’s the reason on-demand graphic design services got into the spotlight, over the last few years. The concept is formally known as Unlimited Graphic Design.

Before we get into maximizing your graphic design subscription, let’s get to know what this service is and how it works. For this article, we’ll use Penji as a reference as they explain to us how their design process works.

What is unlimited graphic design?

Unlimited graphic design is just like a gym membership for a graphic design or similar to any SaaS platform. You go on to a website, fill out the form on the signup page, give them access to your credit card and then you get access to the product (in this case, a team of graphic designers). 

The top player in this niche is Penji. They are the category designer for unlimited graphic design. And what I love about them is that they have very uncomplicated go-to-market approach like Salesflare.

Here’s how Johnathan Grzybowski, the co-founder and CMO of Penji describes the service

“We have the luxury of having the top 2% of graphic designers in the world. We have people signing up for our services all across the US, and across the world as well. The way it works it –as soon as you submit that you have access to that designer that will work on your project. So you can ask him/her questions, provide additional feedback, and submit deliverables as an inspiration that you need to be done. We do that repeatedly throughout the entire month.”

Typically customers leveraging unlimited graphic design tend to request an average of 10-30 design projects per month, at a fixed price. So, in Penji’s case, it costs about $399 a month.

What can you expect from these design providers?

Companies like Penji employ a team of graphic designers to take on web design, infographics, digital and print ads, logos, and app designs, among many others. They usually have a platform where you will write a job brief to describe your project. 

The designers typically work on this and submit the design back to you in under 48 hours. You can review it and send back for revisions, which is also unlimited. You can have the design revised as many times as you need to. Once satisfied with the design, you can then submit your next project.

With the growing popularity of the subscription economy, it makes sense to extend it to graphic design. For instance, if you are a startup, you do not need to hire a design team until you have to. 

If you are reading about unlimited graphic design for the first time, then here’s a glimpse into the type of companies that use such a service.

Agencies

For agencies that have their hands full with strategizing, unlimited graphic design is a welcome relief. They delegate their minor tasks to these services so they can focus their efforts on more important matters. They no longer have to hire extra personnel during crunch times or let go of people when the workload reduces.

Marketing Companies

With unlimited graphic design services, marketers no longer have to hire in-house or freelance graphic designers for their team. They won’t have to go through laborious recruitment processes to find a reliable designer. They can rely on these services for their steady supply of visual marketing materials. 

Startups and Small Businesses

Getting an in-house graphic designer can be expensive. Therefore startups and small businesses with limited resources will find it hard to get affordable designs. Online templates and other cheap sources of designs won’t guarantee quality. Unlimited design services can help them get quality visual content without spending a ton of money.

Bloggers

With an unlimited graphic design service, bloggers no longer have to use stock images for their articles. They can leverage the service and stand out from the crowd by having images custom made for their websites and blogs without breaking the bank. 

Few things to keep in mind

As a marketer, I’ve always noticed that there is often some confusion in the way marketers and designers communicate when it comes to graphic design. The problem typically starts something like this: 

A marketer walks up to a designer and then gives them an ad hoc brief, and then a sketch of that design goes through multiple cycles of revision because the marketing team has something in mind which doesn’t come across clearly in the Adhoc brief. 

The designer has a thought process and some design principles, which the marketer doesn’t understand. 

So it’s a two-way problem. So when you are outsourcing it or getting an unlimited graphic design subscription, you not only need to communicate clearly but have a process (as much robotic as it may sound)

A few things that you can do:

1.Give a brief introduction to your business.

Introducing your business in clear terms to your designer will help them create the most appropriate designs for your brand. It will help them get acclimated to the style and quality your business requires. An emphasis on who your target audience is will help them produce designs that specifically focus on your market.

2. Share your design objectives.

Graphic designers cannot read your mind. They need your input to create designs that suit your brand the best. Make your design objectives known to them by giving a clear idea of what you expect out of the project. The best way to do this is to send them links to designs you think will work. Or send them a few samples of what you want to be done to be used as inspiration.

3. Document and share a clear description of your project.

Describe your project clearly by writing a brief that details all that you want and need. A good designer will throw in their creative ideas, but the final decision is still up to you. A clear description avoids many miscommunications as well as revisions. Although you can have the designs revised as many times as you want, fewer revisions mean more projects done in a month.

4. Queue your projects.

It’s best if you can line up your design requests in a queue, letting the designers work on your next project once they get one completed. They no longer have to wait for you to start a new one as they can already begin work on the subsequent tasks. 

5. Check the project status regularly.

Although most unlimited graphic design services send you notifications when a project is completed, it pays to check the dashboard regularly. The idea is you get to approve a project as soon as it gets done to start the next project. It’s a productivity hack that lets you send more requests per month.

6. Let the designers incorporate their ideas.

To make it easier and faster for you, why not give the designers free rein from time to time? Once they have gotten to know your brand, you can already give them room to add their take to your designs. They have the expertise and experience to know design better than any of us. The whole point of subscribing to unlimited design is that someone can take the burden off your shoulders.

Wrapping up

Unlimited graphic design services can make business management more effortless. They take the difficulties of finding designs off your plates, giving you more time to spend on what matters most. If it makes sense to you, in your current business situation, give it a try!