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In this day and age, the demand for designers is ever on the up.
As more businesses are going digital, more and more companies are sourcing for reliable freelancers to help with their expanding design needs.
Did you know Google’s workforce consists of more freelancers than full time employees? If you’re in it to win it, why not market yourself on some of the sites that big firms like Google frequent for freelancers?
Here’s a list of freelance marketplaces that might land you your next dream design gig!
Best Websites To Score Freelance Designing Gigs
Wrap Up
99designs is a community hub for graphic designers worldwide. Many freelancers in the creative industry frequent this platform to showcase their work or find a contract.
The website allows clients to create contests for designers to choose from the one they like the most. Freelancers are also able to work collaboratively with others on a project or one-on-one with the client.
There are more than 90 different types of design work available on the platform. With the wide array of options, designers of all kinds are able to find their niche and art style.
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DesignCrowd is specifically catered for the designer community. Many businesses frequent the platform when they want to outsource a project to freelance designers.
The platform boasts high turnaround rates, affordable design services, collaborative design ideas for a single project, and promises zero risks.
Freelance designers can browse for contracts and project briefs on the job board. When they find something that fits their fancy, they can submit design ideas to the client.
DesignCrowd also functions as a resource hub and allows designers to share their works with other designers for collaboration or for feedback through a rating system.
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Dribbble is a popular community hub of designers. It’s free for everyone, but with a catch.
The catch is that you can only become a designer through invitation only. Upon visiting the website, you’re able to browse around but unable to market or post your art unless another designer sends you an invitation code.
Think of it like an exclusive country club for the best freelance graphic designers in the biz.
And as any high class country club, Dribbble caters to high paying clients who want to look for well- qualified freelance designers.
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TasteMinty is a platform for artists, graphic designers and illustrators to find clients and sell artwork. Freelance designers are able to showcase their talent on the website like an online museum.
Clients are able to search for specific freelance designers on TasteMinty by type and style of art through a specialized search bar. Once they find the freelancer they want, clients can immediately connect with them through the messenger app.
The website of course has a job board as well, which is updated quite frequently.
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Behance is a huge community for designers open to everyone. It is a super popular creative platform which designers often use to build their portfolios.
Behance also functions as a social media platform where you can follow and unfollow people, so that their new work uploads can show up (or not) in your feed.
Clients will look for freelance designers through Behance by DM’ing them or posting a contract on the job board.
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While many of the websites covered focus on quantity and turnaround rather than quality, AwesomeWeb only contains high-end clients looking for the most skilled graphic designers out there.
The site has a database of the most professional graphic designers, programmers, and web designers. When you sign up, your profile and portfolio will be manually reviewed before clients can find you in search results.
Because of this feature, AwesomeWeb is a great freelance graphic design site for established designers looking for fresh clients, but it’s not the best option for those just starting out.
That said, if you have an impressive resume AwesomeWeb is hassle-free and easy-to-use: The customer support is reliably fantastic, and there are no additional fees or costs lurking in their services.
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Krop is a network for full time and part time creative freelancers.
Freelancers can post their portfolios on the website and also check the job boards, which are updated pretty regularly. One of Krop’s main selling points is their portfolio builder service.
Clients are able to browse over 100,000 freelancer portfolios and sample portfolios. They are able to contact the designer of their favourite portfolio and hire them to make one for them (the clients) as well!
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AIGA is a large community of over 25 000 designers and design advocates from around the world – from freelance and in-house designers and design mentors to business owners and more.
The platform acts like an educational site and a media platform that shares resources and useful events in the world of design.
AIGA also has a section Design Jobs with subsections: professional, internships, and pro-bono.
Clients regularly offer designing contracts on the website due to the sheer size of the community and the low cost to post a job.
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Not exactly a freelance marketplace, ArtWanted is a community hub for creatives.
Freelancers that work in the creative industry are more than welcome to upload their portfolio and creations on the website. Clients have an option to contact the artist or buy the piece online.
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Designhill is considered the biggest graphic design marketplace for clients searching for mass produced designs at affordable prices.
The way the platform operates is quite straightforward but unique. Clients create a contest by including a brief, prizes and the duration. Once the contest is published, freelance designers will upload their work.
The platform also allows clients to choose their favourite designs and work 1-to-1 with the designers of their choice.
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Coroflot is a career community exclusively for freelancers in the design and creative industry. Here, you can find designers of all backgrounds – graphic design, UI/UX design, illustration and art, 3D modeling, fashion, industrial and more.
Clients post projects on the website which will be active for 90 days on the job board. Many clients on the board are big companies who seek talented designers, so definitely check this website out!
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These websites will give you great opportunities to work with clients all around the world. You’ll be able to compete with your peers and get better at designing as well.
It’s like that old cliche saying, “the world without art is eh”. These community hubs for designers give them a chance to decorate the world with art and get paid for it.
So what are you waiting for? Go and show off your creations to the world!
Daren Low is the founder of Bitcatcha.com. With over a decade’s experience in website development and internet marketing, Daren is a top authority on anything to do with building and managing an online business. Pick his brain today by connecting via Linkedin and Twitter.
