Design Pickle in 2024: Inside the top unlimited graphic design service, reviews, ratings, and alternatives
Unlimited graphic design services have revolutionized the way businesses access design solutions, offering a cost-effective and scalable approach to meet their creative needs. At the forefront of this trend stands Design Pickle, a pioneer subscription creative services company in the industry.
In this blog post, we delve into the origins of unlimited graphic design and the role of Design Pickle. We will also present a comprehensive list of Design Pickle alternatives to aid businesses in their decision-making process for fulfilling their needs.
Understanding unlimited graphic design
To understand how the subscription creative services company came to be, we need to go back to the beginning of graphic design in digital marketing and brand identity—the traditional agency model.
How it started
Without in-house design teams, businesses needed to seek external graphic designers to fulfill their creative and design tasks. Creative agencies would provide exceptional designers, creative teams, and other creative talent on a per-project basis.
While this helped companies save on the cost of having a complete in-house design team, it also led to bottlenecks depending on the agency's capacity, a long turnaround time depending on revisions, and, for particularly complex projects (and depending on the designer's skill level), elevated costs. Within these pain points, a new style of creative services was born.
The subscription model
A subscription creative services company typically offers unlimited graphic design for a monthly fee or annual subscriptions. While companies vary on what's included in the subscription—and many offer different tiers of service subscriptions—most will provide unlimited graphic design, custom illustrations, unlimited revisions, designated designers, and more. Clients of subscription services benefit from a reduced bottleneck, reduced average turnaround time for projects, improved content, and an easier design and revision experience.
Creative as a services
Again, what's included in the subscription depends on the company selected. The core features generally are:
- Monthly or annual payments
- Unlimited graphic design for unlimited brands
- Unlimited revisions
- Designated designers
- Quick turnaround time
- High-quality graphics
- Custom illustrations
- Branding and logo design
- Real-time communication
Some companies may also offer services like app design, video editing, motion graphics, and even free trials or money-back guarantees. Unlimited requests are standard with one caveat: Your subscription will likely dictate the number of requests you can have underway at one time.
Via Getty ImagesThe pros and cons of graphic design subscriptions
Are you wondering if a subscription is the right choice for your business to improve content and save money? Next, we'll go through the pros and cons of graphic design subscriptions, in general, to provide additional information and help you decide.
The PROS
Cost-effectiveness
As mentioned, onboarding, training, and retaining entire creative teams is challenging, time consuming, and expensive for many companies, but especially startups. Plus, knowing the monthly fee outright makes it easier to budget. Subscription graphic design services
Convenience
Rather than track down a freelance designer, source files, provide a brief on your brand and your project, and embark on a lengthy journey of back-and-forth feedback for your graphics, most subscription agencies have a streamlined process for requesting and receiving designs. They have also already undergone the onboarding process with their own designers and have ensured they provide exceptional work.
Some services even provide a creative project manager and designated designers for your project, meaning timelines stay on track, and they'll know your brand for every project and request moving forward.
Scalability
Thanks to the unlimited requests and revisions, the subscription model allows your design needs to scale as your company grows. While you may need to change your subscription to one that allows multiple requests at the same time, you'll still know that bottom line at the end of the month while matching your design needs to your expanding marketing team and campaign demands.
The CONS
Quality variability
If you don't get a subscription plan that includes a designated designer, you may see inconsistencies in what they deliver for quality and style. This will create a longer turnaround time on the final product as you engage in a back-and-forth to perfect the graphics.
Communication challenges
Especially when a designer is unfamiliar with your brand, it can be difficult to convey complex design briefs. Some companies don't do meetings at all and prefer to stick within their platforms, making it difficult to perfect the creative process for your graphics. It could mean they deliver an illustration completely off-base, leaving you with a lengthy revision process.
Turnaround times
While the subscription model was meant to combat bottlenecks, subscription graphic design companies are still limited in the number of designers they have on staff! Sometimes queues can get backed up, especially during peak demand periods. Add in those unlimited revisions, and that turnaround time can become exceptionally slow.
Exploring Design Pickle
Design Pickle is one of the better-known subscription graphic design companies and is considered an industry leader. Let's take a look at who they are and what they do.
Design Pickle: A subscription creative services company
Founded in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2015, Design Pickle's self-proclaimed mission is "to build the world's most helpful creative platform" and to "change lives through creativity." To do so, they built an all-in-one creative platform meant to help clients manage their requests, communicate with their designers, and provide features that save time in the design process.
Design Pickle's services include graphic design, custom illustrations, presentation design, and motion graphics. Are their platform, tools, and services doing the trick? Let's find out.
The PROS and CONS of Design Pickle
There's a reason Design Pickle is considered a leader in the subscription services realm—they do a lot of things really well. Here are some of the pros of choosing Design Pickle:
- Subscriptions based on the type of design required—more customizable than others.
- AI tools in the Design Pickle platform for better design requests and satisfaction with the product.
- Opportunities for designated designers.
- Opportunities for help with the onboarding process and other support.
- Quick turnaround times.
Of course, no company is perfect, and there are certainly some cons associated with Design Pickle as well:
- Most businesses will need to up their subscription to get the right mix of design, file types, support, and turnaround times.
- The AI tools sometimes bog down the request process, making it longer and more cumbersome.
- For Slack communication and easier support, businesses need to pay more.
- They don't do video editing.
What are clients saying?
A lot of clients seem really happy with the work Design Pickle provided, including custom illustration work and motion graphics. However, some noted that the Design Pickle user interface can be difficult and sometimes frustrating to use. They also have reported that leaving feedback on projects is often challenging within the Design Pickle platform, so unlimited revisions can draw out the turnaround time and become a headache.
In general, most clients seem happy with the services they receive from Design Pickle and have saved money overall.
The top 10 Design Pickle alternatives
Depending on your needs, another graphic design subscription service company may be a better fit. Below is a comprehensive list of the top 10 alternatives to Design Pickle that you may want to research and consider before you sign up with Design Pickle.
1. REEL UNLIMITED
Via REEL UNLIMITEDREEL UNLIMITED offers all the same design aspects, as well as other services such as web flow and development, video editing, and design motion graphics, all at flexible package pricing to fit any budget.
2. ManyPixels
Via ManyPixelsTo access the true benefits of ManyPixels, clients need to subscribe to the highest tier at about $1200 per month. Once there, you'll get access to all the design features you need, as well as same-day turnaround, motion graphics, and designated designers.
3. Penji
Via PenjiPenji advertises itself as a brand looking to give back—offering to add $1 to every monthly subscription that goes towards an approved NGO. Their basic subscription model is enough for companies will smaller design needs, but the bigger plans have better features for companies that need to scale.
4. Kimp.io
Via KIMPKimp.io is a great option for anyone looking for flexibility. They also have a large focus on videos and video editing while providing a full design team, including a creative project manager. Their affordable subscriptions are based on what their client needs: Graphics only, video only, or both.
5. Flocksy
Via FlocksyFlocksy's claim to fame is that they provide their clients with an entire creative team without the price tag of an entire creative team. Fit with your own creative project manager and a custom-built team of vetted designers of all kinds, depending on your needs and plan, Flocksy also offers a 14-day money-back guarantee.
6. No Limit Creatives (NLC)
Via No Limit CreativesAssigned based on your needs, NLC offers custom design teams and promises a stress-free experience. Their offerings include video and motion graphics, as well as classic graphic design, with subscriptions split into industry categories for a best-fit plan.
7. Teamtown
Via TeamtwonMarketed as for the bold, Teamtown also means you have to be bold with your bank account, with their lowest monthly subscription landing in the $2000 range. While every range comes with a dedicated, creative project manager, only the upper levels offer video design as well.
8. Designjoy
Via DesignjoyDesignjoy comes in at one of the higher price tags, with their lowest at nearly $5,000/mo. With a single designer on staff, the company's CEO, you'll get consistency at a high standard every time. However, the entire company functions asynchronously (no meetings, everything online), and clients risk reaching capacity or skill limits.
9. Superside
Via SupersideOne of the more unique subscription creative services companies out there, Superside offers subscription plans that give clients hours of design work they can put toward different turnaround times depending on their project needs. While the price tag is high (starting at $5000/mo), each plan gets complete timezone coverage, a dedicated team, and more. Plus, unused hours rollover.
10. Delesign
Via DelesignA play on the word "delegate," Delesign wants to be the company clients delegate all their design needs to. By using talented designers based in Asia, they boast affordable monthly subscriptions without losing out on skill and consistency. Depending on your needs—be it regular graphic design, full multimedia features, or an enterprise plan that includes a project manager, they offer a broad range of plans to sign up for.
Why REEL UNLIMITED stands out
All 10 competitors are considered competitors for a reason—they're great at what they do! However, not all provide features essential for a thriving business to stand out in our highly visual world. For example, many will create wonderful graphics but don't design motion graphics or offer video design services.
REEL UNLIMITED is a stand-out creative agency in the field and is worth consideration during your search. Here are a few reasons why:
Affordable Pricing
REEL UNLIMITED offers a Light Plan at a highly competitive price point. For many SMBs, this plan will give them all the creative graphics and design items they'll need. From there, you can scale up your subscription to include more services or ongoing requests as you grow, still at an affordable rate.
Flexible subscription options
As mentioned, REEL UNLIMITED offers up to three design subscription plans, as well as a custom option, which means a company can create what works best for them. This allows for more flexibility than a lot of other graphic design providers in terms of budget and needs.
High-quality designs
With a carefully selected roster of talented designers, REEL UNLIMITED provides consistent delivery of professional-grade designs, including video editing and design. Clients can request their favorite designer, with projects assigned based on availability and subscription level. A consistent designer creates consistency throughout all delivered graphics.
Dedicated support
The REEL UNLIMITED team is available on Slack and Livechat, so you'll always have a touch-point for collaboration and direction. Excellent communication makes the onboarding process smooth, getting your first request underway in no time.
Is unlimited graphic design the right choice?
Unlimited graphic design companies offer a cost-effective and scalable solution to meet the design requirements of companies of every size. While Design Pickle has been a frontrunner in this space, it's important to explore alternatives like REEL UNLIMITED to ensure the perfect balance between affordability and high-caliber designs. With a wide array of options available, businesses can make informed decisions and switch to a service provider that best aligns with their needs and objectives as a brand.
