If you’re proficient in graphic designing then I am sure you already know the best available options for getting jobs. But if you’re a novice, I am going to introduce the best freelance websites to you.
Also, I will tell you about some websites that are not related to freelancing but you can upload graphic works for sale.
Best choice
99designs
99designs is the best platform for graphic designers. Showcase your work and get hired.
Share & get hired
Behance
Behance is the largest network for creatives. Hundreds of designers are showcasing their works every day.
Extraordinary
Dribbble
Dribbble holds the most talented designers worldwide. A home for creatives and artworks.
#1 99designs
99designs is an Australia-based freelance website. But anyone can work on their platform except for those who live in a country that is under their sanction policy.
They created the platform only for graphic designers and clients. That means, they don’t allow any other type of work except for graphic design.
So each & every client on their platform is looking to hire graphic designers. And this is your opportunity as a designer.
99designs charges 5% to 15% to the freelancers as their platform fee. See the breakdown below:
- Entry-level designers: 15%
- Mid-level designers: 10%
- Top-level designers: 5%
That means the more level up you can do, the lower the commission rate.
#2 Behance
Behance may seem like a social media platform because of the following features:
- People can share their design works publicly.
- They can like (appreciate), and write comments on each other’s work.
- Designers can follow each other, send messages, etc.
But there is a huge opportunity for graphic designers to get freelance jobs. Every day buyers are posting jobs on Behance and you can apply for them and take advantage of them.
Matias Corea and Scott Belsky was the founder of Behance (2005). But Adobe acquired it in 2012.
#3 Dribbble
Dribbble is very similar to Behance. You can share your graphic design works on the platform, other designers & people can interact with your designs, etc.
Also, Dribbble serves as a portfolio of graphic designers.
You can think of this platform as the heart of the design community. They provide the best opportunities to share design works in such a way that is generally not possible on your personal portfolio website.
Designers can also create teams on this platform and upload their teamwork.
Dribbble is not only sharing design works but also focused on jobs and recruiting. Anyone can post jobs for a small monthly price ($249/month).
Every design work and designer’s profile also contains a “Hire Me” button (‘Hire Us’ for teams). So buyers can also hire designers from those two locations. It actually starts from direct messaging.
#4 Designhill
Designhill is a marketplace for creatives and businesses, and also individuals. From logo design to eBook cover design, they have a wide range of categories.
They also offer a “Design Contest” to the buyers. Generally, it’s known as crowdsourcing. That means, a buyer can request lots of design ideas from different freelance designers and the buyer deserves the right to choose his/her favorite one.
However, the design contest could be time-wasting for many of you but the choice is yours. Aside from crowdsourcing, they also allow outsourcing.
#5 DesignCrowd
DesignCrowd is a fully crowdsourcing platform for design works.
It was founded in 2007 in Australia.
The price is cheaper than other graphic design platforms. For the DesignCrowd, I am not recommending, nor I am advising to avoid the platform. I am trying to introduce this platform as an option for graphic designers and especially newbies.
Also, feel free to check their reviews on 3rd party websites.
You can test DesignCrowd for a short period of time and see if that works for you. But if not, then don’t hang with them.
You got a couple of freelance websites that are specially made for graphic designers.
But there are some other freelance websites that you can explore. Such as Toptal, Upwork, PeoplePerHour, etc. As you may already know that these are platforms that anyone can join (mostly). Such as web developer, content writer, graphic designer, etc. You can see this post to learn more about the general freelance websites.
Anyways, as I mentioned at the top of the post, I will introduce other platforms that you can use to sell your graphic design products.
#1 GraphicRiver
GraphicRiver is a different branch (or part) of the Envato Market. You can create and sell graphic design templates, photoshop & vector files, etc. But those should be royalty-free.
This is a great opportunity for designers. A single design can be the source of your long-term income. Because you create the design once & upload it to their platform, and people can buy & download the same items unlimited times.
For example, you designed a template and you assigned its price to $20. Now imagine if 1,000 people bought this template how much would be the revenue!
You need to register (sign up) for an Envato account in order to sell any of their branch or part.
#2 Template Monster
It’s mainly a platform for HTML templates & WordPress themes. However, this platform also has lots of graphic elements.
That means you can also sell your graphic elements on Template Monster. See the categories under graphic design.
Conclusion
Freelancing platforms that are focused on graphic design are the best choice in my opinion. But I personally don’t like freelance websites that are based on crowdsourcing. Also, I would advise anyone to avoid those freelancing platforms that attract clients by the cheap price.
