Geoff CuddDesign Pickle is the 800-pound gorilla of the outsourced graphic design world. They are the largest and most established player. But does that make them the best? I'll break down the good and bad in this review of Design Pickle.
See Design Pickle in action for yourself: I tested Design Pickle and used them to create the blog images next to the headings in this review. See what you think.
Best Quality
- One of the few providers to offer website and mobile design (in addition to graphics)
- Great for agencies and digital marketing teams
Best Output
- Works on two tasks at once, doubling the output. Best return on investment
- Great for small businesses, bloggers, and freelancers
Most Affordable
- Affordable monthly starting cost of $299
- Great for blog owners or influencers that need simple custom images
Design Pickle's pricing model is unlimited graphic design for a flat monthly fee with no contract. You get a dedicated web designer at a very good price. Let’s take a closer look at how Design Pickle works and the pluses and minuses
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Design Pickle Overview
How does Design Pickle's unlimited graphic design work?
You can request as many graphic designs as you like for one flat monthly rate. You also get unlimited revisions on each request until you are completely satisfied.
The only caveat is that designers will work on one project at a time (unless you upgrade to the Pro plan). My experience is that my design requests were turned around quickly (overnight)
Who is Design Pickle's business model good for?
- Agencies who want to increase capacity without significant overhead
- Bloggers who want to improve the quality of their content with custom images
- Entrepreneurs and businesses looking to create ad campaigns for marketing on Facebook, Pinterest, Google, and Instagram
Design Pickle can handle almost any type of graphic design, including:
- Logos
- Websites, Landing pages, and Mobile Apps
- Swag and promotional materials
- Vehicle wraps
- Business cards
- Clothing design and tshirts
- Social media graphics
- Infographics and Illustrations
Is Design Pickle legit?
Yes, Design Pickle is legit, and it’s an excellent resource for business owners looking for an affordable graphic design solution.
They have been in the game for a while, offering a wealth of different unlimited graphic design services for one flat monthly fee.
Who uses Design Pickle?
Design Pickle is in the Inc500 and used by thousands of customers. These include companies like UPS, RE/MAX, Cross Fit, and many more.
Is Design Pickle worth it?
I would say Design Pickle is absolutely worth it.
At $499 per month for the basic graphics package, Design Pickle falls right in the middle of pricing compared to other unlimited services. So the price isn’t really all that competitive.
Still, Design Pickle is one of the heavy hitters in the game for good reason. The quality of their output is excellent, and they move fast, with most of my requests being produced with a 24-hour turnaround.
You also have options to level up for better plans that include video tasks and custom illustrations, as well as team plans where your whole team can submit tasks.
Design Pickle Review
Pros: Here's what I like about Design Pickle
Extremely fast turnarounds, especially on the Pro plan where requests often come back same day.- Good infrastructure and a well-organized, responsive team. I never had any problems reaching someone quickly for any type of request (design or otherwise).
- Great customer service and escalations (you can talk to a person when needed). I had an issue, escalated, and was able to get back on track quickly, professionally, and without fuss. I was impressed!
- Very friendly, positive designers.
- I like how you can create unlimited brand profiles with logos, colors, fonts, etc. Anytime you create a project for that brand, select the design profile and the designer will follow your brand guidelines.
- When submitting requests, you can assign them to a specific designer (if you've found one with a style you like more than others).
- Slack integration is easy to understand and great for agencies and teams.
- There’s no contract and you can cancel anytime.
Extremely fast turnarounds, especially on the Pro plan where requests often come back same day.Cons: Here are the only things I don't like like about Design Pickle
- The Design Pickle user interface is poor. You technically can view designs from their portal, but within the portal, images are grainy, hard to navigate, and you cannot leave revision feedback on the images themselves. Instead you are better off using Slack (Pro only) or you must download a zip file of your completed designs and reply with feedback as text comments (no markup on images). In contrast, Penji has a great UI where you can easily view revisions online and enter feedback directly on images.
- Adding new design requests can be a bit cumbersome compared to some other providers. It’s thorough, which can be helpful to get a good result, but the input process is not as streamlined as it should be.
- Use of Slack is only available on the Pro plan. I don't understand why they wouldn't offer this for Standard as it makes communications and projects much more efficient for both sides.
- Custom illustrations are not included in the Standard and Pro plans, you must pay an additional fee.
The Design Pickle user interface is poor. You technically can view designs from their portal, but within the portal, images are grainy, hard to navigate, and you cannot leave revision feedback on the images themselves. Instead you are better off using Slack (Pro only) or you must download a zip file of your completed designs and reply with feedback as text comments (no markup on images). In contrast, Design Pickle Examples
The images next to each heading in this post were created by Design Pickle when I was testing their service. See what you think!
And if you want to see more examples of Design Pickle’s work, I also used them to create these images for a step by step guide to negotiating a car lease.
Design Pickle Promo Code
Design Pickle is the largest and most established unlimited design company and gets a lot of customers because of their well-known brand. As a result, they don't currently need to offer a coupon to attract clients. However, we have exclusive discounts (20% off) for most of the top unlimited graphic design providers.
Alternatives to Design Pickle
We’ve evaluated several alternatives to Design Pickle. The best way to really get a feel for different providers is to try more than one and see who you like best.
Best Quality
- One of the few providers to offer website and mobile design (in addition to graphics)
- Great for agencies and digital marketing teams
Best Output
- Works on two tasks at once, doubling the output. Best return on investment
- Great for small businesses, bloggers, and freelancers
Most Affordable
- Affordable monthly starting cost of $299
- Great for blog owners or influencers that need simple custom images
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are Design Pickle's biggest competitors?
Design Pickle's biggest competitors include Penji, Flocksy, ManyPixels, and Kapa99. Read about Design Pickle Alternatives and who’s currently offering discounts.
Who is the best unlimited graphic design provider?
It depends on your budget and the type of requests you will be submitting. Here are my picks for the best unlimited graphic design providers.
What is Design Pickle’s turnaround time?
Requests on the Standard plan typically get turned around next business day. Requests on the Pro plan get turned around much quicker, often same business day depending on the nature of the request and how early it is submitted. Read all the pros and cons of using Design Pickle.
Does Design Pickle offer a coupon code?
They do not currently offer any coupons. However, if you are looking for a discount, several Design Pickle competitors are offering coupons. See which promo codes are currently being offered by Design Pickle’s Competitors.
Stefan Schulz
Claire Fountain
