What is a Graphic Design Subscription & Is It Right for You?

What is a graphic design subscription?

Graphic design subscription services, also known as unlimited design, are very simple. Here’s how it works:

• You pay a flat monthly fee for an unlimited number of design requests: It’s important to remember that this means unlimited requests, not unlimited designs. Even though most unlimited design companies have ultra-fast turnaround times, designs are still created by people, not robots. They usually provide an expected daily output, so you can calculate how many designs you can get.
• You can make as many revisions as you want: Whereas a freelancer will charge extra for additional revisions, an unlimited design subscription allows you to change your designs until you’re 100% satisfied at no extra cost. Moreover, you also get all the source files, so you can further tweak and reuse graphics however you like!
• You can work with different designers: Imagine having access to dozens of designers with diverse skills and expertise for a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire. This allows marketing agencies to expand their offer and helps small businesses get diverse types of graphics for an affordable price.‍
• You can pause your subscription at any time: Most unlimited graphic design services have a flexible model, which means there are no contracts.

The benefits of an unlimited graphic design subscription

So now we’ve answered the question “what is a graphic design subscription,” and you should have a basic idea of how it works.

But what are some long-term benefits of using a graphic subscription model? Here are just a few.

More designs, more creativity

Remember the days before Netflix, when you had to watch whatever was on TV? How much better is it to watch whatever you feel like, when you want it? 

Well, graphic design subscription allows you to have the same control of the creative process. When you don’t have to worry about a designer’s capabilities or the cost of extra revisions, you can explore different creative possibilities and come up with unique visual solutions. 

For example, you can replace templated social media graphics with stunning custom illustrations that will boost your engagement rates and social media visibility. Or you can improve your website’s user experience with motion graphics.

Reliability

Freelancers can easily disappear off the grid, and in-house designers go on holiday or take sick leave. None of these are concerns you need to worry about with an unlimited design service.

With a team of designers on hand, there’s always a professional standing by in case the first designer can’t complete the task for whatever reason.Most unlimited design services also work year-round, allowing you to plan designs and get last-minute graphics whenever you need them.

Along with a full team of designers, our own services include help from project managers. They help to make client-designer communication run smoothly, and ensure our rigorous quality assurance system is put in place. 

Saving money and time

Right, we’ve mentioned that the graphic design subscription model is much more affordable than some other design providers. For comparison, an in-house designer in the US has an average salary of around $6,000 per month.

A freelance designer can be a fantastic investment for a one-off project. But if you consider the average hourly rate of about $35 (and the numbers are going up), getting as little as 10 hours of design work per week can be quite an investment on a monthly level.

Ok, but how about the situation where you’re strapped for finances and try to take the DIY design route? As most business owners soon discover, this is simply not worth it. You usually end up with unprofessional designs that can hurt your brand image and fail to help you achieve your marketing goals.

More importantly, you should consider how much of your own time is spent designing graphics and therefore how this reflects on the loss of revenue. How many clients could you have secured while you were busy designing a PowerPoint?

Who should get a graphic design subscription?

So, the design subscription model has numerous benefits. But what kinds of businesses specifically should opt to purchase design as a subscription, and why?

You need design on a regular basis.

As was already said, one of the best things about a design as a subscription is the amount of work you can get done.

If you can come up with many design requests (illustrations, social media posts, ads, etc.), this is the ideal choice! Design services like ours also work very fast, so it’s sometimes possible to get graphics back the same day you request them (depending on the complexity of the design).

You don’t have a designer or design team.

Whether you’re a startup or a small business, chances are that you still haven’t got a designer on your team.

Hiring and finding the right people takes weeks. Freelancers are unpredictable, and working with them regularly can become a hassle (you may need to find different designers for various projects).

Instead of all that stress and hassle, you can get your own design team in a few clicks. Our service can eliminate the need for another design provider, with all your design needs covered.

You want more design options.

Does that mean a graphic design subscription is not for you if you already have a design team? Absolutely not.

We work with many marketing agencies, some of which have several designers in their ranks. These are the two main ways we help them out:

1. We take care of the day-to-day so they can focus on more complex tasks. This allows the in-house team to spend more time developing a stellar creative direction, leaving the simple execution to us.
2. We create more options for their clients. If you want to win over clients, give them options. With our budget-friendly rates, you can significantly expand your service, both in terms of the number of designs, as well as the types. So, you can give your clients more while staying well within your budget.

For $550 a month, we bill $150/h. All it takes is a couple of hours a month for which we get way more value from ManyPixels, just from a billable standpoint. If we have a client on the fence, we can say, ‘You know what, let us do some early design for you at no charge’, and we usually en up securing the contract because of that - Josh Christy, Codelation

One important feature of our custom design app is that you can create unlimited brand profiles, which helps our designers deliver designs in 1-2 day turnarounds for all your clients.

You want affordable design.

Last but certainly not least - the graphic design subscription model is the most affordable way to get creative graphic design regularly.

Don’t believe us? You can do the math yourself!

The average hourly rate for freelance graphic designers is $35. So, with just 4 hours of work a week, you’re looking at paying around $560 a month. 

At ManyPixels, our design subscription plans starts at just $549 per month! So, for the same price you can get unlimited design requests and revisions, and a lot more hours of design work. Remember that you usually get results back in just 1-2 business days, so you’ll have a designer working for you every day!

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Who shouldn’t get a graphic design subscription?

Does it seem like I’ve done a lot to convince you that there’s no other design service that can beat unlimited design companies? In truth, few other design providers can deliver high-quality graphics, in just a couple of business days, at this price point

And yet, an unlimited graphic design subscription is not for everyone. There are some cases where this doesn’t make sense.

You just need help with one project.

In many cases (depending on the complexity of the design project), this can still be cheaper than hiring a freelancer. Still, this model doesn’t make sense for one-off projects.

When signing up, it’s best to have a long-term plan to make the best use of this model. Moreover, thinking on a per-project basis will probably incur some additional costs down the road. 

You’re a big fan of meetings.

Although we highly encourage clients to form close relationships with one or more of our designers, it’ll never be like having an in-house employee.

At ManyPixels, you can also choose our Dedicated Designer plan and communicate with your designer easily through Slack. Our custom design management platform also allows marketing teams to collaborate - multiple users can view and access designs and leave comments directly on the graphics for a faster revision process. 

However, due to the volume of work our designers take care of, they can’t attend brainstorming meetings and other such sessions.

If that face-to-face touch is something you can’t give up, an unlimited design service might not be for you. If, however, you like to give directions and let the pros do their work - it’s worth trying out

You need a full service agency

Traditional design agencies charge thousands of dollars for a single project, because they rarely handle design alone. Instead, these companies usually include a whole creative team and offer a variety of services, including art direction, brand positioning, market research, marketing, web development, campaign management, and more.

If this is something you need, it may be more effective to hire a full-service agency and get your design there.

Ready to start your design subscription?

We hope this helps you make an informed decision about choosing the right design partner for your business. There are really few downsides to working with an unlimited design company. 

Whatever type of design you need - we’ve got you covered! From UI/UX design, to logo design and even motion graphics our team can handle it!

Pick your design subscription pricing plan and get started today!

Still have questions? We'd be happy to answer them! Book a free 1:1 consultation to see if our design service is the right choice for you!