April 24, 2009—99designs, the largest marketplace for crowdsourced design, has been named in the ‘SMART 100’ Index as one of Australia’s 100 most innovative products. The ‘SMART 100’ Index, co-created by leading business magazine Australian Anthill and market research leader Colmar Brunton, was selected over a six month process by 1,600 maven judges.
99designs enables businesses and entrepreneurs to quickly and inexpensively source custom designed logos, business cards, websites or any other graphical element by tapping into a growing community of over 32,000 graphic designers. Clients simply post a description of what they are looking to have designed, what they are willing to pay and how long the project will remain open for submissions. The average project sees 70-80 submissions from a dozen or more designers.
“Finding the right designer the traditional way is no easy task,” said Mark Harbottle, CEO and founder of 99designs. “By taking an innovative crowdsourcing approach through 99designs, you can literally be presented with 99 different designs from dozens of different designers, which vastly increases your chances of finding the right designer for your business. It’s a true honor to have our efforts be recognized as an inaugural member of the ‘SMART 100’ Index.”
“The SMART 100 aims to bring a greater commercial focus to the concept of innovation, returning ownership of the principles surrounding this important word to the private sector,” said James Tuckerman, Founder and Publisher of Anthill Magazine and founder of the ‘SMART 100’ Index. “Most awards rely on the expertise of a select few. The inaugural ‘SMART 100’ employed the knowledge and opinions of over 1,600 ‘maven’ judges.”
According to John Shanahan, CEO, Colmar Brunton, “The maven’s unique talent is his or her ability to unearth and identify, from all the new products and services available in the marketplace, the innovations that are worth propagating. A maven also generally has the ability to communicate the potential of the innovation to the broader public and, therefore, plays an integral role in the mass take-up of any innovation.”
About Australian Anthill
Anthill is one of Australia’s leading business magazines and online communities. It is dedicated to innovation, entrepreneurship and the commercial development of Australian ideas. Anthill is distributed nationally through over 1,200 newsagents, via subscription and through its recently re-launched website (http://anthillonline.com).
About Colmar Brunton
Colmar Brunton is one of Australia’s largest market research agencies, with offices in Singapore and every mainland state of Australia. Colmar Brunton stays at the forefront of technology by embracing new ways to gain greater insights from research. Colmar Brunton and Anthill have partnered in the development of a new methodology that combines traditional measures with new technologies and crowdsourcing techniques.
About 99designs
99designs is the leading online design contest marketplace, connecting passionate designers from around the globe with savvy clients who need design projects completed in a timely fashion without the usual risk or cost associated with professional design services. It has held over 20,000 design contests to date, awarding over $4.5 Million USD to its design community. For more information please visit: 99designs.com.
99designs Contact:
Jason Aiken
99designs
press@99designs.com
SMART 100 Contact:
Lachlan Wharton
(03) 9428 3777