Crowdsourcing has grown exponentially in the past few years as companies and organizations look for a cost-effective and creative way to outsource the creation of business assets like branding concepts, website design, photographs, and even fundraising. Many freelance logo design consultants have turned to websites, such as DesignCrowd.com, to subsidize their income. Others, like top UK graphic designer PB have made crowdsourcing their sole source of income.

Unfortunately, it seems that some companies still have the misconception that to get a professional logo or brochure or website, they have to shell out the big bucks and hire an agency directly. But a higher price isn't the only drawback with agencies. You usually only get a few designs from which to choose. And what if the agency just doesn't get your vision? This can be quite frustrating, especially if they have locked you into a contract. With crowdsourcing, companies get to choose from hundreds of designs from professional freelance designers from all over the world, which makes it much more likely that someone will get your vision. Did you know that agencies are turning to design crowdsourcing to bring in extra income by outsourcing design projects?

Logo designers really get tons of experience with crowdsourcing. After all, the chances of a winning a project increase with the amount of logos you submit. As a result, more and more crowdsourced logo designs that are comparative to - or even exceeds - the quality of logos done directly through an agency are emerging. With this in mind, the following case studies compare 5 different crowdsourced logos with 5 different agency-made logos. Can you pick which one in each case is the crowdsourced logo and which is the one from an agency?

Case Study #1

The following are two logos that both include the image of a butterfly. Is Logo A or Logo B the crowdsourced design?

If you guessed Logo A as the crowdsource design, then you guessed right. This one was designed by Felix Dianconu, or Anghelaht as he is known on BrandCrowd.com, and is actually a logo template that he created with a hospitality company in mind. Logo B was designed by a design agency for a company called BioEdit that translates and edits biological science documents.

Both of these designs are very professional, and simply different styles. The biggest difference between the two is the simplicity factor. Anghelaht's logo template is bit more minimalist with the simple but exquisite butterfly graphic and accompanying font. The LogoBee design is conveniently all one unit, but slightly less minimalist with a the font swoop that looks like a grass blade.

Case Study #2

In this next case study, we have two logos beefed up with some cool effects. Can you tell which one is crowdsourced?

Logo A

Logo B

Once again, Logo A is the crowdsourced logo, designed by Elisha Leo for a DesignCrowd.com logo design contest. While her design did not win, it was one of the best ones submitted, with the company, Just Functions, choosing a more minimalist but very similar logo design. Logo B is the Brewery OmmeGang company logo was created by an agency.

The best part of the Just Functions logo is definitely the 3D effect with intricate lighting effect. And it's a design that would still look good in black and white or any other color. On the OmmeGang website, you'll notice that the logo changes color schemes with each page, which goes to show just how versatile this design is.

Case Study #3

Here are two logos designed for different restaurants. Which one is the crowdsourced logo?

Logo A

Logo B

This time, Logo B is the crowdsourced one, designed by BuckTornado on DesignCrowd. He created the logo for a buffet restaurant called "5" looking for an identity that would excude class. Logo A was designed by an agency for Pelham Street, which is a restaurant located in West London.

Both of these logos incorporate utensils into the design, but BuckTornado goes with a negative space approach, while TheChase uses a more straightforward graphic. Both are quite minimalist in design, with BuckTornado's logo being less so with a gradient color rather than a solid flat background.

Case Study #4

The following two logos are for companies that cross paths within the world of technology and science. Can you tell which one was designed through crowdsourcing?

Logo A

Logo B

The PeopleScience.com design, Logo A, was created by crowdsource designer Jace Design. While this logo was not chosen for use by the company (a data center in the UK) it was still in the top ranked submissions for this logo project. Logo B was designed by a UK based design agency.

It is interesting that both of these logos go with the blue and grey color scheme in the design, possibly to show both trust and professionalism. The PeopleScience logo is more complicated with the fingerprint in the middle of the eye graphic, but not so complicated that it would still look good in other colors or in black and white. The Volta logo while can be made more simplistic, still has a nice depth effect in the graphic.

Case Study #5

Both of the following logos incorporate graphics into the font. Which do you think is the crowdsourced logo?

Logo A

Logo B

Logo B was designed by MDS, as Marko Jovanovic is known on BrandCrowd.com. He designed it with a technology company in mind, especially one related to voltage or electricity or even sound. Logo A is the agency design, created for a network analysis company.

The best part of Marko's logo is the fact that a company can use the logo as the entire word or when needed can simplify it to just the lightening bolt. The agency logo isn't quite as versatile, but the swoop keeps the design simple yet eye-catching.

Conclusion

How did you do with guessing which of these designs were crowdsourced? You probably can't tell and that's the point. Professional stunning design ideas can come from anyone anywhere in the world, whether than designer is located in a traditional design agency or on a platform like DesignCrowd.

Written by Jo Sabin on Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Jo Sabin is Head of Designer Community at DesignCrowd. She's led the company's public relations and social media programs since 2012. With more than ten years' experience working with Australian and international tech startups in the creative industries, Jo has been instrumental in meeting DesignCrowd's objectives in Australia and abroad. Get in touch via Twitter.