Design Pickle Review: Did I Just Get Ripped Off?

Поділитися
Вставка
  • Опубліковано 26 гру 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 83

  • @WesMcDowellInc
    @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому

    Ready to make smarter design decisions for your business? Watch this video next to ensure your small business thrives! - ua-cam.com/channels/Mq1R1LgS04lIKdpLh_OS1w.html

  • @ReyesMagos-o6b
    @ReyesMagos-o6b Рік тому +48

    I used to work there, they outsource all their designers from latin America and the philipines and they pay 7 dollars per hour, the level of toxicity and stress designers are put in there is awful, you get assigned 7 clients and have to deliver everything they ask within the day, and if a client is not satisfied with the work a designer makes they get so much sht for it, there’s a strike system, you get 3 in a quarter and you get suspension without payment.
    The CEO is an awful person that constantly puts people down on the quarterly meeting saying things like “this is the real world, if you don’t like it you can leave”.
    I remember I was working there in the pandemic and none of us had a real option to leave, and they knew that that’s why they took advantage of all the designers.

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому +3

      oh damn I had no idea 🫣😣

    • @scalemodeltutor9841
      @scalemodeltutor9841 Рік тому +6

      Oh well, that explains everything. I hope you’re in a better job now.

    • @OpinionatedBlues
      @OpinionatedBlues 4 місяці тому

      This is sad. I won’t be working with them.

    • @naditaquehacer
      @naditaquehacer 2 місяці тому

      Yo he aplicado tres veces y no he quedado XD ¿Sabes como es el ambiente para los ilustradores que trabajan ahí? Gracias :)

    • @cupofjoen
      @cupofjoen Місяць тому

      ​@@naditaquehacerhey, I applied there too. I just got interviewed and regarding the rate, it's the same as what the OP said. You'll work with clients and teams in platform like slacks (miro lookalike). 2 weeks probation you'll get 3 usd per hour, 7 usd per hour when you're fully hired. For me, those are big numbers. Twice the salary of my country. I'm still doing some research, I'm gonna ask my school alumni who worked there and see if she enjoy working there. 7-9 finished designs per day and 2 hour working limit is a huge risk. Idk, should I take my local job (400 usd/month) or this (1180 usd/month depending on how many work you can get, probably 700 usd average if I get stressed out).

  • @Elle_M717
    @Elle_M717 Рік тому +18

    I'm a freelance graphic designer. Thanks to this video I know what NOT to do.

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому +2

      Always important to know what to do and what NOT to do 😊

  • @samkarazi
    @samkarazi Рік тому +12

    OMG! Thank you! You saved my ass!!! I have a call scheduled with them 2 hours from now, just cancelled it while watching your video.

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому +1

      Glad to hear that! Cuz they're GOOD on those calls, they'd have gotten you I'm sure!

  • @MenachemPritzker
    @MenachemPritzker Рік тому +12

    I used design pickle a couple of years ago, with exactly the same results. I didn't have nearly the same level of complex needs as you did, but experienced exactly the same level of mediocre results. Your statement that the level of quality was the same as the cheapest level of fiverr gig really hit the nail on the head.

  • @OfficialClintJames
    @OfficialClintJames 7 місяців тому +4

    When you approach design like it's a commodity, you're going to get junior work every time.
    The value lies in the fidelity you have with the designer. You communicate well with them, they communicate well with your audience.

  • @adamratliff3590
    @adamratliff3590 10 місяців тому +1

    Stuff like this is so helpful, you have no idea. Honest and fair feedback, so many times there are companies that do this, then in the end make you sound unreasonable. I had same experience with a website developer, who made me feel like I was so demanding when they set all the deadlines and told me what they could do up front.
    As someone who has looked into this service for my small business, I appreciate your honesty and time to protect other small businesses with this information.

  • @NONE2NONE
    @NONE2NONE Місяць тому

    I randomly caught your video on a search. Fantastic review. Very detailed and you did a great job of expressing what would be most important to a small business owner like me. You have a follow 💯

  • @brettmorris4889
    @brettmorris4889 Рік тому +12

    As someone who has been in motion for years, the reference you shared would have been created by a top tier studio, with a team working on it for at minimum, two months. Creative director, art director, copy writer, designers, animators, editors, sound designers and colourists.The cost for a project like that would have been $100k +. It's not surprising that the design pickle couldn't hit the same quality. There's levels to motion, artists spend years perfecting design and timing, and cannot simply be replaced at low cost. Appreciate your perspective on the situation, and how you managed experience, shame you didn't get what you wanted.

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому +3

      Thanks for that perspective Brett, its crazy that they wouldn't have seen what I wanted, and ran it against what they knew their designers could actually accomplish and took me on regardless. So unethical.

  • @theaicreatives
    @theaicreatives 10 місяців тому

    Wonderful review, Wes. Thank you for being up front and honest about your experience. It's the only way they're going to get better and you're doing such a service for potential clients who are using their hard earned time and money on a service like this. Well done.

  • @platinum3415
    @platinum3415 19 днів тому

    Hey! I used to be a quality reviewer at DP, I joined literally days after you uploaded the video. The main issue here was definitely with the sales team, they should have just told you that they couldn't do the motion graphics work that you asked for. Sales people don't actually understand how any of this works, they see something and think it's possible without understanding the complexities of a style. Also, the workflow DP uses is completely incompatible with what you do because each designer has multiple clients at the same time and must show progress to all (or most) of them each day. This structure obviously leads to lower quality works because the focus is on "speed" and on quality that's "good enough" or "passable" (Which leads to worse designs). A lot of customers don't know that they're being ripped off because they don't know much about design, which is why they still pay for the service. Clients that do know better quickly leave.
    Now, this is obviously not the fault of the designers, they do get treated poorly and the workflow is designed, intentional or not, to screw them.
    The lack of quality is also reflected in how we reviewed the works, I'm not sure how much I can say, but most of what we were looking for were technical errors, so unless the design looked god awful, we couldn't really comment too much on the aesthetic aspects of the design.
    I've been speaking to people that still work there and things have gotten worse culture wise. According to them, the reviewers now have to snitch on other reviewers if they miss a mistake, even if it's the smallest and irrelevant of errors (Like not naming the layers properly). This makes the whole process even slower and prone to more errors because everyone is stressed out and worried that they will get in trouble for dumb mistakes and take even longer to review.
    I understand that your issue with the thumbnails was the lack of the purple background (Along with other stuff), but that could have easily been fixed with one round of feedback and better reviewing. I think that those could be done on DP (but admittedly with some trial and error).
    In sum, everything in the company was built to not do things with the customer in mind, it's built to retain them with the lowest effort possible.

  • @destinyschild5768
    @destinyschild5768 Рік тому +4

    What Design Pickle is doing is not new. I work at a digital marketing agency where the word "expert" is used often on the website. Although we're not a bunch of beginners, I wouldn't say we're experts in marketing (at least not all of us). Tbh some of the stuff we're doing we're just guessing and learning as we go.
    Another thing is that a lot of agencies are set up this way where they hire people who are cheaper (thus less experienced) to do the work. Actually, there's a particular agency we work with where they call themselves "Shopify Experts" on their website and have case studies when in reality they have no experts and outsource everything to other agencies (which includes my agency). None of their clients know and they are paying a premium for nothing.
    What some of these agencies do are pretty shady so you're not wrong for wanting to hire a freelancer instead but you still have to be careful because some people have fake portfolios.

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому +1

      Interesting 🤔 ... thanks for the insights. It's so true.

  • @acvb33
    @acvb33 7 місяців тому +2

    TL;DR: Proceed with extra cautions if you ever want to hire/join Design Pickle.
    For designers: they definitely don't have Paid Time Off anymore now...
    I used to work there, back when the work environment still manageable and nice. But yeah, right before I left, they limit the hours a client get per day (I think it was 2-2.5 hours per day per client) so I kinda get why it takes 2 weeks for that video/motion task of yours.
    Sadly, designer skills there can be...very variative (?). Like, I have 10 years experience, I chose to work there because $8/hr is obviously better compared to $3/hour local office job. BUT, clients won't know which designer they're gonna be paired with. They could be a fresh-grad, a senior, etc. But you pay the same for random roulette of designers.
    Another thing is, yeah, layers of management sucks. Some team leader are heavily micromanaging designers, up to the point where designers just quit because of that. My team leader was nice though, they allow screenshots approval on client chat (where I think it was really frowned upon on other teams).

    • @cupofjoen
      @cupofjoen Місяць тому

      I'm about to take their creative test here. I chose this because simply salary in my country sucks. I have a question, do I need to finish the design in 2 hour timeline per client or I only need to have progress per day? Cuz 2 hours of finished design is crazy.

  • @carlvanderpal5321
    @carlvanderpal5321 2 місяці тому

    I had a similar experience with a CRM firm. I was paying them $1500 per month to do a few basic projects, it took them several months to do something that should have taken about a week. I had to continually follow up and they said they were working on it. But I would go inside and I would have to fix up basic errors. And they claimed they used to all work at the CRM company. Which should be some comfort. But no. Then, I told them similar to what you did, with no refund and the project was backed up for weeks due to them not finishing it. Then, they had the nerve to ask me for a referral...and you can guess my answer!!! Plus, a couple years later they wanted to bring me back on as a client, I was like if you refund me, I still wouldn't.

  • @norriehansen9312
    @norriehansen9312 Рік тому +3

    It's like you said, there's no such thing as 'unlimited' graphic design. In the same way 'all you can eat' isn't that - it's 'all you can eat within the opening hours of the restaurant'. Designers have 8 hour work days, and work on other client projects, like any other agency. It's a marketing ploy with caveats. The model works for certain businesses though.
    I think we're only going to see more of these crop up, especially one-man 'unlimited design agencies', given the success of Design Joy. The fact Brett has now created a course teaching freelancers how to make $25k a month selling 'productised services' (AKA unlimited design) and had more than 2,000 students is testament to that.
    The unlimited design market is about to be flooded, but the GOOD, high-quality unlimited design market? Dry as a bone.

  • @KennethFromSkarpt
    @KennethFromSkarpt Рік тому +3

    Always had a feeling that these kind of companies were too good to be true. There's just no way to have good quality and short delivery times, there always has to be a compromise in my experience.

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому

      Yea, for sure. I definitely went in as a skeptic as well, but the sales call and how confident they seemed to be made me think this might actually work out. Sadly, no.

  • @AdQuantics
    @AdQuantics 11 місяців тому

    what do you recommend instead?

  • @pencap29
    @pencap29 Рік тому +3

    As a former Graphic Designer, I am naturally very sceptical about companies that claim to offer unlimited design, because of the very reasons you discovered. They should tweak their marketing to target those who need just low quality graphic design and not say they can consistently deliver high-quality design (or similar wording). But the fact that they did not issue a refund after all of your time invested in trying to make it work is completely unacceptable as well. Thanks for making this video, Wes. Well done here.

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому

      Thank you! And yes I agree. I'm sure there's a market for businesses just looking for low-level design work, and that's who they should be advertising themselves toward. And their sales staff should just be upfront with what they can actually deliver so that they don't over promise and under deliver. Hopefully they'll learn!

  • @getonkilter8004
    @getonkilter8004 Рік тому +3

    Have you had any luck finding decent graphic designers through Upwork, Fiver etc? Its been a struggle for me. Thanks for all the great local business content!

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому +1

      Its hit or miss TBH, but you just have to look at their portfolios and I like to give all serious candidates a small paid test to make sure they can do what I need. Cheers!

  • @theunknown3632
    @theunknown3632 Рік тому +1

    Good I did a research first before accepting their offer. Just today i received an offer from them to be part of their company. I got curious thats why im doing my research. Im seeing comments also about how they treated their employees and I don't wanna be part of it.

    • @winstonsmith6204
      @winstonsmith6204 10 місяців тому

      Me too. I was definitely considering them as a design shop, but the more I'm learning about this business model the more I'm learning that I probably will hire a Freelancer, after reading their testinonials and thoroughly reviewing and investigating their portfolio.

  • @rushelectrics5415
    @rushelectrics5415 3 місяці тому

    Where should someone go to for animated clips / designs?

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  3 місяці тому

      lol I haven’t found a great source that isn’t crazy expensive

  • @thehealinghiker
    @thehealinghiker Рік тому +3

    That's an awful lot of money 😳 Never heard of these guys but thanks for telling us your experience. BTW, have you noticed an increase in your watch time hours this last week?! It's me. I've been bingewatching. You do a great job. I'm in the process of getting a website developed (paid a LOT of money ($10,000) and it's still not done after 8 months, so I can sympathize with your frustration over false promises) but if it ever gets done I want to know how to promote it, so I've REALLY been appreciating your knowledge. 🙏

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому

      Good luck with your site - hope it gets done soon! and thx for subscribing 👏🙌

  • @elchorepunk
    @elchorepunk Рік тому +6

    Pay for professional people, period. You can't get what you want for what you pay to those global crappy companies.

  • @budgetok
    @budgetok Рік тому +3

    the thumbnail was actually not that bad but the first examples where horrible.

  • @maomao5112
    @maomao5112 8 місяців тому

    gosh thanks for this, I'm looking for Illustration Job and I stumbled upon their job posting and sent an application today HHAHAHAHHA again, THANK YOU SO MUCH

    • @dononudo
      @dononudo 7 місяців тому

      me too !!!

  • @winstonsmith6204
    @winstonsmith6204 10 місяців тому +1

    Your name is everything!!! If 4,000 people saw this, then they have probably lost 40,000 potential customers. Pennywise and Pound Foolish

  • @Leviwilner1
    @Leviwilner1 3 місяці тому

    Thanks this is helpful

  • @kayolifted1614
    @kayolifted1614 11 місяців тому

    Do you know of another company that you do like that’s better but similar ?

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  11 місяців тому

      Hmm, not really. The problem here is that if anyone were to do it better they'd have to charge a LOT more to get better talent. And at that point I'd just hire a dedicated freelance designer myself. I think this business model is mostly for businesses that aren't picky about the quality of the designs.

  • @dononudo
    @dononudo 7 місяців тому

    Wes thank you for your video, I almost sent the CV to apply in this company! It's very sad for me because I feel very excited when one of the HR send me an email to apply in this company. 😮‍💨
    Lastly, I really like this motion graphic design, if you want a motion graphic designer to do it you can write me ;) ! I could send you a test demo of my work

  • @josephgiunta4430
    @josephgiunta4430 6 місяців тому

    All businesses want and need to make money, but when money is the primary goal, everyone suffers. It sounds as though design pickle is about making money - not about providing value for clients and designers alike. If they focused on service, they might find themselves much richer than they would now.

  • @Browchitect
    @Browchitect Рік тому +1

    Imagine how bad they performed that you didn’t feel bad at all to ask for refund!

  • @WesMcDowellInc
    @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому

    For all my best marketing tips and strategies, make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a thing ua-cam.com/channels/Mq1R1LgS04lIKdpLh_OS1w.html

  • @VirendraBG
    @VirendraBG Рік тому

    Can I hire you for UI and UX design only?
    I have Full Stack PHP, My SQL Developer with me.

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому

      Hey Virenda, unfortunately I don't do any full project work anymore - but thanks for checking out my videos 😃

  • @AmitBora206
    @AmitBora206 Рік тому

    Hey, your content is great. Do you create and edit your own videos. And are you looking for a video editor. As I am a professional video editor and wants to edit your videos. I can show my work. If i get a reply.

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому +1

      Sorry, not looking for any new editors at the moment.

  • @danilocervantes435
    @danilocervantes435 9 місяців тому +1

    I worked there for 3 years and boy it was such a disappointment. It all started good but it became so toxic. Designers don’t have opinion and our voice didn’t matter. At all. All they cared about was to please the client and I get it, it is important but even when clients where happy about your work, there was always a team of entitled quality reviewers that gave you sh*t about everything. They even controlled the number and the name of the layers you used in the files you delivered! And all that just for 7 dollars an hour? 👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  9 місяців тому +2

      sorry to hear that! But as a client I can confidently say they didnt even care too much about me either. They cared about HAVING me as a client, but not about what I needed.

  • @winstonsmith6204
    @winstonsmith6204 10 місяців тому

    They upsell their skill. I can't stand working people/companies that pull this crap

  • @ZafarKhanatlantisimc
    @ZafarKhanatlantisimc Рік тому +1

    Thanks for sharing honest review. Ask for full refund.

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому

      I did Zafar, I showed the whole thing in the video... they denied the request unfortunately.

  • @thevillagemethod
    @thevillagemethod Місяць тому

    Darn! I swear I looked for reviews and yours didn't come up until AFTER I paid and discovered they are complete trash. I feel so frustrated but can breathe after hearing your review. No refunds? So you didn't get anything in return? Did you complain to the BBB or any other sites?

    • @thevillagemethod
      @thevillagemethod Місяць тому

      Luckily though...my bank was able to put a stop payment on this and dispute the charge. They've also changed my card number.

    • @liarizzolli
      @liarizzolli Місяць тому +1

      Hello @thevillagemethod. If you're still looking for a design solution, reach out to Deer Designer for a client fit call. We have many clients who have switched from Design Pickle to us and they are super happy!

  • @urban-pixel
    @urban-pixel 8 місяців тому

    😂😂😂 been there and the designs I received from them… oh god 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ its the worse design service provider! They will waste your time and money don’t even think about it.

  • @samjesani4070
    @samjesani4070 4 місяці тому

    They should have just refunded you the money. 😅

  • @General4474
    @General4474 Рік тому +2

    Maybe you might consider the possibility that you were being too picky. Like you’re a designer yourself so effectively your standards are going to be extremely high if not nearly unreasonable and unrealistic. Where as there service is likely geared towards the non designer who is okay with just something that’s within the ballpark. Also I’m a web designer and why would you ever hire a designer like this? There’s a million websites that have the images you need.

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  Рік тому +11

      So you think for $1600/mo I shouldn't care about what I get back? Your thinking would be fine if that's how they marketed themselves. But they don't say "designs for people who don't care how good they are," lol. They claim they're actually GOOD. And they aren't.

    • @General4474
      @General4474 Рік тому

      I guess everyone claims they’re good these days. Many if there actually making sales at 1600 per mon then we’re in the wrong business? That’s crazy.

    • @destinyschild5768
      @destinyschild5768 Рік тому +3

      Who pays for “ballpark” design lol especially for $1600/month. You’re probably from design pickle🙄

    • @giosasso
      @giosasso Рік тому

      No, he showed them what he was looking for. As he said, it was on them to acknowledge they were unable to match his expectations.
      $1600 /mth is not cheap. He paid for their top tier. And, their portfolio sets the expectation that their work is on par with a premium designer.
      Companies like these thrive because the average person or small company doesn't know anything about good design.
      Most people have low standards, so they can get away with sub-par design.
      The lesson learned:
      Don't try to fool a designer about good and bad design. A good designer would refuse the work if he knew he was unable to meet the client's expectations.
      Only a beginner believes they can do anything.

  • @stevegottenbass
    @stevegottenbass 8 місяців тому

    I thought they got your thumbnails pretty close to you're own design.
    Your animations are pretty unique and not like anything they would advertise on their site, so even higher experience designers would find it hard to nail your taste

    • @WesMcDowellInc
      @WesMcDowellInc  8 місяців тому

      Then the sales ppl should have clocked that