Upcoming Design Trends and The Future of the Gig Economy

Patrick Llewellyn is the CEO of 99designs, the world’s largest graphic design marketplace. Patrick joined the company in 2009 and the team has since grown to over 100+ staff members and has paid out more than $220 million to creators and creatives. In this episode of Thought Talk, Patrick talks about the freelance and gig economy, and where this booming global trend is headed in the upcoming years.

 

Creativity in its purest form is best represented when people are supporting each other. As the gig economy continues to grow, Patrick discusses some of the benefits a company like 99designs brings to communities all across the world and how designers and creatives are able to make a living on their own terms.

 

Tips on making the gig economy for you

 

A platform like 99Designs reaches communities far and wide and it has given people new opportunities that they otherwise wouldn’t have had in their small town. People with disabilities have also found a new purpose.

There’s been a surge in design requests from the wellness sector, plant-based alternative foods, and mushrooms!

Local businesses are taking opportunities to create merch (which means more need for creative designs!) to increase revenue in their business.

Personalized designs that incorporate the brand’s personality are on the rise. People want to see the “who” behind the brand.

 

About Karen Tiber Leland

 

Karen Tiber Leland is the founder of Sterling Marketing Group, a branding, marketing, and color strategy and implementation firm helping CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs develop stronger personal, business, and team brands. Her clients include Cisco, American Express, Marriott Hotels, Apple Computer, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

 

She is also the best-selling author of nine traditionally-published business books that have sold over 400,000 copies and been translated into 10 languages. Her most recent book is The Brand Mapping Strategy: Design, Build and Accelerate Your Brand. She regularly writes for Inc.com and Entrepreneur.com and has had articles published in Self, The Los Angeles Times, American Way, The Boston Globe, and many others.

 

Karen has spoken for Harvard, The AMA, Direct Marketing Association, and Stanford, among others. She has been interviewed on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, and Oprah.

 

Get in touch with Karen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook

 

About our guest

 

Patrick Llewellyn joined 99designs, the world’s largest graphic design marketplace, in 2009. He had previously spent a decade at Nextec Strategic Capital advising Australian technology and media companies with an expertise in growth and capital raising.

 

In 2010, Patrick moved to San Francisco to open the 99designs U.S. office and oversee U.S. and international expansion. He was officially appointed CEO in January 2011, and quickly guided 99designs to a $35 million first-round capital investment led by Accel Partners (Facebook, Dropbox, Etsy), followed by a $10 million Series B led by Recruit Holdings in 2015.

 

Llewellyn has since launched 99designs’ European headquarters in Berlin as well as localized-language sites across Europe and Latin America. He has grown the company from a handful of staff to 125 with offices in Oakland, Melbourne, and Berlin. As of October 2017, 99designs has hosted more than 650,000 graphic design contests and paid out more than $200 million to its community of freelance graphic designers around the world.

 

Resources

 

Karen’s book The Brand Mapping Strategy was just produced and released on Amazon’s Audible as an audiobook. You can now get an audio version of the book read in its entirety by Karen.

 

The Brand Mapping Strategy, Design, Build and Accelerate Your Brand