Whether you’re opening a new salon or spa or giving your existing business a brand makeover, connecting with clients and prospects through design is key. And, it’s not just through hair design. The first design that touches your clients is your brand through your signage, menu, business cards, and your website. Your brand is a reflection of everything your salon or spa stands for—and it’s critical that it is professional, high quality and attractive.

Connecting with a graphic designer who can transform your vision into a brand can be challenging, and more and more salon and spa owners are turning to online marketplaces, such as 99designs, for affordable, high-caliber logos and other design work. 99alon owners are increasingly turning to online graphic design marketplaces like 99designs for affordable, high-caliber logos and other design work. 99designs’ crowdsourced contest model is fun, fast and highly interactive. Here’s how it works:

A customer chooses a price package, starting at $299 for a logo, and completes a design brief explaining what they’re looking for in the design. Then, the salon owner watches as designers from all over the world submit dozens (if not hundreds) of designs. Over the course of a week, the customer review the designs, gives feedback and ultimately select their favorite, which can be the toughest part of the process.

The following salon owners shared their experiences about the crowdsourcing design process:

“We did not start with an idea for our new logo in mind, but wanted to see what other artists could come up with based on our previous logos and the image we wanted to portray—stylish, yet affordable hair services. The winning entry stood out from the very beginning. It was exactly what we needed and said exactly what our company stands for - it was stylish, classy and new. Without any prompting, every member of our selection committee immediately picked out this designer's entry as the best. Once the logo was finalized and the winner awarded, we realized that it was too good to just leak out throughout our company. We completely rethought our annual Company Meeting in March and turned it into a "release party" for our new logo and image. We have had great response from all our staff members and clients about how much they love our new logo. We can't wait to release our new photo collection of hairstyles with our new logo attached.”-- Carl Fairman with Visible Changes, with 16 locations in Texas

See Visible Changes' Design Competition

“In preparation to open my new salon, I gave a great deal of thought to our marketing and branding. After inquiring at local graphic design businesses, I felt like it was difficult to get a high quality product on a start-up budget. I found 99designs online and realized it is exactly what I had been looking for. I would be able to choose my budget, rate the work, and decide in the end if any of the designs worked for me or not! They guarantee that you will be satisfied or your money back, which you can’t get from a local company. So, I put my money down and am a very satisfied client. The designers are very gracious and eager to work with me so they could help me realize my vision.  I was able to poll my friends through social media for feedback on the designs, and in the end picked the design that really spoke to me. I had an idea for how I wanted my salon to be branded as very clean, modern, light, airy and organic – I just didn't know quite what that looked like! This design process has given me a foundation on which I will base all my marketing and branding for the whole company.  A congruent message is key in advertising; so you have to really stand behind your image and make sure it speaks to your consumer in the ways that you intend.”—Maureen Fox-Meyer of The Change Hair Salon in Sartell, Minnesota

See The Change Hair Salon's Design Competition

“Instead of having just one vision or idea of a single person, 99designs gave me the opportunity of having many different designs to choose from—created by many designers competing to design the best logo for me. How exciting it was to see all the logos that could possibly be "the one" to represent my future success in the salon industry!” --Chan Martin, Chandelier Beauty Lounge in Santa Rosa, California

See Chandelier Beauty Lounge's Design Competition