VANCOUVER—Andrea Shillington is putting the power of branding within the reach of startup businesses who don't have a big budget.

Shillington, with more than eight years' experience working at branding agencies in the Middle East, Europe and North America, is putting that knowledge to use with her own startup, Brands for the people.


The online business matches freelance designers with startup companies. Clients can choose to work with junior, intermediate or senior designers; they submit a brief and the system will suggest several good matches based on their entry criteria. The client can then select up to five designers to work with and the designers have the option to pursue or opt out. The client picks their match through the designers' pitches and the branding work begins. No sign-up fees are charged for either designers or the startup companies, but designers must apply and submit a portfolio to be accepted on Shillington's roster.


"Rather than a bidding process typical to crowdsourcing, we actually have flat rates," said Shillington. Junior designers are rated at $780; intermediates at $2,000, and seniors at $3,000. Brands for the people takes 20% of that fee. "Designers also told us that they have a difficult time getting clear briefs from clients," she added, noting that Brands for the People offers a $170 brand strategist consultation to clients in order to hone their design brief and help the design process run more smoothly.

Also, free branding tools are available from the site to "help guide [company] leaders through creative exercises so they can develop their own brand briefs."


She added, "This business model is not highly profitable, because I'm really trying to make it affordable for startup businesses ... The bigger we get, the better our services will be for both our clients and our designers."

The site soft-launched in November [with an official launch on Jan. 24] to get a network of designers in place; she secured 26 designers from Canada, U.S., U.K. and Middle East so far. "We're being picky about who is accepted into the system, because what we're offering is really specific, we want brand identity designers and not those that focus on other things," she said, noting she's also reaching out to clients. "We do have our first customer in the system, which is exciting."

She also noted she is looking for clients that want to make a positive difference in the world. "Changing the world is an enormous task, one that demands personal commitment and vision," she noted.

For now she is running the matching agency by herself, but has assistance from a developer based in Australia and a handful of others. "The only full-time employee is me," she said.