OtherVerified
Reviewed and published by trentmaziarz, May 11, 2026. Discovered and drafted by our automated research pipeline.
99designs by Vista announced findings from a 2024 survey of over 10,000 freelance designers across 135 countries examining attitudes toward and adoption of generative AI tools in the design industry. The survey is a research and communications activity, not a deployed AI system.
Details
The survey found that 52% of freelance designers on the platform were already using generative AI tools in 2024, up from 39% in 2023, and that 88% considered learning to use AI effectively a priority. The findings were published in October 2024 and coincided with an announcement that total designer earnings on the platform had surpassed $500 million USD. This activity represents 99designs' public positioning on AI rather than an internal AI deployment.
Products affected
99designs by Vista platform (research, not a product feature)
Sources & Evidence
Company Disclosure
Cite this record
Trace Foundation. (2026). 99designs: 99designs by Vista announced findings from a 2024 survey of over 10,000 freelance designers across 135 countries examining attitudes toward and adoption of generative AI tools in the design industry. The survey is a research and communications activity, not a deployed AI system (data as of 2026-05-11) [Data set record]. AI Trace. https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/28c9e1a5-25d9-4f58-8e3a-fc87eca36a1d. Accessed October 5, 2026.
- Stable link
- https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/28c9e1a5-25d9-4f58-8e3a-fc87eca36a1d
- Data as of
- May 11, 2026
- Last verified
- Not recorded
Other practices by 99designs
Creative Gen99designs offers clients the option to allow freelance designers to use third-party generative AI tools when submitting designs in eligible contest categories, with disclosure required from designers at submission. Clients choose whether to permit AI-assisted work when writing their contest brief, and generative AI is banned outright in certain categories such as logo, illustration, and button and icon design.Moderation99designs uses a built-in declaration mechanism in its contest submission workflow that requires designers to disclose whether they used generative AI tools, and the platform enforces a categorical ban on AI-generated content in logo, illustration, and button/icon design contests. This is a platform-level policy control rather than an automated AI detection system.
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