Penji

Launched in late 2017, Penji is one of the newer, reliable monthly subscription graphic design companies to enter the space.

Their headquarters is in Camden, NJ. They hire staff in the Philippines as well as keeping some of their workforce close to home by hiring students from their local community.

About Penji

The company was started by former agency owners who created a tool for themselves to use internally. Seeing the potential for a SAAS business they started Penji.

Penji says they are a community conscious company that focuses on three things:

1. Delivering a 5-star customer experience and creating the best DAAS (design as a service) on the planet.
2. Helping the local community by hiring residents and students from Camden, NJ.
3. Offering their service to all non-profits in Camden, NJ for just $1.

Three admirable company goals that separate them from their competitors, and a pretty smart marketing tactic for a company so new to the graphic design space.

When they started, they hired five students from the area. Today, they have over a hundred graphic designers and other staff from across the globe—the West Coast, Philadelphia, Europe, Central America, and Asia.

Their graphic designers undertake any graphic design work, and they list their areas of specialization as logo design, marketing materials, digital advertisements, web design, and app prototype designs.

They list their target customers as marketing teams, agencies, and startups that need help with their design creation.

This kind of subscription service provides value to any one persons or businesses looking for a cost-effective solution to ongoing graphic design needs.

Services

Penji’s graphic designers will take on any design tasks that can be completed remotely.

This typically includes:

• Branding projects
• Website logos and blog headers
• T-shirt designs
• Flyers and banners
• App designs
• Digital and print ads
• Social media graphics
• Books, eBooks, magazine covers and layouts

Their service is sold on a subscription basis. You pay a flat monthly fee, and in return you can submit unlimited jobs and revisions 1 or 2 at a time depending on the package.

Like all “unlimited” service packages there is a time restriction on the number of designs you can order. You can only have 1 or 2 jobs in the queue at any time as explained in the plans and pricing below.

Plans and Pricing – Penji

Penji has 3 different pricing plans:

1. Pro – $399 per month – 1 dedicated designer and Up to 2 users.
2. Team – $499 per month – 1 dedicated designer and Up to 5 users.
3. Agency – $899 per month – 2 dedicated designers and Up to 10 users.

Virtual Assistant Assistant Exclusive: Save 15% off your first month with code VIRTUAL15!

All plans include:

• Unlimited design requests
• Unlimited revisions
• Unlimited stock photography
• Website and app design
• Dedicated design teams
• 15-day money back guarantee
• No contracts and the ability to cancel at any time

The “unlimited” design requests are of course restricted to the number of designs their team can complete in a month.

They say their typical turnaround time is 24-48 hours to give you an idea of how many designs you can get for your subscription.

The 15-day money back guarantee and ability to cancel at any time gives you a nice peace of mind to try the service without making a huge commitment.

Who is Penji for?

As mentioned earlier, Penji primarily caters to agencies, marketers, and startups. Here’s how Penji helps their clients with their unlimited graphic design and revisions:

Agencies

Agencies benefit from Penji’s services by delegating to them their medial tasks such as landing pages or banner ads. This keeps them focused on creating strategies and takes the smaller jobs off their shoulders. 

Marketing Companies

Marketers can get a steady supply of graphic design without having to hire additional staff. In times that these businesses get a heavy flow of work, they can get Penji’s services instead. Penji does the recruiting and vetting process so their clients won’t have to. 

When the workload lightens, they won’t have to worry about trimming down their workforce. They can opt out of their subscription any time they no longer need Penji’s services.

Startups

Graphic design is crucial for startups. They have to create their branding and other visuals right the first time. This will help them stand out while having a great design foundation. Most startups have limited budgets, and Penji can help them get designs in a cost-effective way. 

Bloggers

Bloggers and other individuals who need graphic design can use Penji’s services. They won’t have to use stock photos or graphics that can look the same as everyone else’s. They won’t have to worry about expensive designs as they can request them from Penji at their flat monthly rates.

Who Penji Isn’t For

Penji is suitable for companies or individuals that need at least 8 to 10 hours of design work. Otherwise, their service may not be for you. To make the subscription worth your money, you have to have a constant need for designs.

In addition, Penji has no phone support when communicating with their designers. You have to write a brief description of your design requests and these requests are made on their platform. It is also where you’ll be sending your messages to their designers.

Penji Alternatives

Flocksy and Design Pickle are two US-based graphic design companies that also operate on the monthly subscription model and have very similar pricing plans.

If you don’t anticipate having enough ongoing work to get value from a monthly plan I recommend checking out Upwork or Fiverr for one-off tasks.

Your Turn

Have you had some graphics designs from Penji? If so, please leave a short review below to help others with their decision.