11 Digital Product Designer Success Stories [2024]
A digital product designer is a multidisciplinary professional who is involved in the creation of digital products. A digital product designer is responsible for the whole process from an initial concept to the launch of a product.
Many designers are looking for how to make a living with their designs. They want to build websites, sell products online, and be as productive as possible. It's hard these days because there are more designers than ever working on the same projects. But with some basic actionable techniques, you will easily succeed in creating a sustainable digital product design business.
Starting a digital product designer business is a great side hustle for graphic designers looking for an alternative to freelancing. The idea is simple: grow a portfolio of user interface design PSD templates and sell them to new businesses.
In this list, you'll find real-world digital product designer success stories and very profitable examples of starting a digital product designer that makes money.
1. Wolfpack Digital ($3.6M/year)
Gina, the founder of Wolfpack Digital, came up with the idea for her app development agency after realizing the lack of soft skills and business strategy in the tech ecosystem in Romania. With a diverse background in engineering, psychology, and business, Gina was able to bring together her interests and tap into the impressive tech talent pool in her hometown of Cluj. Since launching in 2015, Wolfpack Digital has experienced impressive growth, reaching a yearly revenue of over $1.5 million.
How much money it makes: $3.6M/year
How many people on the team: 88
Wolfpack Digital, an award-winning app development agency from Romania, founded by Gina Lupu, with a team of 50 in-house employees, has exceeded the $1.5M yearly revenue threshold, with an impressive 15-20% profit margin, focusing on fintech, health tech, IoT, social, and transportation industries.
2. Huemor ($3M/year)
Example: Jeff, the co-founder of Huemor, started his journey as a graphic design student who freelanced to gain experience and earn money. After feeling unfulfilled in a corporate job, Jeff joined forces with a friend to build an internal agency for a media placement company. When the work environment turned toxic, they made a bold move to start their own agency, Huemor, and haven't looked back since. They've helped over 200 companies transform their digital presence and earned over 100 international awards, while maintaining a simple, customer-focused approach.
How much money it makes: $3M/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 44
Huemor is a successful digital marketing agency with over 200 company transformations, over 100 international awards, and a team beyond 40 people, scaling YoY at 74%, with an average project value of $67,500 and 2.7 year average client relationship.
3. UX studio ($2.03M/year)
Budapest-based UX studio was founded by Dávid Pásztor, a computer engineering and information technology graduate, who started his journey by selling his lego collection to buy his first computer and creating his first website. After working as a part-time UX designer, Dávid took the leap and turned his contracting work into a full-fledged UX design agency, offering services to clients worldwide. With a focus on marketing and attracting international clients, UX studio has grown to become a top design agency, recognized by industry-leading platforms such as Clutch and Zeplin.
How much money it makes: $2.03M/year
How much did it cost to start: $1K
How many people on the team: 41
UX Studio, a user experience design agency based in Budapest, Hungary, founded by Dávid Pásztor, has grown to generate almost $2 million USD in revenue per year with a profit rate of 20.5%, while supporting dozens of clients across various industries and running two successful independent product teams.
4. Krit ($1.09M/year)
Andrew, the founder of Krit, initially had no intention of starting a software agency. However, after taking an intro to Computer Science class in college, he became hooked on programming and the startup world. Through various pivots and a failed product launch, Andrew and his team eventually made the tough decision to shut down their product and transition into a full-time agency.
How much money it makes: $1.09M/year
How many people on the team: 7
A software agency started by a non-technical founder helps diverse clients with their minimum lovable product, boasting a revenue of over $700,000 this year with a 20% profit margin and a team of 8.
5. Ellen Yin Media LLC ($960K/year)
Ellen Yin, founder of Ellen Yin Media and creator of Cubicle to CEO, started her business after quitting her corporate marketing job. She initially took on small projects, but when a coworker became her first client, she realized she could monetize her skills into a service. She then made a pivot to focus on creating and scaling digital products, launching her first program with zero content and pre-selling it to beta students. To attract and retain customers, she leveraged partner campaigns, utilized a self-liquidating offer funnel, and gained media features. Today, the business has reached seven figures in lifetime revenue and is on track to make over one million dollars in annual revenue.
How much money it makes: $960K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 3
Founder Ellen Yin shares how she profitably bootstrapped growth from a $300 client project into 7 figures in lifetime revenue and how she launched a $10K/month online course using pre-selling to test and validate her offer.
6. Design Match ($384K/year)
Danielle, the founder of Design Match, came up with the idea while working as a product designer for startups around the world. As her workload grew, she started matching clients with designers in her network, and realized this could be a great business. She launched Design Match with a website and quickly generated $20,000 in MRR within the first month, validating her idea and spurring the company's growth.
How much money it makes: $384K/year
How much did it cost to start: $4K
How many people on the team: 3
Design Match, run by nomadic entrepreneur Danielle, has made $350k following its launch after receiving organic leads from LinkedIn and focusing on search engine optimization through evergreen articles and other tools like Jasper, SurferSEO, and SalesFlow.
7. Wave Connect ($300K/year)
After working in banking and transitioning to a sales role, George El-Hage noticed that sales teams wasted countless hours managing new contacts. Frustrated by the inefficiency, he built Wave Connect with just $5,000, a digital business card solution now generating $25K in monthly revenue.
How much money it makes: $300K/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
How many people on the team: 2
Discover how George El-Hage built Wave Connect, a sales and marketing tool that helps professionals exchange contact information and manage leads efficiently, resulting in monthly revenues of $25K per month and a customer base of 12,000, primarily acquired through organic LinkedIn outreach.
8. VecRas Creations Pvt. Ltd. ($144K/year)
Spotting a gap in the booming gadget skin market, graphic designer Sunil Aggarwal launched VecRas in 2007 to supply essential digital templates, transforming a $1,000 per month start into a $20,000-$30,000 revenue stream with a nationwide customer base.
How much money it makes: $144K/year
How much did it cost to start: $15K
How many people on the team: 10
Founder Sunil Aggarwal started VecRas in 2007, a digital design company that provides Vinyl Ready Vector cut file templates for skins and Smart PSD mockups for mobile devices, which initially did $1,000 per month and now expects $20,000 - $30,000 per month with customers growing nationwide.
9. Driftime® Media ($126K/year)
Abb-d Choudhury, co-founder of Curate Labs, came up with the idea for his business after falling out of love with his work at large agencies and wanting to create a practice focused on ethics and design for good. Starting with the launch of Curate Magazine, Choudhury and his partner Sara built the business from the ground up, using their own skills to design the brand and website, while also securing client work to sustain the business financially. They have since expanded their ventures to include The Annual Digest and Driftime®, with plans to merge all aspects of their business into one entity with multiple revenue streams.
How much money it makes: $126K/year
How many people on the team: 2
Curate Labs is a creative practice focused around ethical and sustainable design, with an annual publication that champions good business and a travel platform that advocates conscious travel, founded in 2016 by co-founders Abb-d Choudhury and Sara, bootstrapped, now turning into one business with 3 departments and aiming for 50-100% increase in revenue.
10. MeetAnders ($87.9K/year)
Marilyn Wo, co-founder of MeetAnders, came up with the idea for her productized graphic design company after realizing the limitations of her freelance business. She saw the potential in offering predefined design packages on a subscription model, providing unlimited graphic design for a fixed fee per month. Through trial and error, Marilyn and her team grew the business to a three-person team with $7,000 in monthly recurring revenue, attracting customers such as event directors, CMOs, and startup founders who needed ongoing design support.
How much money it makes: $87.9K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 3
MeetAnders is a productized graphic design company offering unlimited graphic designs for just one fixed-fee a month, with a three-man team and $7,000 in monthly recurring revenue, all started without any upfront capital.
11. By Recruiters ($42K/year)
Ana Colak-Fustin, founder of ByRecruiters, came up with the idea for her business after working as a corporate career coach and noticing that job seekers struggled with crafting effective resumes. She decided to create functional and minimal resume templates that would pass the screening of corporate recruiters and ATS software. Since launching in 2018, ByRecruiters has sold over 6,000 resume templates and brings in between $1,500 to $4,000 per month.
How much money it makes: $42K/year
How much did it cost to start: $5
How many people on the team: 1
Founded by a corporate career coach in 2018, ByRecruiters has sold over 6,000 digital resume templates in 50+ countries, generating $1,500 to $4,000 per month and boasting a 116.91% return on ad spend through Etsy.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
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