Over the last decade, the design industry has exponentially expanded its size and influence. New positions and titles have emerged and designers command a bigger presence inside of organizations than ever before. While Dribbble started as a platform for a tight-knit community of designers and illustrators to share what they were working on, we’ve evolved our mission as a company to empower designers around the world to build a successful career in design.
Part of the early DNA of Dribbble was our invite system. It quickly became an integral part of who we were and a badge of honor for designers to be invited into the community to share what they were working on. It fueled the mystique of the Debut Shot where designers would have their first chance to show the world their unique style.
However, this invite system was never meant to stick around forever.
Row 1: George Tincoca, Vinayak Malkari, Daphnie Loong. Row 2: Kosko , Sigit Setyo Nugroho for Suasana Studio, Nando Vivas. Row 3: Alicia Goodmanson, Fallout.
Over time, we realized that this core piece of who we were no longer served the greater design community. We were restricting tens of thousands of designers from showcasing their work every month resulting in too many designers being unable to find community, growth, and opportunities on Dribbble.
We’re excited to announce that today we’re evolving the invite system by allowing creatives from all walks of life to apply for a designer account. This doesn’t remove the invite system as designers will still have the ability to invite their friends and colleagues to the platform—but this allows us, as a design community, to build a bigger, more welcoming tent. Our hope is that this leads to a more inclusive and welcoming community.
How does it work?
Anyone now has the ability to apply for a designer account. You’ll find the link to apply in your account menu (hover over your avatar).
From there you’ll find the instructions to apply which include uploading your work into your account (the more the better), filling out your bio, and your work availability settings.
Once you complete these steps you can apply directly from the modal and our team will review your account within 24 hours (usually sooner!).
Once you’re approved, your work will be discoverable anywhere on Dribbble and you’ll be able to give feedback on designers’ work across the site.
So anyone can post their work on Dribbble?
Anyone has the ability to ask our team to review their account for approval. Once approved they will be able to upload publicly visible Shots and leave comments on work - just like our current Player accounts.
What happens to my invites?
You can still use them! Our invite page is still alive and kicking—so if you have a friend you’d like to invite you can still use the form and they will be automatically approved as a fully-featured account on Dribbble. ■
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