In short
Everyone was buying icon packs that already existed. We started commissioning the ones that didn't. That gave 80+ freelance designers a steady income, and Flaticon a library nobody else had.
We offered designers whose style we liked a year of new work, with agreed styles and volumes. They made fresh packs every month, exclusive to Flaticon. Anything else they made was theirs to sell, anywhere.
I found the designers, negotiated with them and reviewed quality with the content team, while sales handled acquisition. Day to day, I managed the whole network of external icon contributors, worldwide.
The gap
The usual way to grow an icon library was to buy packs freelancers had already made and were selling everywhere. Fast, but every platform ended up with the same icons.
Why it worked
Both sides won. Designers knew what they would earn each month and could stop chasing the next sale. We got exclusive, consistent content and a pipeline we could plan around.
Result
icons in three years, up from around 88K: the biggest icon library on the market. A whole-platform effort, and this model was a big part of it.
What I learned
80+ designers in Thailand, the Netherlands, the US, Australia, Bangladesh and more, each with their own situation, contract needs and way of working.
Adapting to each of them, and keeping a good relationship at a distance, mattered more than anything.
In the end we built a real group: people who knew and respected each other, and could work together.
The Flaticon content and sales teams, and every designer in the network.