How to Write a Graphic Design Proposal

Graphic designers, often perceive these documents as unnecessary or even a waste of time. And that’s completely reasonable because as a graphic designer you can’t afford to spend three to four hours perfecting each proposal rather you’d spend that time on the actual design job.

Now, imagine having a graphic design proposal template by your side that can help you convert.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to create a graphic design proposal template that you can customize for individual clients in a matter of minutes.

Why should you use templates for your graphic design proposals?

Creating a proposal template is one of the best ways to make the proposal development process as simple and as quick as possible. You need certain elements in your proposal, whenever you present your graphic design services to potential clients such as the evaluation of the problems that you can fix with your design services, the list of goals for the project, a realistic timeline showing each phase of the project and the related cost.

There are many benefits of putting these elements in a graphic design proposal:

All the information stays in one place: You don’t have to browse through dozens of files to pull information about different elements of your designing process.

Offerings and pricing remain consistent: Your template will include a list of your services and pricing for each service. This means you don’t have to worry about creating a pricing plan for every job as the base prices will be already there in the template. You’ll only need to customize as per their service requirements.

You can move swiftly: Imagine your prospective client liked the elevator pitch you just shared and he wants you to send him the proposal along with all the details “immediately”. In such cases, you need to get your proposal in front of your potential client as quickly as possible so you don’t lose a business. So this is where the templates come in handy.

You can personalize the proposal in a matter of minutes: There will be some obvious places where each template can be personalized: the client’s contact information, the client’s pain points, their goals. A few tweaks in the template can make your proposal ideal for your potential clients.

Find out what is holding back your potential client

To avoid the misleading approach, always schedule a meeting or a call with the client DECISION MAKERS.

During this conversation, strive to understand all the challenges your prospects are facing and have their agreements on all the points you’ll discuss with them. So that you can later position your proposal to solve those issues by summarizing all those points in it.

10 Questions to Ask Before Starting a Graphic Design Project

In the world of graphic design, it can be a real challenge to deal with clients who don’t know what they want. If you find yourself struggling with getting the right answers, then it might be because you’ve been asking the wrong questions after all this time.

So what kind of questions do you ask for a graphic design?

Question 1: Why do you want this project?

While this may sound like a silly question but having the client clarify their reasons for wanting the project summarizes the task’s intent.

Question 2: What is the goal of this new project?

This will give you an idea about whether the company is looking for a completely new image or a fresh new look.

Question 3: Do you want to go with the existing brand color or you have any other color pallet in your mind?

Color plays a very important role in graphic design and especially while designing a company’s logo.

Question 4: What type of content will your website have?

When you type the content your client will have on the website you can structure your design accordingly.

Question 5: In 2–3 words, can you describe the feel you want from your site?

For example,

• Professional
• Bright and fun

This will encourage your clients to dive into some meaningful descriptions.

Question 6: Describe your target audience

When you know the type of people the client wants to reach you can structure your design around it.

Question 7: What are some examples of the site you like?

This is a “when everything fails’ ‘ question to ask because when clients struggle to answer the above question, with the help of this it’ll be easier for you to understand their expectations.

Question 8: When do you need this project ready?

In order to meet the client’s expectations, you’ll need to know the delivery time.

Question 9: What is your budget for the project?

Another big question to answer before you start creating your client’s proposal is pricing. During the meeting process, find out at least a rough range of the budget your client has for the graphic design project.

Question 10: Have you worked with a designer before? Tell us your experience

This will give you insights into how the client felt about the past work and what you’ll need to do to deliver quality work.

What Elements to Include in Your Graphic Design Proposal?

• Front cover
• Cover letter
• Scope of services
• Timeline
• Investment
• Proof of past work
• Terms of services
• Next steps

Final Advice

Remember to use this checklist before you send out your next graphic design proposal. I hope this guide helped you clear so many doubts about the graphic design proposal.

However, if you are still feeling it a bit challenging, then you can always use our customizable and free graphic design proposal template to create a winning proposal in a matter of minutes.