Free design proposal templates

Design proposals are documents that present a proposed solution for a design project. Sending a professional design proposal is a pivotal tool during the sales process as a design firm. This is because visual presentation and creativity is your small design business’ key service offering. 

Your design proposals need to be beautifully presented but also clearly outline all the details of a design project. A proposal for design projects includes a project overview, proposed solution to clients’ needs, design project timelines, estimated pricing and the recommended design approach. Design proposals also contain visual elements like mood boards, color schemes, sketches, mockups and branding guidelines to showcase your proposed vision and style.

Freelancers and creative professionals use design proposals to communicate their vision for a design project during the sales process. Design proposals are an important tool for designers to win new work from clients for the following reasons:

1. Set expectations around design project scope – Design proposals help define design project scope, deliverables, estimated timeline, and pricing. As design jobs are so subjective in nature, clearly outlining expectations helps reduce any misunderstandings with your client. 
2. Showcase your design expertise visually – Design proposals gives you the opportunity to highlight your experience, style, past design work and to propose unique takes on a design project. 
3. Improves communication – Sending a proposal for design work provides a reference point for discussions with your client and helps clients in their decision-making process.
4. Serve as a contract – A design proposal can form the basis of a contract once accepted by the client. Use Bookipi’s design proposal generator software to securely store your history of design proposals including whether a client accepts or not, in one spot.

As a designer you’d want to focus on delivering beautiful design work rather than sales administration. Cut out the boring stuff and save time with Bookipi’s combined proposal maker and invoicing software. Make professional design proposals, bill clients and get paid for your hard work from the one solution that’s ideal for time-poor creative agencies and freelancers.
Master making professional and concise design proposals by following our steps below:

1. Understand your clients’ needs and style preferences – Get a thorough understanding of your prospective clients’ tastes. It’s helpful to get a client brief, have in-depth discussions and ask for examples of their design preferences.
2. Define the scope of your design services – Detail all design tasks that you offer, define what isn’t covered and specify the level and number of revisions that are included.
3. Make a professional design proposal using your hard work researching and planning in the previous steps. Outline your solution by customizing our free design proposal templates. Better still, try Bookipi’s design proposal software with Canva integration, for free. Generate and change designer proposals in no time. Access your history of design proposals from anywhere. Get paid by clients online when you accept deposit amounts to indicate that your design project can move forward.

Design proposals should be tailored to the specific client and design project. A strong design proposal should have the following sections:

1. Design proposal introduction – Sell your design expertise in a persuasive introduction. As design work is driven by personal taste, it’s important to highlight your design experience, skills and proof of client satisfaction like testimonials, any design awards and repeat business.
2. Scope of the design project – Clearly define design project deliverables like logo design, social media design assets, website layout, and more. Specify the number of revisions included in the design project scope.
3. Design process – State all the steps required including client briefing, research, conceptualization, design, revision, and design finalization phases. This keeps your design small business and clients stay on the same page as to timing expectations.
4. Pricing breakdown – List your design fees, estimated design work hours and what your design services cover like revisions. It could be helpful to include different pricing packages and extra fees like urgent revision work.
5. Design portfolio – Provide examples of past projects and any client testimonials. This helps prospective clients get a sense of your creative agency’s design style and work quality.
6. Terms and conditions – Highlight the terms of service, payment terms, ownership rights of any design work, and any legalities. Including terms and conditions protects your small design business and the client.
7. Call to action – Encourage your prospective client to reach out with questions and provide next steps like accepting the design proposal to move forward with the design project.

Try Bookipi’s design proposal software for free to make and edit professional design proposals efficiently from anywhere.

Have confidence that your design proposals are complete so that you’re in the best position to win new creative jobs.