What they didn't tech you in a design school: Writing Freelance Proposals

As design students, many of you have likely ventured into or considered freelance work alongside your academic pursuits. Whether it's assisting a family member's startup, collaborating with a mutual client, or taking on contract projects, navigating freelance opportunities can be both exciting and challenging.

How do I begin? What should I charge? How do I manage it effectively?

Today, I want to introduce you to the concept and framework of writing design briefs and proposals to kickstart your first freelance project.

The purpose of a proposal is to provide your client with a clear understanding of the process ahead. It outlines the framework of your collaboration and sets expectations for deliverables. Clear, well-written proposals reflect professionalism and enhance client confidence.

During your learning journey, you may encounter setbacks and lose potential clients—don't be discouraged. Each experience is an opportunity to refine your approach.

Here a General Structure of Your First Proposal:

1. Cover Page: This states the project title, whom is it prepared for, who prepared the document & the date of preparation.

2. Contents: Present a list of what will be found within the document.

3. Our Understanding: This is where you'll explain what you have understood from the brief given by the client. This helps troubleshoot a lot of communication issues pre-hand. This stage might be re-iterated from the client's side depending on the changes.

4. Your Process: Try to make a viewer-friendly representation of the process you will be following explaining each step mentioned. This helps the client empathise with you as a designer and offer you with the right details at each step.

5. Schedule & Timelines: Set-up a structure of timeline according to your design process with the client and mention your working conditions sincerely. This helps the client visualise his personal timeline and goals.

6. Fees & Costs: Set-up a detailed costing table for your client's understanding and defining the payments to be done as per the project timeline. This stage is crucial so make sure it is given a green flag in official communications. I will be soon expanding on this specific section as to how you can charge depending on your briefs in my future blogs.

7. Terms & Other Conditions: Highlight in case you have any specific terms while working which needs to be known by the client.

8. Your Resume: Attach your updated resume in case the client wants to refer to.

9. Sign-off: Its a sheet of contractual agreement that what is contained within the proposal is agreed upon.

Practice incorporating these steps into your next project proposal to elevate your professionalism as well as individual level skills.

Keep Creating, Keep Learning! ??         

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