Free Graphic Design Proposal Template

Fully editable with custom branding and templated offering.

Free Graphic Design Proposal Template

Fully editable with custom branding and templated offering.

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First Name
Last Name
Acme LLC.
Client
First Name
Last Name
Corporation Corp.
First Name
Last Name
Acme LLC.
Client
First Name
Last Name
Corporation Corp.

Free Graphic Design Proposal Template

Fully editable with custom branding and templated offering.

Free Graphic Design Proposal Template

Fully editable with custom branding and templated offering.

Bonsai has helped create 1,023,928 documents and counting.

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business owners

Date: March 8th 2023


Between:

Coach:

First_name
Last_name
Acme LLC.
Client:

First_name
Last_name
Corporation Corp.

This Contract is between Client (the "Client") and Acme LLC, a California limited liability company (the "Coach").

The Contract is dated January 23, 2023.

1. WORK AND PAYMENT.

1.1 Project. The Client is hiring the Coach to develop a coaching relationship between the Client and Coach in order to cultivate the Client's personal, professional, or business goals and create a plan to achieve those goals through stimulating and creative interactions with the ultimate result of maximizing the Client's personal or professional potential.

1.2 Schedule. The Coach will begin work on February 1, 2023 and will continue until the work is completed. This Contract can be ended by either Client or Coach at any time, pursuant to the terms of Section 4, Term and Termination.

The Coach and Client will meet by video conference, 4 days per month for 2 hours.

1.3 Payment. The Client will pay the Coach an hourly rate of $150. Of this, the Client will pay the Coach $500.00 (USD) before work begins.

1.4 Expenses. The Client will reimburse the Coach's expenses. Expenses do not need to be pre-approved by the Client.

1.5 Invoices. The Coach will invoice the Client in accordance with the milestones in Section 1.3. The Client agrees to pay the amount owed within 15 days of receiving the invoice. Payment after that date will incur a late fee of 1.0% per month on the outstanding amount.

1.6 Support. The Coach will not be available by telephone, or email in between scheduled sessions.

2.DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

- A coaching relationship is a partnership between two or more individuals or entities, like a teacher-student or coach-athlete relationship. Both the Client and Coach must uphold their obligations for the relationship to be successful.

- The Coach agrees to maintain the ethics and standards of behavior established by the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

- The Client acknowledges and agrees that coaching is a comprehensive process that may explore different areas of the Client's life, including work, finances, health, and relationships.

- The Client is responsible for implementing the insights and techniques learned from the Coach.

3. REPRESENTATIONS.

3.1 Overview. This section contains important promises between the parties.

3.2 Authority To Sign. Each party promises to the other party that it has the authority to enter into this Contract and to perform all of its obligations under this Contract.

3.3 Coach Has Right To Give Client Work Product. The Coach promises that it owns the work product, that the Coach is able to give the work product to the Client, and that no other party will claim that it owns the work product. If the Coach uses employees or subcontractors, the Coach also promises that these employees and subcontractors have signed contracts with the Coach giving the Coach any rights that the employees or subcontractors have related to the Coach's background IP and work product.

3.4 Coach Will Comply With Laws. The Coach promises that the manner it does this job, its work product, and any background IP it uses comply with applicable U.S. and foreign laws and regulations.

3.5 Work Product Does Not Infringe. The Coach promises that its work product does not and will not infringe on someone else's intellectual property rights, that the Coach has the right to let the Client use the background IP, and that this Contract does not and will not violate any contract that the Coach has entered into or will enter into with someone else.

3.7 Client-Supplied Material Does Not Infringe. If the Client provides the Coach with material to incorporate into the work product, the Client promises that this material does not infringe on someone else's intellectual property rights.

4. TERM AND TERMINATION

This Contract is ongoing until it expires or the work is completed. Either party may end this Contract for any reason by sending an email or letter to the other party, informing the recipient that the sender is ending the Contract and that the Contract will end in 7 days. The Contract officially ends once that time has passed. The party that is ending the Contract must provide notice by taking the steps explained in Section 9.4. The Coach must immediately stop working as soon as it receives this notice unless the notice says otherwise.

If either party ends this Contract before the Contract automatically ends, the Client will pay the Contractor for the work done up until when the Contract ends. The following sections don't end even after the Contract ends: 3 (Representations); 6 (Confidential Information); 7 (Limitation of Liability); 8 (Indemnity); and 9 (General).

3. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR.

The Client is hiring the Coach as an independent contractor. The following statements accurately reflect their relationship:

- The Coach will use its own equipment, tools, and material to do the work.

- The Client will not control how the job is performed on a day-to-day basis. Rather, the Coach is responsible for determining when, where, and how it will carry out the work.

- The Client will not provide the Coach with any training.

- The Client and the Coach do not have a partnership or employer-employee relationship.

- The Coach cannot enter into contracts, make promises, or act on behalf of the Client.

- The Coach is not entitled to the Client's benefits (e.g., group insurance, retirement benefits, retirement plans, vacation days).

- The Coach is responsible for its own taxes.

- The Client will not withhold social security and Medicare taxes or make payments for disability insurance, unemployment insurance, or workers compensation for the Coach or any of the Coach's employees or subcontractors.

6. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.

6.1 Overview. This Contract imposes special restrictions on how the Client and the Coach must handle confidential information. These obligations are explained in this section.

6.2 The Client's Confidential Information. While working for the Client, the Coach may come across, or be given, Client information that is confidential. This is information like customer lists, business strategies, research & development notes, statistics about a website, and other information that is private. The Coach promises to treat this information as if it is the Coach's own confidential information. The Coach may use this information to do its job under this Contract, but not for anything else. For example, if the Client lets the Coach use a customer list to send out a newsletter, the Coach cannot use those email addresses for any other purpose. The one exception to this is if the Client gives the Coach written permission to use the information for another purpose, the Coach may use the information for that purpose, as well. When this Contract ends, the Coach must give back or destroy all confidential information, and confirm that it has done so. The Coach promises that it will not share confidential information with a third party, unless the Client gives the Coach written permission first. The Coach must continue to follow these obligations, even after the Contract ends. The Coach's responsibilities only stop if the Coach can show any of the following: (i) that the information was already public when the Coach came across it; (ii) the information became public after the Coach came across it, but not because of anything the Coach did or didn't do; (iii) the Coach already knew the information when the Coach came across it and the Coach didn't have any obligation to keep it secret; (iv) a third party provided the Coach with the information without requiring that the Coach keep it a secret; or (v) the Coach created the information on its own, without using anything belonging to the Client.

6.3 Third-Party Confidential Information. It's possible the Client and the Coach each have access to confidential information that belongs to third parties. The Client and the Coach each promise that it will not share with the other party confidential information that belongs to third parties, unless it is allowed to do so. If the Client or the Coach is allowed to share confidential information with the other party and does so, the sharing party promises to tell the other party in writing of any special restrictions regarding that information.

7. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

Neither party is liable for breach-of-contract damages that the breaching party could not reasonably have foreseen when it entered this Contract.

8. INDEMNITY.

8.1 Overview. This section transfers certain risks between the parties if a third party sues or goes after the Client or the Coach or both. For example, if the Client gets sued for something that the Coach did, then the Coach may promise to come to the Client's defense or to reimburse the Client for any losses.

8.2 Client Indemnity. In this Contract, the Coach agrees to indemnify the Client (and its affiliates and their directors, officers, employees, and agents) from and against all liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) related to a third-party claim or proceeding arising out of: (i) the work the Coach has done under this Contract; (ii) a breach by the Coach of its obligations under this Contract; or (iii) a breach by the Coach of the promises it is making in Section 3 (Representations).

8.3 Coach Indemnity. In this Contract, the Client agrees to indemnify the Coach (and its affiliates and their directors, officers, employees, and agents) from and against liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) related to a third-party claim or proceeding arising out of a breach by the Client of its obligations under this Contract.

9. GENERAL.

9.1 Assignment​. This Contract applies only to the Client and the Coach. Neither the Client nor the Coach can assign its rights or delegate its obligations under this Contract to a third-party (other than by will or intestate), without first receiving the other's written permission.

9.2 Arbitration. As the exclusive means of initiating adversarial proceedings to resolve any dispute arising under this Contract, a party may demand that the dispute be resolved by arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its commercial arbitration rules.

9.3 Modification; Waiver. To change anything in this Contract, the Client and the Coach must agree to that change in writing and sign a document showing their contract. Neither party can waive its rights under this Contract or release the other party from its obligations under this Contract, unless the waiving party acknowledges it is doing so in writing and signs a document that says so.

9.4. Noticies.

(a) Over the course of this Contract, one party may need to send a notice to the other party. For the notice to be valid, it must be in writing and delivered in one of the following ways: personal delivery, email, or certified or registered mail (postage prepaid, return receipt requested). The notice must be delivered to the party's address listed at the end of this Contract or to another address that the party has provided in writing as an appropriate address to receive notice.

(b) The timing of when a notice is received can be very important. To avoid confusion, a valid notice is considered received as follows: (i) if delivered personally, it is considered received immediately; (ii) if delivered by email, it is considered received upon acknowledgement of receipt; (iii) if delivered by registered or certified mail (postage prepaid, return receipt requested), it is considered received upon receipt as indicated by the date on the signed receipt. If a party refuses to accept notice or if notice cannot be delivered because of a change in address for which no notice was given, then it is considered received when the notice is rejected or unable to be delivered. If the notice is received after 5:00pm on a business day at the location specified in the address for that party, or on a day that is not a business day, then the notice is considered received at 9:00am on the next business day.

9.5 Severability. This section deals with what happens if a portion of the Contract is found to be unenforceable. If that's the case, the unenforceable portion will be changed to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, unless that change is not permitted by law, in which case the portion will be disregarded. If any portion of the Contract is changed or disregarded because it is unenforceable, the rest of the Contract is still enforceable.

9.6 Signatures. The Client and the Coach must sign this document using Bonsai's e-signing system. These electronic signatures count as originals for all purposes.

9.7 Governing Law. The validity, interpretation, construction and performance of this document shall be governed by the laws of the United States of America.

9.8 Entire Contract. This Contract represents the parties' final and complete understanding of this job and the subject matter discussed in this Contract. This Contract supersedes all other contracts (both written and oral) between the parties.

THE PARTIES HERETO AGREE TO THE FOREGOING AS EVIDENCED BY THEIR SIGNATURES BELOW.

Coach

First_name
Last_name
Acme LLC.
Client

First_name
Last_name
Corporation Corp.
Table of contents
Graphic Design Proposal Template
Use this graphic design proposal now for free

What is a Graphic Design Proposal?

A graphic design proposal is a document drafted to persuade a prospective client to opt for a designer’s value propositions. The proposal document outlines the problem at hand, design solutions, and includes pricing and timeline

Simply put, a crisp and professional graphic design proposal helps a freelance designer or a design agency to get the client’s signature on the dotted line and land a graphic design contract template.

Prepping a proposal can be overwhelming, but it’s a whole lot easier when you know what to include.

What to Include in the Graphic Design Proposal

Including the right sections makes your proposal stand out and portrays the value for money of your services. Here are a couple of important pointers on what to include in your design proposal:

Cover page

This is the first page of your proposal. It’s also your first chance to explain how your skills and experience perfectly align for a design job. A cover page should create curiosity and compel a client to dive deeper into the rest of the proposal.

this picture shows Bonsai's graphic design proposal template  with annotations regarding winning over the client and expressing your worth in the opening pages of your proposal
Source

Executive summary

An executive summary, as the name suggests, sums up what’s in a proposal. Think of this summary as a more condensed yet clean and concise version of the proposal. A good executive summary tells clients about important points that they’ll find in the proposal document.

Company overview

This is where you provide the client with brief background information about yourself or your company. Graphic designers should use this section to inform clients about:

  • Services: that you offer
  • Strengths: that make you the perfect fit for the job
  • Track record: of working with other notable clients
  • Target market: that you serve or plan to extend to

Team members

If you work with a team of graphic designers, this is the place to showcase their skills. If you’re a one-person graphic design firm, that’s great too. The length of this section depends on the number of team members. Here’s an idea of what to include:

  • Name and photo: so that the client knows who’s who
  • Team roles: to let clients know about who they’ll be working with at which stage
  • Biography: add some information about the team members i.e. education, experience, and interests

Portfolio

A graphic design portfolio is a must-have for showcasing your previous work to potential clients. It shows your ability to walk the walk and talk the talk. Here’s what you can include:

  • Previous works: completed for clients in similar industries
  • Diverse projects: to show your ability to handle varied deliverables
  • Awards: that speak volumes about your design capabilities
  • Testimonials: from past clients for building trust and credibility

Design process

A methodical design process is key for efficiency and transparency. Creating this process beforehand helps both you and your client to be on the same page about what to expect next. 

This process also shows your ability to break down a project into manageable elements. Here’s an idea of what to include:

  • Client discovery: for learning the design requirements of a client
  • Industry discovery: for understanding what competitors are doing
  • Application discovery: to frame the solution 
  • Sketching: to explore and explain potential design concepts
  • Design drafts: for creating and visualizing mock-ups
  • Refinement: for refining a design to fruition
  • Further developments: for adding finishing touches to the design
  • Delivery: to hand over the final design product to the client

It’s a good idea to add a project timeline and milestone completion dates for each of these stages. That’ll help a client to gauge the time it’ll take to complete a project.

this image shows Bonsai's graphic design proposal template timeline section, where annotations highlight the importance of including details on the project's timeline
Source

Fees and finances

This section outlines the proposed fees for completing the project. Based on a client’s needs, you can either add a category-wise pricing chart or service-based fees. Don’t forget to mention the number of iterations you’ll provide for each category or service.

Pricing and terms

This is the last section of your designer proposal. It generally includes key pointers like:

  • Billing schedule: for mentioning the fee schedule and preferred mode of payment.
  • Terms: for making changes to the proposal
  • Acceptance: so that both parties can begin to take the steps to enter into a contractual agreement

If you and your client agree to work on an ongoing basis in the proposal, you can try our graphic designer retainer contract template.

How to Write a Graphic Design Proposal

Winning graphic design proposals have persuasive writing at their core. What you include in it determines whether you’ll hit a home run or not. Since you already know what goes into a graphic design proposal, let’s take a look at how to put these pointers together:

Find out exactly what the client wants

Clients want to be sure of a number of things before contracting your services. They want to ensure that you: 

  1. Have some knowledge about their industry 
  2. Understand their design problems
  3. Possess specialized skills to solve the challenges

Understanding what they really want is key to landing graphic design projects. That’s why it’s super important to talk to a client as much as possible and research. 

If a client is hiring you for graphic design tasks—such as brand collaterals or logo design—it’s best to start by understanding: 

  • Persona: so that you can learn more about the company’s target audience
  • Design references: for learning the design styles and templates that the client prefers
  • Purpose: of creating these brand collaterals
  • Business goals: that are connected to this design initiative
  • Marketing channels: that the collaterals will be promoted on
  • Brand perception: for understanding how customers should perceive these collaterals
  • Values and mission: that brand collaterals should reflect
  • Competitors: so that you know how they are creating similar designs
  • Likes and dislikes: of the client so that you can include or avoid them

Highlight what sets you apart 

You’ve done the difficult bit. Now it’s time to show intangible skills that make you stand out. This part is important because your client is looking at other graphic designers' work too. Portray your can-do attitude, enthusiasm, commitment, and skills so that a client knows—you’re the one!

Include a CTA

Now that you have put so much work into creating the proposal, you should let the customers know what to do next. This is where a call to action comes in. It can be as simple as a list of next steps to follow or even a calendar link for booking some time to chat. 

Creating a Graphic Design Proposal Template is Simple with Bonsai 

If you’re ready to pitch to prospective clients but find it increasingly difficult to create a design proposal, Bonsai is here to help. You can easily customize the design project proposal template available on Bonsai and even manage the entire contract lifecycle. Here’s how to get started: 

  1. Sign up for free to Bonsai
  2. Find your desired design proposal template
  3. Edit and customize your proposal 

You can also use Bonsai to send the proposal to the client for acceptance, and get it signed without ever leaving the platform. 

Graphic Design Proposal FAQs

What information goes into a graphic design proposal?

Here are the key aspects that make a proposal persuasive and convincing:

1. Cover page

2. Executive summary

3. Company overview

4. Team members

5. Design portfolio

6. Design process

7. Fees and finances

8. Pricing and terms

A graphic design project proposal is a graphic designer’s chance to woo the customer, so make sure yours stands out.

How long should a design proposal be?

Any word count is fine as long as the proposal piques the client’s interest and persuades them to have a conversation with you. That’s why it’s necessary to give them sufficient detail while keeping it engaging.

Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about this template.

What goes into a design proposal?

A design proposal should have an introduction, objective or problem, process or deliverables, process, cost and call-to-action. Try Bonsai's proposal templates for designs to send offers to potential clients.

What is the structure of a proposal?

The structure of a design proposal typically is: abstract, problem or statement of need, project activity, evaluation, deliverables, price.

Is there a proposal template on Word?

There is a proposal template on Word. However, the easier alternative is with Bonsai. Bonsai's proposal templates are easily customizable and downloadable. Just edit the template and send it off.