What is a Graphic Design Quote Template?
A graphic design quote is a document containing estimates of the total cost for a graphic design project. It tells your client approximately how much their design will cost with a breakdown of all design services you’re offering—making it easier for them to understand the final output.
Whether you work as a freelance designer or a full-time graphic designer, a design quotation is a must for your customer acquisition process. Pricing is a huge factor in a prospect's decision making process, and the final stage in securing a contract.
Graphic designers need to put necessary information about an upcoming project into a quote–it makes for a better client experience. This includes all the services within the project, charges for each service, software fees, and any other important information–like tax costs.
However, creating a new design quote for every client is a tedious task. As a graphic designer, you understand how useful templates can be when speeding through a project–just look at presets!
A graphic design quote template works in the same way–it saves you time and effort. A template gives you a basic layout for the quote, which you can customize to easily create a personalized quotation for every client.
Note: If you want a graphic design quote template that’s easy to edit and send, we’ve got one right here. It’s free to use and makes it a breeze.
What to Include in the Graphic Design Quote Template
Sales might not come naturally to graphic designers–unless there’s an Adobe Sales we don’t know about. Creating a graphic design quote is more than just a pretty design and a couple of price points–it’s about conveying professionalism and persuading clients to say yes.
That’s why you need to create a stellar quote template to pitch customized pricing for all graphic design projects to help close deals effortlessly. A great template uses all the right language and includes all the right sections–so you don’t miss a thing.
Here’s what you can expect to include in your quotation:
Overview
The first section of your graphic design quote template should introduce you, your client, and the project. You want to provide some details on the two parties involved, and a brief summary of the project.
Project requirements
Next up in your graphic design quote template is the project scope. Before jumping to the costs involved in the project, you have to first outline the services your client needs.
This essential part of your quote requires a discussion with your client before drafting the quotation to fully understand their requirements. Whether they want to completely rebrand their company or just change the logo, you need to include everything in your design quote–if you want to be paid for it, that is.
Here’s a list of helpful questions you can ask your clients before creating the quotation:
- What services are you interested in?
- Do you have any examples that you’d like me to consider?
- What goals do you want to accomplish through this design?
- Do you prefer designs created in any particular tools, like Adobe Illustrator or Figma?
- What is your budget for the entire service? (especially important for the quote)
Once you know what graphic design services the project will include, you can outline your process and determine the prices accordingly.
For instance, if a client wants a logo design with website revamps, you can quote your fees for these two services. On the other hand, if a client requests a company brochure and logo design along with brand merchandise design, the charges will differ significantly because of the difference in the final output.
Remember, a quote isn’t the same as an estimate or a proposal–you want to provide a more accurate pricing plan in the quote. In certain circumstances, you could be held to the pricing option stated in the quote if that ends up being your agreement document.
Try to get a clear idea of what your clients want to achieve and align your graphic design quotation with their goals.
Design hours needed
Once you know the scope, it’s easier to break down your services, set realistic hours for each service, and estimate the right price.
Graphic designers prefer to quote and charge in terms of hours required for a design rather than per design price–with research finding that freelance graphic designers earn between $20 and $150 an hour, depending on experience.
Take into account the multiple rounds of edits you may need to endure which will make it hard to estimate a final precise fee.
Creating a brochure might take five hours while producing marketing materials, or building a website can take tens of hours. So, consider the time and effort you’ll invest into a graphic design project and how long you expect it to take.
A great way to do this guesswork without risking a lower quote is to break down the process into multiple stages.
When designing a website, for example, you can set milestones like:
- Mockup creation
- First 5 pages
- Next 5 pages
- Complete website
- First round of edits
- Second round of edits
- Final touches
You should also consider adding extra hours for communication and project management–Bonsai’s time tracking tool comes in handy here. You want to be clear about how you measure design hours, and be ready to provide timesheets if called on by the client. Google docs isn’t the place to be keeping track of hours–invest in something a little more professional, and made for exactly what you need. Ahem, you’re looking at it.
Payment terms
The payment terms section is where things really take off. This is where you tell your clients the quoted price for your graphic design services.
The previous two sections of your graphic design quote will give you a fair idea of what services you’re providing and how much you should be charging. You want to make sure you’re happy with the final quotation–there’s nothing worse than reaching the end of a project and not feeling appreciated. Your payment is a big factor in this.
However, if you’re a budding graphic designer you may want to consider adapting your pricing to the clients budget–especially if they’re a client you’d love to work with. It’s not all about the fees–take it case by case.
If you decide to consider this, have a budget-related discussion with your clients before finalizing the total price for their requirements. Regardless, it’ll help provide an idea of what you can work on together.
Once you have defined the final amount, outline the payment milestones for your design quotation–this way, you increase the likelihood of receiving payment on time.
Also specify any payment terms and conditions in this section. Whether that’s a 50% advance payment or a penalty for late payment, include all the necessary information here.
Timelines
A design quote is incomplete without a time frame for project completion. It’s tough to accurately predict, but you can definitely give an estimate.
To draft this section, you want to first understand your client’s expectations in terms of timelines. Then, aim to set realistic deadlines for every deliverable.
It’s tempting to be overly optimistic with timelines–don’t be. Delays can come up at any point, and are mostly out of your control. Look at the finer details of your client’s requirements before spelling out the timelines for them.
How to Write a Graphic Design Quote Template
Writing a design quotation is challenging, especially when you don’t enjoy this part of your business. Now that you know what sections to include in your graphic design quote, let’s look at some key points to remember for creating the best quality quote templates for your business.
Identify what your expertise is worth
Undercutting competitors on price works in the short-run, but in the long-run it ends up leading to burnout and disappointment. An established graphic designer knows how important it is to be paid what you're worth. If that’s more than your competitors, you know it’s because you provide higher quality work.
Bonsai Top Tip: Unsure what to charge your clients? Explore rates from 500k+ freelancers worldwide, with Bonsai’s freelance rates explorer. Figure out if you’re over, under or perfectly charging for your services going on experience, location and skillset.
Instead of charging clients way less than what you’re worth, communicate your value and what they’re getting for the premium price.
Your design quotation and proposal should essentially reflect the quality and ideas you bring to the table. Clients are paying for your experience and expertise, not just your time.
Set the right expectations
Another important thing to remember when creating professional templates for design quotations is to ensure transparency between you and your clients from the offset. Leave no room for confusion in your quote by including these crucial details:
- Versions: clarify how many versions or variants you’ll provide for a design
- Revisions: specify the number of edits you’re willing to offer for free, and the charges for revisions if the editing rounds go beyond the predetermined count
- Ownership: some designers prefer to keep the source files with them–you should clarify if you’ll hand over the source files to your client
- Refunds: explain your terms for issuing a refund and why you will not provide a refund once the deal is closed
- Non-payment: mention the penalties if your client fails to process payments within the given timeframe
Your graphic design quote is the final step before you seal the deal and set up a contract. Make sure you cover all the important details to avoid any misunderstanding in the future.
Don’t leave room for negotiation
Many people tend to negotiate their way into lowering the fees for your graphic design services—even if you’ve pitched the lowest possible charges. The only way to tackle such clients is to create a bulletproof design quotation that leaves no room for your clients to negotiate.
One way to ensure this is by quoting prices that fall within your client’s budget expectations. If you’re unable to work within the client’s budget, there’s little point drafting a quotation. It’s a waste of both parties’ time.
You can also avoid negotiation by providing an itemized breakdown of fees–this highlights exactly what the client is paying for and how you’re creating value. That way, any attempts at negotiation can be easily questioned and refused.
Choose your payment structure wisely
Designers can charge hourly rates or per project costs. While there’s no harm in going for either pricing plan in your quote templates, it’s best to do the legwork and identify which plan suits you best.
Hourly rates are ideal for a graphic designer working freelance–which is a whopping 90% of graphic designers. A newbie designer can also pitch an hourly price since they lack a decent sample portfolio to accurately price projects.
However, for bigger projects, like designing an app interface or creating branding materials, an hourly price plan might prove ineffective. You have to consider the impact you’re creating for your client and not just the design.
Creating a Graphic Design Quote Template is Simple with Bonsai
Many designers struggle with quoting the right price for their expertise—you’re not alone. When it comes to creating a whole document that talks about pricing, it’s natural to feel intimidated. That’s where Bonsai steps in.
With its extensively crafted templates for graphic design quotations, Bonsai can make life easy for a graphic designer like you. All you need to do is:
- Sign up for free to Bonsai
- Pick a quote template that meets your preferences
- Easily modify it to match both the designer and client expectations
Choose and customize any quote template and impress your client with a professional looking quotation. Join the thousands of freelancers and SMBs using Bonsai to find templates for any and every business need.
Graphic Design Quote Template FAQs
What should a graphic design quotation include?
A graphic design quote should include:
- Overview
- Project requirements
- Design hours needed
- Payment terms
- Timelines
Set the right tone for your client relationship and close deals confidently with graphic design quotation templates.
How do you write a freelance quote?
If you’re working as a freelance designer, you can create a flawless design quotation by following these tips:
- Identify what your expertise is worth
- Set the right expectations
- Don’t leave room for negotiation
- Choose your payment structure wisely
Create a template for this quote and you can customize it for any new prospect.
