A design proposal template
that wins the job without spec work.

Nine sections: the problem in the client's words, the approach as five phases, direction references, deliverables counted, the timeline with the client's review windows, what the client provides, three options, the terms and one next step. Add two or three past projects that solved a similar problem rather than a portfolio, because a client scanning logos starts picturing their own in someone else's style.

No. Concepts before discovery are spec work: you design unpaid, without the strategy that should shape the work, and the client compares your fee with a guess. Show a handful of captioned direction references and two or three past projects instead. If a client insists on seeing ideas first, sell a paid discovery phase with a strategy and a moodboard direction as its deliverables.

As three options that differ in scope, each built from line items the client can read: discovery, strategy, concept routes, refinement rounds, the logo suite, guidelines, applications and project management. Base the middle option on the brief as described, the smaller one without guidelines and the larger one with a workshop and a template kit. In Storyflow the options sit side by side as currency columns, and moving the stakeholder workshop from one option to another updates every total.

Two or three concept routes, then two rounds of refinement on the chosen one, is a common shape. Fewer than two leaves nothing to compare, and more than three spreads your time across routes you would not all recommend. Write down what a round is, one merged list of notes from the decision-maker, and price a new concept route after one is chosen as a change order.

When the contract transfers the rights. A common term is that rights in the chosen, final design pass to the client on final payment, while unchosen concept routes and working files stay with the studio unless bought, and fonts and stock images are licensed separately in the client's name. Say whether you may show the work in your portfolio, and have the wording reviewed by a lawyer where you work.

It is what the client pays if they stop the project partway: the work done to date, plus a fee for the time you reserved, commonly a quarter to half of the remaining fee. Put it in the proposal so the client sees it before signing, and repeat it in the contract. A deposit that covers the first phase does part of the same job.

Stages tied to phases. For an identity job of eight to twelve weeks, one workable split is 40 percent on booking, 30 percent at route selection and 30 percent before final files. Smaller jobs often split in half, on signing and on delivery. Either way, many studios release final files only after the last payment.

Usually not. A signed proposal can bind both sides, but it is written to persuade: it shows you understood the problem and lets the client pick an option. Many studios follow it with a contract that sets the terms in legal language, and a scope of work listing the deliverables and rounds, once an option is chosen.

The structure, yes; the judgement, no. Paste your discovery-call notes into Storyflow and the AI lays out each section on the board, from the problem to a price table, and its planner can work the schedule back from the launch date. When a client wants a document, it can write the proposal as a Word file or a proposal PDF. Your rates and your taste stay yours.

Outside Storyflow. Storyflow builds and presents the proposal and runs the project after the yes, but it does not send contracts, collect e-signatures, take deposits or send invoices. PandaDoc and Bonsai handle signing and payment on proposals, and HoneyBook and Dubsado combine proposals, contracts and invoices for client businesses. Put the board's link in the email that carries the contract, so the client signs with the direction and options in front of them.

Not during early access. Storyflow is paid-only during early access, with plans from $7.99 a month billed annually ($9.99 monthly). A free plan launches before the end of 2026, and anyone a paid member invites to a board joins free. Opening your proposal costs the client nothing.