How to Write Professional Looking Proposals

by Ruben 2 Minutes

It’s not hard to see how important creating professional looking proposals are for aspiring graphic design artists. Simply do a search on Google, and you’ll find hundreds of articles and websites offering tips on how to create proposals that are clear, concise, and professional looking.

The Power of Professional Looking Proposals

Why there is so much emphasis when it comes to creating professional looking proposals?

In the corporate world, first impressions lasts. A design proposal is the first—and perhaps only—chance they would have to capture the attention of a potential client, and the only way to do this is to give them something that stands out from the sea of other proposals submitted to them.

Professional looking proposals not only look appealing. They also give clients an insight on the quality of work that you could provide. At the same time, these also give them an idea on your work ethics.

Writing a Professional Looking Proposal

Simple is the Best

Use plain simple words and short sentences when writing your design proposal. Lengthy sentences give the impression that you’re just rambling and trying hard to impress the potential client.

Be Error-Free

Professional looking proposals are those that are free from grammatical and spelling errors. Don’t just rely on the spelling and grammar checker installed in most word processing programs. Getting another person to read through it can help you catch any spelling and grammar errors that may have been overlooked.

Aim for Readability

Clients have to go through hundreds of different proposals for an advertised project so it’s important that you write your design proposal in such a way that it’s easy for them to read and understand what you’re talking about. You can increase the readability of your proposal by:

  • Using headings and sub-headings
  • Adding graphs and charts
  • Using a sans serif font type
  • Allocating ⅓ of the page for white space

Create a Title Page

Adding a title page that includes your contact information increases the credibility of your proposal and make it more professional looking.

Write a Cover Letter

This part is often neglected by many graphic designers. Professional looking proposals are always submitted with a cover letter that immediately answers the three most important questions of any client: what will they expect in the proposal, how will they benefit from the proposal, and why should they hire you.

Using a Proposal Template

Many creatives tend to walk the fine line between professional looking proposals and those that clients may consider to be too flashy. That’s why many creatives—particularly those that are just starting out in the industry—would use proposal templates when writing their proposals.

Proposal templates provide creatives a guide not just on how a professional looking proposal looks. It also gives a graphic designer an idea of what information goes into what section, the proper headings, and also choosing the right kind of words to use.

An example of a professional looking proposal template can be found here. If you want a full explanation of the elements that make a great proposal, check out our proposal templates.

Get Our $270M Client Proposal Kit (free)

by Ruben
Ruben originally founded proposal software, Bidsketch as a one-person company while working as a software developer for a billion dollar payroll company. Since its early days as a “company of one,” Bidsketch has grown to help over 2,000 paying customers win billions of dollars in new business and save thousands of hours in the process.