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How to design a website

Freelance Design Contracts & Templates

Pricing, Invoices, SEO and more
Using the right forms and freelance design contracts is critical for today's designers, whether you are a freelancer or work in a firm. The forms below have been provided by Jason Vaughn of CreativePublic , a business savvy creative that is also a DesignMaster faculty member. Customize and add your own logo and you're in business — the design business.
Web Marketing Pricing - This advanced pricing guide will help you better judge how much you should charge and how long it takes for your projects. Every designer is different, whether slow, fast, expensive or cheap. Use this guide and be flexible with your own skills.
SEO Submission Form - Use this form to give to your customers to fill out. This form is a useful guide for getting important sumbission information about your customer's Web site and what is important to them to say, such as keywords and content descriptions. Once you collect this information, you can better optimize their site for top SEO placement based on the information they provided.
Sales Rep. Contract - All sales representatives must have in writing how much commissions or discounts they will get on the products they are selling for your company. Make sure that any sales rep. signs this and signs an employee contract as well.
Bid Spec. Sheet - If you are doing business with an outside vendor, such as a print shop, you will need to provide the vendor with a Bid Spec Sheet that shows in detail what your project consists of and how you request the job to be printed or produced. The vendor will then provide you with an estimate of cost and time frame to complete your project.
Art Approval Sheet - This sheet is designed to be attached to artwork that needs client approval. This sheet, when signed, obligates the client to accept the artwork as is or the client can denote changes needed. Use this form with all artwork so you have a binding agreement that the artwork is correct and final or that the client desires changes.
Creative Strategy - This is one of the most useful tools in creating properly designed artwork. Whether the client provides this information or you gather this on your own, a Creative Strategy will help solve many design issues and give a greater success to your project. You can also use a Creative Strategy to explain to your clients the benefits of why you used a specific color, shape or type treatment. Not only will this help sell your art, it will make the client feel more a part of what they have purchased. Remember that most clients know nothing of art and don't understand the aspects of design.
Invoice - Without proper accounting records and information about jobs and taxes a company can get into real trouble. Always keep strong records and keep up with your daily income. The invoices available for download are provided by Microsoft and were created in Excel – Office 98. Enable Macros will allow you to enter information and figure totals and taxes.
Job Jacket - It's very important to keep all your projects, client approvals, changes and information inside a Job Jacket. This Job Jacket includes an area for job numbering, client information, pricing and a drawing area. Use this Job Jacket for archiving artwork and keeping your project information organized.
Mileage & Expense Report - Use this report to keep track of your expenses that were used for company use such as mileage, meals and entertainment. If you have employees, they must also keep track of what they spend and why they spent it. There are 3 of the same forms available for download. The Excel Document will automatically calculate and total your expenses for you.
Print Questionnaire - For every print project you receive from a client, you will need to use this form to ask them questions about their job. This is part one of a two part contract agreement between you and the client. This sheet will represent your company and what you will be doing for the client (For part 2 of the contract, download the TERMS AND CONDITIONS file").
Web Questionnaire - For every Web site project you receive from a client, you will need to use this form to ask them questions about their job. This is part one of a two part contract agreement between you and the client. This sheet will represent your company and what you'll be doing for the client (For part 2 of the contract, download the TERMS AND CONDITIONS file").
Terms and Conditions - This is the most important part to any project you work on. This is the overall agreement on how you do business, including billing, proofing, revisions, alterations, copyright, and much more. The Terms and Conditions should always be attached to either the Print Questionnaire or the Web Site Questionnaire. This is a binding agreement between you and the client about the project you're working on.