The Proposal
After learning about what a proposal is and what are its contents through looking at various articles and a book recommended to us by Daniel such as, ‘A Project Guide to UX Design’, I decided to begin the design stage of my proposal. At this stage I have all the content done, it’s just a matter of structuring the content and designing the document.
I got a lot of my information from reading and evaluating the structure which is presented within A Project Guide to UX Design, the page’s should be structured similarly as followed:
Front Page
- Clients company name
- Clients company logo
- Project title
- Document type
- Version of proposal
- Submission date
- My company name
- proposal authors
- Project reference number (if used)
- Cost (optional)
- Confidentiality
Revision page
This page should document the history of any edits/modifications that the proposal undergoes after the first version.
The forum should include
- Revision Number
- Section (What page/section) has been edited
- Description of the modification
- Who edited it
- The date it was edited on
Project Overview
This showcases the overview of the product and contains all vital information of the project’s intended vision.
Project Approach
This page tells the client what process will be initiated in order to identify and define the plan of the project.
Scope of Work
This page mentions responsibilities and who is entitled to conduct what.
Assumptions
These are standards that the proposer (I) expect the client to do.
Deliverables
This page talks about what the client is actually getting.
Ownership & Rights
The legality of work.
Additional Costs & Fees
Exactly as the title states.
Project Pricing
This talks about the pricing of the individual projects.
Payment Schedule
This talks about the planning payment.
Acknowledgment & Sign-Off
Finally, this page is the key to initiating a product.
Inspiration
As I have the content already done and have a good idea of how to structure the content. I decided to go looking around such as Google Images, articles, etc. to find an inspiring and structurally pleasing-looking proposal.
As a designer, we try to show our skills off wherever is possible to gain the attention of an employer/business. When conducting a proposal it is no different.
After looking at a variety of proposals online, I found a particular company that specializes in creating a diverse range of proposals for different job roles, however, the structural design of their proposals all stayed the same.
Their name was PandaDoc, I instantly gravitated to their proposals as they looked extremely professional with how they used limited colours, structured their content and provided an overall professional experience while viewing.
Although I cannot find the original document that I was initially inspired by, I will showcase a number of similar-looking documents below:
I extremely loved how the documents were so simple yet looked extremely professional. The home page contained a brightly colour yet unobtrusive design which caught my attention right away. Additionally, the use of large singular headings alongside average-sized fonts is exactly what I did for the design of my personal portfolio. This instantly gave me an idea to implement my brand identity/design on my proposal and invoice. Similarly done on both CV and cover letter.
Similarly, I began looking for inspiration to create my invoice. I decided to use Pinterest for this as it has a diverse range of different invoices I could gain inspiration from.
Wireframes
From the proposals previously inspired by, I set out to create something similar. I wanted to convey a simple yet effective structure displaying my content in a clear yet unique manner whilst also considering brand identity. After a few rough wireframes, I created more in-depth ones. I created two main wireframes one for the front of my page and the second as almost a guide on displaying content for the interior pages. (See below)
Designing
I then got on illustrator and began designing and structuring the layout of my proposal. Although in some instances Adobe InDesign would be a more appropriate option to do this on. However, I found that illustrator gave me creative freedom to design consistently throughout. I found this relatively easy as I already had all the content done, it’s just the case of organizing it. Thankfully, the simple wireframe guide I made before made this process a whole lot quicker.
Outcome
Front Page
Overview Page
Invoice
Reflection
Overall, I am extremely happy with the outcome of my proposal & invoice. Through doing this project I have learned a great deal of information about proposals and invoices and how they are conducted. On the design part of things, I am extremely happy with how my proposal has been created from the initial concept to the final piece. I feel like I have implemented a fluid and consistent structure which reflects my brand identity. If I ever go down the freelancing route this has given me major confidence through learning about these practices.