I have 17 years experience in graphic design and still find it very difficult to make it happen in a more bigger way. Creativity is a very costly intellectual property which must be protected from theft. Those executives who need you as graphic designer do not don't appreciate you as a creative person, rather they want to get the best from you and pay less. For this reason I have been making research on this circumstances that befall graphic designers in general and I stumbled on one of the ways one can avert this problem.

First, you may be self-employed and be ready to work without any supervision. Secondly, you need to look for clients or consumers of your graphic design products. And third you must be highly innovative and bold enough to face the consumers your service. This strategy has helped me a lot and here is how it goes.

Once you meet a client who is interested in your service you need to have an agreement with him and be strict about it except if you are one of those who work in a "business centre" (you may also need this too). What kind of agreement you may ask? You need to state the work to be done, the cost of the work to be done and also the condition covering the re-occurring corrections and alterations on the work to be done.

Now go though this sample agreement letter and see what you can do with it. You can change, add, remove and alter it the way you want. If you have any difficulty feel free to send your comment and lets all talk about it here:


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Letter of Agreement

This agreement is between ::ClientCompany::, hereafter referred to as CLIENT, and ::SenderCompany::, hereafter referred to as CONTRACTOR.
Description of Work

CONTRACTOR will create _________________________________(name and/or description of design project).

Revisions or alterations to the scope of work or schedule may obligate the CLIENT to additional fees. These may include copy or layout changes made after initial CLIENT approvals. Extensive alterations, such as a change in marketing objectives or project goals, shall be considered new work and will require that this agreement be amended with a change order to reflect the revised scope of work.
Project Pricing

Total fixed fee for project: ::ProjectGrandTotalCost::
Deposit due:________, 50% of agreed upon fee, due at time of agreement signing
Balance: ___________, 50% due date of delivery

Fee adjustments may be made due to rush delivery requests or prompt payment, as follows:

Urgent delivery requires a price increase of 30% of the total fixed fee defined above.
If full fee is paid on date of deposit, CLIENT shall receive a 5% discount on fees stated above.

The pricing table below contains a detailed cost breakdown for each of our key areas of responsibility.
Cost Breakdown
This area will be automatically replaced with your pricing table that you create in Step 2 of your Proposal.
Ownership and Usage Rights

Upon receipt of full payment, the CLIENT is hereby granted exclusive and unlimited usage and reproduction rights to the final designs prepared for the CLIENT as part of this project. CONTRACTOR reserves the right to reproduce any and all designs created in print and electronic media for CONTRACTOR’s promotional purposes.
Errors

CLIENT has responsibility to proofread and review all work produced during the project. As a result, the client is fully responsible for any errors in spelling, typography, illustrative layout, photography or other errors discovered after printing or reproduction or for any work performed by third-parties selected by the CLIENT.
Cancellation

In the event CLIENT cancels this agreement prior to completion, within five (5) business days of such cancellation, CLIENT shall pay CONTRACTOR for: (1) all work performed up to the date of termination; (2) all outside expenses and commitments that have been incurred and cannot be cancelled; and, (3) a cancellation fee equal to 15% of the remaining fees that would otherwise have been paid if the project would have been completed.
Agreement Execution

To get started, simply review and accept this proposal online via Quote Roller or print its PDF version, sign it, scan signed document and send to ::SenderEmail::

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can also check out this link:
http://www.quoteroller.com/proposal-templates/graphic-design-proposal-template/

Please remember this is just a guide...
If you wish to contact me directly you can check my profile.

Thanks