Love and Proposals

CHICAGO. Spent my Sunday writing a contract for the ________ design. I find I really enjoy writing proposals. It gives me a chance to see the whole project clearly in my mind, and to demonstrate to clients not just competency, but genuine concern for their products, and a vision of how to help their business.

Turns out proposal writing can be as creative as anything else we do in design. The only obstacle to overcome is the angry kid inside who doesn’t want to do his homework. If I think of writing the proposal as a damned nuisance, then it is one. But if I view it as an opportunity to test design ideas, that’s what it becomes.

Originally published at zeldman.com.

I’m Jeffrey. Follow me @zeldman. I publish A List Apart Magazine and A Book Apart “for people who make websites,” and co-founded An Event Apart: three days of design, code, and content for web & interaction designers. Most recently, I opened the NYC design studio.zeldman. Let’s work together!