Form templates / Freelancers & Creators
Commission Request Form
A commission request form has to turn someone's idea into something you can price: what it's of, how big, in what medium, by when, and what they're prepared to spend.
For freelancers, independent creators and studios of one.
Size and medium are the price; the deadline is the surcharge
Commissions get priced by hours, and hours come from size and medium. An A4 pencil portrait and a metre-square oil painting of the same subject are months apart, yet both arrive described as "a picture of my dog".
Deadline is the third variable. A commission needed in three weeks costs more than one needed in three months because it displaces other work - and it's much easier to say that on a form than to explain it after quoting.
A quote request that actually contains the job
"How much do you charge?" is unanswerable, and answering it with a range makes you look expensive to some and cheap to others. The fix isn't a longer reply - it's a better question.
Scope, timing, location and budget are on this form because those four answers turn a vague enquiry into something you can price with confidence, usually without a call.
A brief is worth more than a call
You are the sales team, the delivery team and the invoicing department. The cheapest hour you can save is the one spent extracting a brief from someone who has never written one - so ask the questions in the order you need them answered.
A written brief is also your protection. Scope creep is much harder to argue when what was originally asked for is on the record, timestamped.
Let them show you, not describe it
A sentence about the problem is a guess; a photo is a fact. This template asks for the details in the client's own words *and* keeps the questions short enough that they answer all of them.
One minute to make it your own
Every label, option and placeholder on this template is editable, and you can add whatever this template doesn't ask. Save to publish, share the link, and export the responses whenever you need them in a spreadsheet.
What this template asks
- Your name
- Email address
- Phone number
- What kind of piece?
- Describe what you'd like
- Preferred medium
- Size
- Framing
- A link to your reference photos
- Needed by
- Is that date fixed?
- Budget
- I've seen your existing work and understand your style
- Anything else?
More Freelancers & Creators forms
Questions
Should I ask for reference photos?
Ask for a link to them and say what makes a good reference - good light, high resolution, the angle you'd actually paint. It saves a whole exchange, and bad references are the most common cause of a disappointing commission.
How do I handle people with no idea of cost?
Publish a starting price and ask for a range including "please advise". Most people genuinely don't know what original work costs, and they aren't insulted by being told.
Can I ask for photos or files?
Not yet - uploads are on the roadmap. In the meantime, most people ask for a link to photos, or reply to the response with an email asking for them. Everything else about the job is captured here.
Can I see where each quote request came from?
Yes. Add a hidden tracking parameter to the link (for example one link on your site and another on your Google profile) and it's stored with the response.
How fast can I put this live?
About a minute. Pick the template, change the wording, press save - saving is publishing - and you get a link to share.
Will it look like my brand?
Set your own accent colour and write every word yourself; the form carries your wording and a small "Powered by ava42" line. It's one fast page rather than a page in someone else's template.
Publish your commission request form today
Start from this template and change anything you like. Free to begin.