Mailchimp Newsletter Template Design

Creative Brief: Mailchimp Newsletter Template Design About Us Unlikely Collaborators is a nonprofit media company creating films, conversations, and experiences that challenge the way people see themselves and one another. Our brand is thoughtful, editorial, cinematic, and human. We value clarity, restraint, and compelling storytelling over flashy marketing. We're looking for an experienced email designer to create a beautiful, flexible Mailchimp template that elevates our monthly newsletter while remaining easy for our internal team to update and use. Project Goal Design and build a reusable Mailchimp newsletter template that feels premium, modern, and highly readable. Our current "template" consists primarily of our logo and color palette. We'd like a professional system that gives every newsletter a consistent look and feel while allowing us to swap content in and out each month with minimal effort. This is not about designing one newsletter. It's about creating a flexible template system that we'll use for years to come. Design Direction We're looking for something that feels: * Editorial * Sophisticated * Modern * Minimal without feeling sparse * High-end nonprofit/media * Story-first * Clean, polished, and highly readable We don't expect the template to be designed entirely from scratch. We're happy for you to leverage existing email design patterns or Mailchimp components, provided the final result is customized, polished, and reflects our brand. We value thoughtful visual design, strong hierarchy, and an editorial feel over novelty for its own sake. We are **not** looking for a generic marketing newsletter template. We want subscribers to feel like they're opening a beautifully curated publication rather than a traditional marketing email. The design should encourage readers to slow down, explore, and engage with our stories and films. Content Priorities Our newsletters regularly feature: * Original films and video content * Interviews and conversations * Events and screenings * Organization news and updates * Calls to support our work Video is central to our storytelling, so we'd like the template to be designed with video in mind rather than treating it as an afterthought. Deliverables The selected freelancer will design and build a reusable newsletter template directly within our Mailchimp account. The template should include: * A fully responsive design for desktop and mobile * Built using Mailchimp's current email builder (not a custom HTML template unless discussed in advance) * A modular design system with reusable content blocks, including: * Hero image * Featured story * Secondary story * Two-column content section * Featured video module * Video gallery/grid module * Quote or highlight block * Event or announcement module * CTA banner/button * Donation/support section * Footer with social links * Strong typography hierarchy and spacing system * Consistent styling for buttons, dividers, and links * Placeholder copy and images so each module is easy to understand and update * Documentation (or a short Loom video) explaining how our team can use and modify the template Success Looks Like Our communications team should be able to: * Duplicate the template each month * Swap text, images, and videos quickly * Rearrange content modules as needed * Produce newsletters that feel polished and on-brand without needing design support or HTML knowledge Acceptance Criteria The project will be considered complete when: * The template functions correctly within our Mailchimp account. * All modules are easy for non-designers to edit. * The template renders well on desktop and mobile. * Our team can duplicate the template and create future newsletters without requiring coding knowledge. * The design reflects our brand and delivers a polished, editorial experience. What We'll Provide * Brand guidelines * Logo files * Color palette * Typography * Existing newsletters * Brand assets as needed Ideal Freelancer We're looking for someone with: * Strong Mailchimp experience * Experience designing email newsletters * Knowledge of responsive email best practices * A portfolio of newsletter templates (please include examples) * Excellent visual design instincts Bonus if you've worked with editorial brands, media companies, nonprofits, or storytelling organizations. Proposal Requirements Please include: * 2 to 5 examples of Mailchimp or email newsletter templates you've designed * A brief description of your design process * Estimated timeline * Fixed-price quote **Please begin your proposal with the words "Editorial Email" so we know you've read the full project description.** We'd also love to hear your answer to one question: Please share one email newsletter (from any company or organization) that you think is exceptionally well designed, and tell us why.