They walk away with the file. That is the product.
In 2026 the thread is still “send a few comps so we know you get the brand,” “drop refs in a shared board before we commit,” or “can we see a direction first?” Nobody booked a room. Nobody asked you to audit their files unpaid. They want a takeaway: a Figma frame, a Miro board, a PDF of color, type, and references they can hold onto after they close the tab — even when production never happens. Price that pull off the hourly floor you already built on the hub (keep, billable weeks, tax buffer you chose there). This page does not copy that buffer, does not look up sales tax by state, and does not pretend $270 is anything other than 3 × 90. Need a different currency label? Switch it on the hub. Floor still a guess? How to set a freelance rate is the first card.
Moodboard extra = hours you type × hourly floor. Clock starts at the first pull and ends when they can download the pack. Type 3 for a typical board. Type 6 when there are more lanes. Type 1.5 for a tight three-comp set. You pick the hours. This card will not waive the fee because they might hire you later, will not mint a 10% exploration slice of an unquoted job, and will not call the pack complimentary business development.
Worked USD: 3h × $90 = $270
Preset: 3 assembly hours. Floor $90. Extra: 3 × $90 = $270.
That $270 is the pack they keep. It is due even if they ghost after the download. It is not a live workshop. It is not a $0 pitch you eat so they might hire you. Collect it before you open the board. Do not wait for “we’ll roll this into the project if we go ahead.” This page never credited a board against a future hire.
Second preset: 6 hours at the same $90. Extra: 6 × $90 = $540. You typed the 6. This page did not. A denser board — more lanes, more comps, a written rationale — is still hours × floor, still billed even if the job never starts, still not 10% of anything.
Third preset: 1.5 hours at $90. Extra: 1.5 × $90 = $135. A tight three-comp pull is still a takeaway they keep. Short does not mean complimentary.
Three other cards that are not this pack
Working the pitch for $0 is a different problem. An unpaid audit, a sample teardown, opening their files “just to see” before anyone signs — that is unpaid discovery. That page either prices a paid look or writes the decline. Here they already named a board they intend to keep. You are exporting a file, not donating a teardown. Do not fold a requested takeaway into “I don’t work for free” copy meant for a $0 look, and do not give the board away as a courtesy pitch.
Paid live hours after they hired you, used as a gate before the quote, is also not this. Stakeholders on a call, a facilitated map of scope, a half-day on the calendar — that session is the kickoff-workshop card (4h × $90 = $360 there; credit against a later quote is optional and starts off). Live time vs a downloadable pack. If they want the room and the board, bill session hours on that card and assembly hours on this one. Do not hide a Miro export inside a kickoff invoice, and do not hide a kickoff inside a board fee.
A written runbook after the ship — so the next person can operate what already left without you — is the documentation card (6h × $90 = $540). That clock starts when delivery is done. This clock starts before anyone is hired. A wiki is not comps. Comps are not an SOP. Do not relabel this $270 as forgotten kickoff notes, and do not relabel a post-ship README as a moodboard.
A living do/don’t book after the mark already left is a different product. Clear space, lockups, color on dark — hours you type × floor on the brand-guidelines card. 6h × $90 = $540. Not 20% of identity, not a per-page mill. Pre-hire comps are not a brand book. A brand book is not a pitch board. If they want both, put assembly hours here and brand-book hours there.
No “free if they hire you.” No 10% of a future job.
Agencies sometimes eat the board and call it business development. This card will not. The pack leaves their inbox whether they sign or vanish. There is no hire-and-we-waive-it switch here, and there is no official exploration percent. 3 × $90 is $270 because you typed 3 and 90. Clear the 3 if your pull is shorter. Type 6 if it is denser. This page will not invent 10% of a quote that does not exist yet so the number looks official.
If they ask to “just roll it into the project,” that is a later credit you would have to write yourself. This page does not mint that credit. Kickoff-workshop has an optional credit toggle that starts off — that is a live session before a quote, not this takeaway. Do not import that toggle onto a board they already keep.
Paste the line before you pull the first ref
Say the hours. Say the floor. Say $270, or the product on screen. Say they keep the pack even if production never happens. Paste the sentence from this card so the email dollars are the same dollars the calculator just printed.
- 3h × $90. Moodboard extra: 3 hours × $90.00/hr = $270.00. That is a visual pack you keep even if we never start the job — hours × floor, not a free pitch, not 10% of a future project, and not waived if you hire me. Please confirm $270.00 before I assemble the board.
- 6h full board. Moodboard extra: 6 hours × $90.00/hr = $540.00. That is a visual pack you keep even if we never start the job — hours × floor, not a free pitch, not 10% of a future project, and not waived if you hire me. Please confirm $540.00 before I assemble the board.
- 1.5h tight comps. Moodboard extra: 1.5 hours × $90.00/hr = $135.00. That is a visual pack you keep even if we never start the job — hours × floor, not a free pitch, not 10% of a future project, and not waived if you hire me. Please confirm $135.00 before I assemble the board.
Skip the lecture about “serious clients pay for exploration.” Skip “industry standard is 10%.” Neither line lives on this page. Until they confirm the extra, do not start the pull. A $0 look is unpaid-discovery. A facilitated half-day before a number exists is kickoff-workshop. A wiki after ship is documentation. If the $90 floor changed, rebuild it on the hub first, then come back to this pack.
Planning math, not an exploration policy
Educational arithmetic — not legal, tax, or collections advice. There is no statute that prices a moodboard, no required “waive if they sign” rule, no 10% exploration tax, and no 50-state filing table. Use whatever agreement you already have. If you need a clause that survives a dispute, a lawyer where you work writes it before the first ref is pulled. Typing into this card is not that clause.
You enter assembly hours and the hourly floor. You get the extra and one sentence to paste. Dollar signs here are USD; currency labels and any tax buffer stay on the hub.
Rate calculator $0 pitch, not a pack they keep Live session before the quote Runbook after the ship Brand book after the logo Set the hourly floor
Weeks you can actually bill shifted? Fix the floor on the hub, then price the pack. This card is the takeaway they asked to keep if production never happens — hours × floor, not waived on hire, not 10% of a future quote. Unpaid pitch: unpaid-discovery. Facilitated session before a number: kickoff-workshop. SOP after the ship: documentation. Living do/don’t after the mark: brand-guidelines.
FAQ
How do I charge for a freelance moodboard they keep even if the job never starts?
Moodboard extra is hours you type × your hourly floor. They asked for a visual pack — comps, refs, color lanes — that they walk away with even if production never starts. That assembly clock is billed time, not a complimentary pitch. Numbers for planning, not a signed SOW.
Is a freelance moodboard free if they hire me, or 10% of the project?
Not on this page. The pack is not complimentary if they later sign, and it is not 10% of a project that does not exist yet. 3 hours × a $90 floor is $270 because you typed 3 and 90. There is no hire-and-the-board-is-free toggle here.
Is a paid moodboard the same as unpaid discovery, a kickoff workshop, or a written runbook?
No. Unpaid discovery is the $0 pitch — opening files, an unpaid audit, a teardown you do not get paid for. Kickoff-workshop is paid live hours in a room as a gate before the quote. Documentation is a runbook after delivery so the next person can operate what already shipped. This card is a takeaway visual pack they keep even if the job never starts.
Does the moodboard credit against a later freelance hire?
Not on this card. They pay for the pack they asked to keep. This page will not invent a credit against a future hire, a complimentary board if they sign, or a 10% project slice. If you want a later credit, that is a separate agreement you write — not a toggle this page mints.
Is this moodboard math a contract, a pitch statute, or a 50-state tax engine?
No. $270 is 3 × $90 labeled as money. Pick a currency and a tax buffer on the hub. Nothing here files 50-state tax, and filling the fields does not write an exploration clause.