Speculative cover letter example
A speculative letter goes to an employer that has not advertised a job, so it has to say why them, what you would do for them and what you are asking for. Write to a named person, show one piece of work that fits their clients, and ask for a short conversation, not a job.
Read the letter as text
Tasha Blake
Bristol · [email protected] · 07700 900233
16 October 2026
Mr Rhys Okoro
Studio Director
Pellow & Vane Design
Unit 6, Cutler’s Yard
Bristol BS1 9QZ
Dear Mr Okoro
Mid-weight designer: a speculative enquiry
I am writing to ask whether Pellow & Vane might need a mid-weight designer in the coming months. I have five years in packaging, print and social design, the last three in the in-house brand team at Harbourside Foods in Bristol, and I have followed your packaging for independent food and drink makers for some time.
Your work for small producers is close to what I do every day. At Harbourside I design packaging and point-of-sale for 46 product lines, and I rebuilt our packaging templates in InDesign and Illustrator so that the artwork for a new flavour takes half a day instead of two. I would bring the same care over printers’ specifications to your clients’ jobs.
My portfolio is at tashablake-portfolio.example.com, and the Harbourside packaging pages are the closest to your work. If it would help to see how I work first, I would be glad to freelance on a busy project.
Could I have 20 minutes to show you three projects, at the studio or on a call? I will ring the studio next week in case that is easier than replying. Thank you for reading.
Yours sincerely
Tasha Blake
Fictional letter from Tasha Blake, the applicant in the graphic designer CV example. Every person and employer in it is invented.
Why each paragraph is there
I am writing to ask whether Pellow & Vane might need a mid-weight designer in the coming months. I have five years in packaging, print and social design, the last three in the in-house brand team at Harbourside Foods in Bristol, and I have followed your packaging for independent food and drink makers for some time.
Why you are writing, who you are and why this employer, before anything else.
Your work for small producers is close to what I do every day. At Harbourside I design packaging and point-of-sale for 46 product lines, and I rebuilt our packaging templates in InDesign and Illustrator so that the artwork for a new flavour takes half a day instead of two. I would bring the same care over printers’ specifications to your clients’ jobs.
What you would do for them, shown with one piece of work.
My portfolio is at tashablake-portfolio.example.com, and the Harbourside packaging pages are the closest to your work. If it would help to see how I work first, I would be glad to freelance on a busy project.
Where to see your work, and an easy first step for them.
Could I have 20 minutes to show you three projects, at the studio or on a call? I will ring the studio next week in case that is easier than replying. Thank you for reading.
A small, clear ask, and when you will follow up.
If you hear nothing
The letter says you will ring the following week, so do. These are the fictional applicant’s words: put in your own name, the person you wrote to and your own work.
When you ring. Hello, this is Tasha Blake. I wrote to Rhys Okoro last week about design work at the studio, and I said I would call. Is he free for a minute, or is there a better time to ring?
If you cannot get through, an email. Dear Mr Okoro, I wrote to you on 16 October to ask whether Pellow & Vane might need a mid-weight designer in the coming months, and I wanted to check that my letter reached you. My portfolio is at tashablake-portfolio.example.com. I would still welcome 20 minutes to show you three projects, whenever suits the studio. Kind regards, Tasha Blake
If they have nothing for now. Thank you for letting me know. May I send you my portfolio again in the spring, or is there someone else you would suggest I contact?
Follow up once. If there is still no reply, leave it and write again in a few months with new work to show. For the emails later in an application, from accepting an interview to asking about a decision, see job application emails.