Summary
I will always do my best to fulfil your needs and meet your goals, but sometimes it is best to have a few simple things written down so that we both know what is what, who should do what and what happens if stuff goes wrong. In this contract you won’t find complicated legal terms or large passages of unreadable text. I have no desire to trick you into signing something that you might later regret. I do want what’s best for the safety of both parties, now and in the future.
In short
You (the customer) are hiring me (Scott Frazer Graphic Design) for your project for the estimated price as outlined in your Estimate.
What do both parties agree to do?
You agree that:
You have the power and ability to enter into this contract on behalf of yourself, your company or your organization. You agree to provide me with everything that I need to complete the project including text, images and other information as and when I need it, and in the format that I ask for. You agree to review my work, provide feedback and sign-off approval in a timely manner too. Deadlines work two ways and you will also be bound by any dates that we set together. You also agree to stick to the payment schedule set out at the end of this contract.
I agree that:
I have the experience and ability to perform the services you need from me and I will carry them out in a professional and timely manner. Along the way I will endeavour to meet all the deadlines set but I can’t be responsible for a missed launch date or a deadline if you have been late in supplying materials or have not approved or signed off our work on-time at any stage. On top of this I will also maintain the confidentiality of any information that you give us.
Design
This contract includes one main design solution plus the opportunity for you to make up to two rounds of revisions. Design options, for example a choice of logo design, may be provided at my discretion. If you’re not happy with the designs at this stage, you will pay me in full for all of the work that I have produced until that point and you may either cancel this contract or continue to commission me to make further design revisions, for which I will provide a new estimate.
Websites
If the project includes a website, I will develop this on the WordPress platform using a developer maintained Theme. If required, purchase of premium themes and plug ins will be quoted for separately.
I will test the website in current versions of all major browsers including those made by Apple, Microsoft, Mozilla and Opera. Testing will be completed in the desktop equivalent of mobile browsers. I will not test these templates in old or abandoned browsers, for example Microsoft Internet Explorer for Windows or Mac, previous versions of Apple’s Safari, Mozilla Firefox or Opera unless otherwise specified.
Text content
I’m not responsible for writing or editing any text copy unless specified in this estimate. If you’d like me to write new content or edit text for you, I can provide a separate estimate on request.
File Formats
You should supply graphic files in an editable, vector digital format You will supply photographs either a high resolution digital format. If you choose to buy stock photographs we can suggest vendors of stock photography. If you’d like me to search for photographs for you, I can provide a separate estimate for that. Please get in touch if you need any advice on the formats required.
Changes and revisions
All changes and revisions will need written approval in some form. If changes are given via a phone call, they will need to be confirmed in writing in an email and given confirmation.
Experience shows that fixed-price contracts are rarely beneficial to you, as they often limit you to your first idea about how something should look, or how it might work. I don’t want to limit either your options or your opportunities to change your mind.
The estimate price at the beginning of this document is based on the number of hours that I estimate I’ll need to accomplish everything that you have told me you want to achieve, including the previously stated revisions. But I’m happy to be flexible. If you want to change your mind or add anything new to the estimated project, that won’t be a problem, as I’ll provide a separate estimate for that.
Making the most of changes and revisions
You must be specific with your feedback. If you are requesting revisions, it is most effective to offer examples of colours, fonts, images and sites you like. Excessive revisions, tweaks and miscellaneous changes are subject to additional charges at my discretion.
Errors in text or formatting that I have introduced into your content will be fixed for free. However, any other edits such as typo/grammatical errors and wording changes carried over from the original copy may be subject to additional charges.
I am not responsible for revisions or updates to a project once the final agreed upon deliverable has been sent. If additional design, coding, or edits associated with this project are needed, a new project agreement will be created.
NOTE: Once you approve a design and I have supplied the project deliverables, it’s considered final. Final means I’m happy to make changes should you request them, but all changes will be quoted and billed separately. Please be sure to proof read carefully before approving the final design.
Technical support
You may already have professional web site hosting, or manage that hosting in-house. However if you don’t manage your own web site hosting, I can set up an account for you at one of my preferred, third-party hosting providers. I will charge you a one-off fee for installing your site on this server, then the updates to, and management of that server, plus any support issues will be up to you.
I am not a web site hosting company and so I do not offer or include technical support for web site hosting, email or other services relating to web site hosting. If you do require help with anything beyond the design and development of your site, I’ll be happy to help and will provide a separate estimate for that.
Project Cancellations
Should something happen for any reason whatsoever that causes you to cancel this project once it has begun, you are completely free to do so. You will simply be billed for any work completed up to the point of cancellation, and I will send you any work completed up to that point.
Should some life altering event happen to cause me to cancel this project, I will hand over any work completed up to the point of cancellation and refund you for any payments made on incomplete work.
Legal stuff
While I endeavour to be as accurate as possible, I can’t guarantee that my work will always be error-free and so I can’t be liable to you or any third party for damages, including lost profits, lost savings or other incidental, consequential or special damages arising from the use of my work, even if you have advised me of the possibilities of such damages. If any provision of this agreement shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
Copyrights
You guarantee that any elements of text, graphics, photos, designs, trademarks, or other artwork that you provide us for inclusion in any part of your project are either owned by yourself, or that you have permission to use them.
When I receive your final payment, copyright is automatically assigned as follows:
You own the graphics and other visual elements that I create for you for this project. I will give you a copy of all files and you should store them really safely as I am not required to keep them or provide any native source files that we used in making them.
I’ll own the unique combination of these elements that constitutes a complete design and I’ll license that you, exclusively and in perpetuity for this project only, unless we agree otherwise. What this means that you can’t take the design I made for you and sell it to a third party, but otherwise won’t impact you.
I love to show off my work and share what I have learned with other people, so I also reserve the right to display and link to your completed project as part of my portfolio and to write about the project on web sites, in magazine articles and in books.
Payments
I’m sure you understand how important it is as a small business that you pay the invoices that I send you promptly. Therefore, you agree to adhere to the following payment schedule:
- 50% deposit is paid up front. Work will only commence once this is received in full.
- 50% balance is payable on completion and not more than 30 days after receipt of finished product and invoice.
If payment is late, statutory interest of 8% plus the Bank of England base rate will be charged, starting from the 31st day after the invoice date.
Payments can be made via bank transfer (details available on your Estimate). Please include the invoice number as seen on the Estimate as the reference.
The Small Print
You cannot transfer this contract to anyone else without my permission. This contract stays in place and need not be renewed. If for some reason one part of this contract becomes invalid or unenforceable, the remaining parts of it remain in place.
Although the language is simple, the intentions are serious and this contract is a legally binding document and should be treated as such.
Acceptance of this contract
I understand that not everyone owns a printer and scanner these days, so please reply to your Estimate email with the following.
“I, [customer name], have read and understood the Contract, and accept the terms and conditions as set out to me.”
I will then confirm that I accept the terms of the Contract with you, thus completing the signing process.