What a Client Must Include in a Design Agreement
It doesn’t matter if you’re a person, small company or large company, when looking for a new logo design, print design or website there are items a designer must include in your design contract. You’re design project can vary from a small print design job to a large complex website. This list compiled will include items the designer must include in your agreement. If these items are not in your design agreement, make sure your designer includes them. The designer will always look to protect themselves, as they should, and so should you.
Must #1 – The Designer’s Services…detailed
The designer should breakdown what service you are receiving, not summarize it.
When you get to the section of the contract where it explains what services the designer will provide, it should not read “design a logo” or “design a website”. The designer should explain in detail what he/she will be providing. If you and the designer agreed upon a set number of design concepts, then it should be listed. If a website is being designed, will the designer also develop the site? Is the designer to provide all the images? These are some of the questions that should be answered in the agreement.
The details of the services should be written clearly and defined, and in sections so there is no confusion. The designer should list the services so that you understand not only what he/she will be doing but also what their process is.
Always get the designers services in writing, just because a designer says “oh that’s easy, won’t be a problem” doesn’t mean that they won’t charge you extra for it in the future.
Must #2 – Design Rates or Fees
The designer should specifically explain their rates for the project and fees.
When the designer starts on your design project, you should have a good idea, if not an exact amount, of the total project cost. If the designer charges hourly, they should list their hourly rate and an estimate of the total number of hours.
Must #3 – Cost Breakdown
Along with a explanation of the fees and hourly rates, you should know the total estimated cost.
Listing his/her hourly rates and fees isn’t enough. The designer should, most likely at the end of the agreement, show you a breakdown of all the costs associated with your project. If you were to take your car to the shop, you’re surely going to want to see the total estimated cost and not just the hourly labor rate and parts cost right?
The designer should also list any extras that can come up in the process. The contract should include a provision that will inform you before the client begins any extra or additional work. The last thing you want is to have a surprising large final bill.
Must #4 Ownership of Work
You should have a clear explanation of when and what is yours when the design job is complete.
You should always receive all the work the designer has done once the job is complete. If it’s a logo then you should get the design and all the source files. If it’s a website then you should get the design source files (Photoshop and flash files) along with all the development files.
Not having the original files can cost you in the future. I can’t tell you how many clients have come to me because they don’t have the original source files, which means re-creating their work from scratch.
It’s also a must to have a clause in the contract that states that any work created for you under the agreement is yours, upon final payment, and your work can not be used by any other company.
Must #5 Post-Project Duties
The designer must specify what his/her job entails after the design has been complete, if any.
As a client of the designer, it is your job to know what the designer’s job, but it’s also in your best interest to do a bit of research on what you might need after the project, before signing the agreement.
Logos
If you’re getting a logo then you pretty much know what you should get in the end, a custom designed logo and all the necessary files and file types in order to use your logo practically anywhere. The same guidelines can be used for print material.
Print
If the print project involves shipping of the print material, make sure you are to receive the print material in satisfactory position before declaring the job complete. If the print material is damaged or lost in the mail, that shouldn’t be your fault.
Web
When your website is finished, you should know if the designer will be providing services to you after your site is complete. If you need an edit or modification to your site, will the designer provide it and at what cost, make sure you get any post-project work in writing.
Some Additional Agreement Tips
* You should always have a time frame, timeline or project due date on your agreements. This makes sure that the designer has your project as a priority. If the designer is unwilling to set a time frame on your project then that is a red flag.
* Never assume because you and the designer talked about project details that they will be in the agreement. ALWAYS carefully read over the design agreement to make sure everything you require is included.
Please share your thoughts on any other “musts” that a client should include in their agreement.
I can not agree with you more about having a time frame or a due date. So many people forget this small detail and the project gets pushed all over the place. I think everyone involved with the project loses touch without a set day/time for completion.
I completely agree, the time frame sometimes gets overlooked and it can become an issue once the project is started.
Thanks for sharing
Great information, thank you! We have most of this detailed in our contracts.
One of the questions that I ask and seems to surprise some of the clients, is what do they want their website to achieve for them? It’s surprising how many of them simply say “I want a web presence”. This makes me smile simply because they are prepared to pay so much to simply put something ‘out there’ so they can say they are on the web.
Once I explain a few options to them, they seem surprised and after they get over the dismay of realising that making the website is only the beginning, some of them can get quite enthusiastic over increasing their rankings. I show them how to monitor their stats, and this does two things: (1) They appreciate the extra work and enjoy the article I’ll do for them once a month to grow their website and (2) It keeps me in touch every month with them and this gives me great WOM advertising due to excellent service
Jan,
Great points. I agree that once they see results they will want more and ask for additional services from you. Thanks for sharing
It is very important to know that you need a contract when doing any type of design especially for a website. But what I consider is that instead of you trying to learn how to write a contract on your own because of legal obligations. You should hire a lawyer to write a contract out for you that way you know it is legitimate and you will be confident in knowing your contract is safe.
Very nice list! Those are all very important things to think about, I especially liked the way you detailed #5, because most lists like this usually just tell you what you should specify in a contract, but never what should be said depending on the type of media. There are huge differences between, say, illustrations and web sites, so it’s a very good thing that you mentionned them! Thanks
Excellent points and great post! Thanks very much for sharing your thoughts and the post for all of our readers!
I think most of those points for sure can be included and will be useful for both sides – the client and the web design company. Honestly i have got many customers that ask me to create a website for them and they don’t have a clue what is involved.
Steve,
I think most clients don’t know what’s involved so it’s up to the designer to make sure they understand upfront so there is no confusion moving forward. Thanks for sharing.
Contracts are standard operating procedure for businesses. Even small desktop publishing businesses and graphic designers just starting out need to know how to write a contract. Your contract is an agreement between you the designer and your client to provide design and desktop publishing services. You and the client need to be in agreement as to exactly what specific services you are providing, when you’ll finish the job, how much money is involved, and ownership of the completed work.
Nice to see that I already do all of these things for my clients. It really surprises me when people don’t use a contract … see ‘em all the time on TV court programs.
Steve that’s funny and also true, sadly.
#5 is something really important and many people forget about it, but all clients will have wishes once the project is done