Thursday, August 12th, 2010...12:30 am
Designer Roundtable – Project Contracts
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What is the most important item every designer needs
to include in their project contract agreement?
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Reference Articles For Discussion:
What to Include In Your Design Contracts – by Brian Hoff on The Design Cubical
12 Points to Include in Your Design Contract – by Angela Ferraro-Fanning on Freelance Switch
The ability to use the work for my portfolio.
If, worse comes to worse and they don’t pay me, or I can get it turned around in time, or something else happens…I want to be able to show my work on my website.
Good call Ashley! I’ve gotten burned by that before. It’s something I have never understood. Isn’t having their company name in my portfolio a form of free advertising for them?
If they don’t pay me for my work, chances are there’s not much of a company to advertise.
Regardless, my contracts always include the basics.
-Just how much work is covered and how to handle extra add-on work and revisions.
-Time schedule for when payment is due.
And probably anything you could come up with when thinking about what the worst thing could be if it happened. “What if X happens?” “What if the client….?” And find a way to cover it in advance. I bet reading Clients From Hell would help with this!
Excellent points! All of them. I think a lot of us have to learn the hard way what to put in our contracts. I saw a sign the other day that said “experience is what you get when you don’t get what you wanted”. It sounded like something I needed to have hanging up somewhere so that I could read it every day.
The thing I will not work without is my “Escape Clause” – it’s a small section in my contract that will allow protection for for me or my client in case we need to terminate the project before it’s completion. Do either of you work with anything like that?
I haven’t found too much need for an escape clause for me. My work is done in two parts: The session, the fee for which is not refundable. Then the prints/products/ordering. Which they are not obligated to do. I keep it pretty simple.
If someone has a sample contract or a link to a sample contract, that would be useful to one such as me who is finding himself out of a job because of the economy and thrown into the freelance world. (Nice run-on sentence there.)
I like your run-on sentience.
One place I started out at was http://agree2.com. They not only have templates that you can look over but also have staff that you can talk to in case you have any questions.
But I would love to know what are some of the other links people use for contract samples and advice?
Wendy brings up the point of non-refundable payments. I have that in my contract as well – how do the rest of you feel about giving refunds?
I do not refund the initial deposit. If they back out or end the project then I keep the source files and the deposit.
My time is valuable whether you change your mind about the project or not.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Firgs, Rachel LaRee. Rachel LaRee said: RT @Firgs: If you've got some time, come check out the Designer Roundtable. This week we're talking about contracts. http://tinyurl.com/2fvwk8e #design [...]
Thanks Firgs, I’ll check it out! But I may need to make some adjustments that apply to me in Canada!
It goes without saying you should have an attorney, preferably one who understands the creative industry review your contract. Simply grabbing a “contract template” off a website is a recipe for disaster.
The mistake EVERYONE makes when trying to start a new business is NOT RESEARCHING ENOUGH what it takes to run that business. Being an excellent photographer is NOT the same thing as running a portrait studio.
When it comes to contracts be sure to define the project goals as bullet points. Define what happens if there are amendments or changes to the project. How will you cover your additional expenses? When/why will the client receive additional billing?
As the creative problem solver/communicator it is up to you to help your clients understand what it is they are paying for, and how their money is being spent. Don’t assume they know how many hours go into logo design or character animation.
Understand you will be communicating intangible ideas at times to folks who want tangible results.
An interesting question came up over on the Design Informer Forums – what are your recommendations (if any) for creating/obtaining digital signatures?
No matter what I always get a signed printed copy…even if they have to mail it to me. Although I do accept signed, scanned and emailed copies too.