Terms & conditions for design & Illustration clients

Mission statement: I will do my best to provide you with high quality work that you are completely happy with and perfectly fits your brand and vision whilst filling, or exceeding, the terms of the brief and achieves the intended outcomes.

Briefs: It is important you are as clear as possible when setting briefs to ensure I can clearly understand in order to give an accurate quote. I will try to guide you to ensure I have all the information I need and I will aim to keep you fully informed where a brief looks to be expanding from its original course following commencement.

Deadlines and budgets: I will do my best to provide work on time and on budget, however due to workload or family commitments, occasionally projects may be turned around later than planned. If this is the case I will try to let you know in advance but would really appreciate your flexibility bearing this in mind. I will do my best to provide high quality work at a fair price, and if timed, within a fair timescale to keep within your budget. In the rare circumstance that a project is turned around later than anticipated, unfortunately I cannot accept liability.

For budgeted work, I will try to make clear within the quote what is included –  anything outside of this may have to be charged additionally. If the project scope expands from what is initially envisioned I will endeavour to advise you in advance so budgetary agreement can be reached.

Minimum timings and fees: I have a minimum invoice fee of £60. My hourly rate is chargeable in 15 minute increments. Timings are rounded up to the nearest 15 mins, with a minimum charge of £20 for new requests, small one off jobs or amends to projects already signed off / already invoiced. Jobs are tallied and invoiced every 30 days from the first new uninvoiced request, with a minimum invoice fee of £60. 

Meetings: I meet new clients in person or via Zoom or Skype meeting for a first project meeting, if deemed appropriate to the project scope and budget. If a meeting is requested for a smaller budget project, a charge may have to be made according to travel costs plus travel time plus meeting time, agreed in advance. Where more than one meeting is required throughout the scope of a project, this can either be factored into the budget at the quote stage (clients should request if they think further meetings will be required), or quoted and charged for at the time of each meeting. Meetings cancelled or changed without due notice (24 hours is the minimum notice period) are charged at a minimum fee of £50 or more according to length of time scheduled, including relevant travel if applicable. 

Amendments: are charged hourly for timed projects, but for budgeted projects I will set an amount allowable within the quote terms. Further amendments are charged at an hourly agreed rate.

Written copy: if clients are able to edit and correct their written copy as much as possible in advance of the design stage it will help to keep the project within budget. I am happy to assist with corrections, but post-design stage making lots of changes to copy can be time consuming. I fully understand you may want to make some amendments after the design has been drafted but I would be very grateful if you could try to do them in two or three sets. Please let me know if you want some help with editing and proofing your copy as I may be able to assist with this.

Proofing, printing and signing off materials: Please note it is the client’s responsibility to fully proof any materials (either printed or electronic) prior to approval for printing or electronic circulation and the designer cannot accept any liability for errors missed. It is also the client’s responsibility to ensure all printing instructions and artworks sent to the printers are accurate. I work with a number of trusted local printers and will endeavour to obtain preferential quotes for you – if you are interested, please shout.

Working hours: I work to a flexible schedule which may or may not include weekends and evenings, and sometimes take days off during the week to fulfil family commitments. I may sometimes work outside of normal office hours however I may not necessarily respond to emails outside of office hours and would prefer to take phonecalls during office hours (unless by prior arrangement). I may occasionally change my working hours at short notice; if that affects a project I will usually attempt to let clients know in advance. I will endeavour to be flexible and understanding if a client is unable to provide required information on time.

Short notice: I will try my best to undertake projects sent with short notice if I have time, but it may not always be possible. If I really do not have the time but the project is extra urgent I may consider taking it on for a short-notice fee agreed in advance, although if I am available will endeavour to do it at the normal rate.

Technical issues: If, after starting a project, part of it falls out of my scope of knowledge and may take longer than planned I will let you know. I generally problem-solve quickly, but if I have to make additional charges I will let you know in advance. Therefore, it is important clients clarify expectations and the technical brief clearly in advance of commencement to ensure all bases are covered at the quote stage.

Please bear in mind…..Design work may look like it was easy when viewing the end result, but the time taken can vary and depending on the content, it occasionally takes longer than anticipated to get a perfect result. I will always try to maintain transparency and fairness around  time taken and the cost of a project. Please do ask if you have any questions around time taken.

Acceptance of quotes and payment liability – once a quote has been accepted by the client they are liable to pay full costs within the timescales agreed.

Provision of source files – source files (such as InDesign or Photoshop files) remain the property of the designer unless confirmed by prior written agreement. I’ll provide you with the final artwork you require (such as print ready PDF, AI files for logos, jpgs etc) within the agreed project price, but source files like InDesign or PSD files are not automatically provided unless otherwise agreed. I will endeavour to keep source files safe should they be required again in future, but I do not guarantee to keep them indefinitely and whilst I will endeavour to fulfil source file provision requests, cannot guarantee this, in case of occasional file corruption, or data loss. If I am able to provide them, they will not be provided until all outstanding invoices have been settled. There is an agreed fee payable for release of source files to cover time spent, and is a minimum charge of £45 per file or more, equating to 15% of the original design fee (up to a maximum of £150). This fee is payable in advance of file transfer and designs may not be used elsewhere and will not be released until this fee has been paid. Images contained within source file packages: When a source file is provided, it will usually contain a folder of image files, PDFs and JPGs of photos or documents originally used within that document. The client receiving the source files must ensure all image permissions and licenses whereby appropriate are obtained and checked with the original authors or license holders prior to reusing any supplied fonts, images or documents, to ensure you have appropriate reproduction permission when reusing them, and must ensure any images reused are correctly attributed to the license holder. Images may not be reshared unless you have express permission to do so from the image copyright holder. Lila Hunnisett Design cannot be held responsible if source file images or other assets are reused without the correct permissions or attributed correctly; all liability will be the client’s.

Copyright For graphic design jobs (such as flyers, leaflets, logos, adverts, booklets, branding projects etc), as soon as invoice payment has been received, the artwork copyright for the piece as a whole (excepting individual design elements) becomes property of the client unless otherwise specified (notwithstanding individual images or illustrations used within, which may have special reproduction or copyright limitations (e.g. a photograph that is used with permission, or a stock image would not automatically become copyright of the client). 

Certain projects (such as bespoke illustrations) may have copyright ownership limitations and reproduction limitations agreed in advance, depending on the project. The artwork, or design elements from artwork must not be used in another context other than for the original intended purpose, as outlined in the original quote communications, invoice or contract, unless full permission has been given by the designer and / or appropriate collaborator/s. Usage limitations will depend on what has been requested at the quote stage. Please ask for clarity on this if you are not sure. Illustrations, designs or parts thereof may not be commercially reproduced and sold by the client (for example, they may not be added to a saleable product such as a commercial greetings card, or other item, or sold as a print, or sold in any way) unless a contract has been agreed in writing in advance outlining full licensing terms and appropriate fees. If a client has commissioned a specific artwork, I will not sell the artwork or parts thereof as a commercial product, unless this is specifically agreed as part of a written and agreed contract made between myself (as designer) and the client. 

Source files remain property of the designer (Indesign or Photoshop files) unless otherwise agreed in advance. Logo copyright becomes the sole property of the client once payment has been received, and can be freely reproduced by the client but may not be sold / resold to third parties for other purposes. 

Typeface and fonts: if a client provides me with fonts / typefaces and related font files to use within work, I will assume they have the relevant and legal license to provide me with them and any legal liability arising from such actions is the client’s. Whereby I am directed by a client to use a “free” brand font or other font to be downloaded from a website or similar, the client is fully responsible and legally liable for ensuring the font license is legal and fine to use for the intended purpose/s. Clients should ensure they are fully licensed for any fonts used within their branding and I cannot accept liability in the event that they are not or if they have misinterpreted the font usage legal guidelines or license. I will endeavour to ensure fonts used on behalf of a client are legally suitable to use for their intended purpose, but in the event that they are not, or if a license has been misinterpreted in error, the legal liability is the client’s. Please do contact me about font licensing and I will do my best to help you check on font licensing if necessary.

Images, credits and copyright – should a client provide me with images (such as photos or illustrations) for use within artwork or a website, they must ensure they have full permission to reproduce these (and that they provide full details of attributions required and ensure this is applied prior to finished artwork circulation). I cannot accept liability whereby images have been provided for which copyright permission has not been obtained or attributed correctly. Images provided by myself will be properly sourced and attributed where appropriate, as far as I am able, but in case of error or omission I am unable to accept liability. Within client projects, I sometimes use images, photos, graphic elements and illustrations from copyright free websites such as Pixabay or Pexels. Although these websites cite that all their content is copyright free, and legally ok to reproduce (sometimes within certain guidelines – I will attempt to ensure this is met, where appropriate), and I use the images or illustrations in good faith that this is true, I cannot guarantee their 100% legitimacy and accept no liability in the unlikely instance that something has been wrongly mislabelled as copyright free by the site or someone uploading to the website, or unknowingly has not met usage guidelines. Although I understand these sites take steps to remove any content that does not meet their copyright free guidelines, and I use this content in good faith that these legal reproduction guidelines are met, all clients should have their own insurance policies to cover any potential legal issues that may arise from such images used unknowingly. I can give guidance around image reproduction if you need it but my guidance should not be taken as being legally accurate. I will always be happy to remove an image that has unknowingly breached any copyright restrictions in error so please let me know if you think this has occurred so steps can be taken to immediately rectify the situation. Clients may not reuse images, illustrations, photos or graphic elements supplied in their designs or artworks for other purposes unless they own the full copyright or are sure they are legally reproducible/copyright free and attributed correctly; any liability arising from such usage will be solely the client’s. Clients should not reuse any images supplied as part of source file packages unless they are sure that the full reproduction and copyright guidelines have been met; liability for this will be solely the client’s. As of July 2021 I will attempt to flag up with the client to ensure copyright free images or illustrations used are signed off and will obtain client approval and liability acceptance in writing for any such usage; full liability will be the clients. For any historical usage, liability is solely the clients. 

Invoices – must be paid in full within the timescales indicated. For invoices paid after 30 days of the due date, a late payment fee of £40 is applicable (for invoices under £999.99) or £70 (for invoices £1000 and over). After 30 days have passed after the original due date, I may also add on interest if the balance of the invoice is over £100 according to the bank of England interest rates. A further late payment fee of £40 or £70 is applicable for each additional 30 days late the invoices remains unpaid thereafter. This is to cover the the administrative time taken to chase and process late payments and protect from such cases arising. Therefore, I would very much appreciate prompt payment – many thanks. No work will be carried out whilst an invoice is overdue and if a large balance is outstanding that is not overdue, I may decide against undertaking further work for that client until monies owed have been paid. 

Use of designs in portfolio or for promotional purposes – all work, including draft is carried out with the full agreement that it can be used and reproduced for promotional purposes on my website, social media or other promotional platforms (such as social media) to promote my design services. It will not be used or reproduced for other purposes. 

Web design and hosting terms and conditions – all website work is subject to full acceptance of the separate terms and conditions for web design and hosting sent to the client with the invoice (or at the start of a project). If for any reason you are not sent these, please ask and I will send you a copy pronto.

Advice & information – If I provide a client with information or advice, written or otherwise, about the design process or any other business related advice or information, I will endeavour to ensure it is accurate and up to date. Such information or advice should be taken as advisory only and clients should always research independently to ensure they are up to date on any issues advised upon. Every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of information and advice provided by Lila Hunnisett Design and its associates, however no liability can be accepted by Lila Hunnisett Design for any loss occasioned to any person or entity acting or failing to act as a result of anything contained in or omitted from Lila Hunnisett Design’s work, written communications, this website or any data or advice provided to any client or their associates. Lila Hunnisett Design accepts no liability for any written content given or used within any piece of work for any client.

Legal information & disclaimer – Every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of information provided on this website, however no liability can be accepted by Lila Hunnisett Design for any loss occasioned to any person or entity acting or failing to act as a result of anything contained in or omitted from the content of this website.

Finally – I enjoy great working relationships with my clients and want to ensure we are both getting results we are truly happy with, creatively, personally and professionally. If you have any suggestions for ways I can help you, please let me know…I want you to be happy! I also love discussing new ideas and ways of working to help you move forward so shout if you’ve thought of something exciting we can discuss… and thank you for working with me!