Design Agreement Template (A180)

Who can use this Design Agreement?

This Design Agreement template is for use by an artist, illustrator or graphic designer who is commissioned by a client to prepare designs or artwork

This design agreement is one of the templates that we developed for Artquest, which is supported by the University of the Arts, London

What is this Agreement for?

This design contract is flexible document. The Terms of Business can be used when submitting a quotation to a potential client, and there is a short one page Form of Agreement plus a Schedule which will be completed with details of the brief.

What are the main issues?

Scope of work:  You need to be as clear as possible in the brief, to say not only what the end product is intended to be but also how you will get there. In other words, how many drafts or samples will be included in the price.

Timing. Sometimes this can be important for a client and a brief should set out plans delivery dates. Try to make these estimates rather than guaranteed.

Fees and Payment. It is sensible to have stage payments, with an advance and then payments as the work progresses. You’re less at risk than if you simply agree one payment when the work is ready.

Cancellation. Clients can be fickle. Try to protect yourself by having cancellation charges which will increase the later the client decides to cancel.

Intellectual property.  Whether or not you or the client will own the copyright will depend on the nature of the work.  But either way, be sure to have appropriate wording in the Terms of Business. Our template has alternative wording to deal with this.

What detailed terms does the contract contain?

The main points cover:

• definitions and interpretations
• services of the designer
• fees and payment
• cancellation
• intellectual property
• designer warranties
• client obligations
• termination
• confidentiality
• assignment
• notices
• law and disputes

For more information on each of these sections, see our Explanatory Notes  which you will  receive when you download the document from our website.

For information on signing documents see our Contract Signing page

When I download the document, can I change it and/or use it more than once?

Yes, all ContractStore’s templates are in MS Word and you can use the contract on more than one project. For more information, watch the video on this page of our website or see our FAQs

Legal support

ContractStore supplies templates and is not a law firm.  But experienced lawyers write all our templates, so we can arrange legal assistance for customers who need special terms in one of our documents or a bespoke template. . For more information see our Legal Services page.  For more information see our Legal Services page.

Contract Author –Solicitor Giles Dixon

And if you want to contact us see our Contacts page.