Our Contract

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Between you [your name] and Second Crop Creative (Ross Harried).

Summary:

My goal is to fulfill every last one of your creative requests, because let's face it, referrals and word of mouth help keep me afloat. It is, however, important to have things written down so that we both know what’s what, who should do what and when, and what will happen if something goes wrong. You've already gained my respect as a client (or potential client) for already checking this page out. And as a reward for doing so I want to point out that in this particular contract you won’t find any complicated legal terms or hidden fine print, or worse yet, pages and pages of copy which are filled with 90% grade-A bull malarkey. I have no desire to try and trick you into signing something that you may regret. I want what's best for both parties, now and in the future.

Long story short:

You ([your name]), located at [your address], are hiring me (Ross Harried via Second Crop Creative) to [create/design/develop/manage/photograph/record/capture/edit/consult/etc.] for the estimated total price of [total] as outlined in our previous correspondence. Of course it’s a little more complicated, but we’ll get to that.

What do both parties agree to do?

You: You have the authority to enter into this contract on behalf of yourself, your company or your organisation. You will give me the assets and information I communicate that I need to complete the project. You will do this when I ask and provide it in the formats I need in a timely manner. Additionally, you will review my work, provide feedback and approval in a timely manner as well. Deadlines work two ways, so you will also be bound by dates we set together. You will also agree to stick to the payment schedule set out at the end of this contract.

Me: I have the experience and ability to do everything I have agreed with you and I will do it all in a professional and timely manner. I will strive to meet every deadline that’s set and on top of that I will maintain the confidentiality of everything you give me.

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Art & Design

Web: I create 'responsive' designs, and flexible layouts that adapt to the capabilities of many devices and screen sizes. I create designs that utilize HTML and CSS so I don’t waste time mocking up every template as a static and unrealistic visual. For website work, I prefer to give you the look and feel as it would be displayed in it's web format, however, from time to time I may employ Photoshop to provide a static mockup to help visualize where my head is at.

Commissioned Artwork: If you are commissioning original artwork for personal use or commercial use I will take your art direction and provide my creative output based on your directed input. Please note, however, if you are commissioning an artist to create original artwork, you must trust the artist's education, opinion and talent. If you have seen my work, have enjoyed my work, and have made it as far as to commission my work, I would assume you have some idea of what you should expect to get.

You will have plenty of opportunities to review my work and provide feedback. If, at any stage, you are not happy with the direction my work is taking, you will pay me in full for everything I have produced until that point in the project and cancel this contract.

Text content

I do not provide professional copy writing and proof reading services. The text content of your website/print collateral will be provided by you or your choice of a qualified third party. I will then copy and paste that content into its space within the design/project.

Graphics and photographs

You should supply graphic files in an editable, vector digital format (e.g. AI or SVG). You should supply photographs in a high resolution digital format. If you need help obtaining photographs, either from stock sites or just need photographs taken, I can help you with both of those tasks at an additional fee outside of the original quote of the project.

Changes and revisions

I know from experience that fixed-price contracts are rarely beneficial to you, as they often limit you to your earliest ideas. I don’t want to handcuff your ability to change your mind. Honestly, I have found that changing your mind is part of the process. The price at the beginning of this contract is based on the number of weeks that I estimate I’ll need to accomplish everything you’ve told me you want to achieve, but I'm happy to be flexible. If you want to change your mind or add anything new, that won’t be a problem as I’ll provide a separate estimate for those additional weeks. Please note, as we discussed earlier (above) deadlines are a two way tango, if you are not handing assets off in a timely manner I will do my best to remind you how this can push off the deadline, and if things get too hairy, I may have to remind you of the original quote and contract.

Some Legal stuff

I can not guarantee that my work will 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, even if you’ve advised me of them. Finally, if any provision of this contract shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this contract and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

Copyrights

First, you guarantee that all elements of text, images or other artwork you provide are either owned by you or your organization, or that you’ve permission to use them. Then, when your final payment has cleared, copyright will be automatically assigned as follows:

Web: You’ll own the visual elements that I create for this project and the code that I write. I’ll give you source files and finished files and you should keep them somewhere safe as I'm not required to keep a copy. You own all elements of text, images and data you provided, unless someone else owns them.

I will own the unique combination of these elements and code that constitutes a finished digital product and I will license its use to you, exclusively and in perpetuity for this project only, unless we agree otherwise.

Commissioned Artwork: You will own the original copy of the purchased artwork, however, unless otherwise stated, I will retain all copyright of the artwork for reproduction as I see fit.

Displaying my work

I love to show off my work (it's my best marketing tool outside your referral), so I reserve the right to display all aspects of my creative work, including sketches, photographs, video reels, work-in-progress designs and the completed project on my portfolio and in articles on websites, in magazine articles and in books. By agreeing to this contract you hereby grant me unrestricted permission to use the work I have created for you for any purpose whatsoever.

Payment schedule

I'm sure you understand how important it is as a small business that you pay the invoices that I send you promptly. As I'm also sure you’ll want to stay friends, you agree to stick tight to the following payment schedule.

[Payment details]

[Payment schedule]

I issue invoices electronically. My payment terms are 30 days from the date of invoice.

I reserve the right to charge interest on all overdue debts at the rate of 1.5% per month or part of a month.

You can not 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.

Signed by Ross Harried via Second Crop Creative

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Signed by [your name] (on behalf of [company name])

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Date [date]

Everyone should sign above and keep a copy for their records.