Advice regarding contract for services

J

James Sullivan

New Member
Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum and I need some quick flyby advice.

I'm just about to sign contract with a brand designer I found on Behance and he seems very legitimate.

Firstly is there anyway I can investigate him further to see if he is the real deal? Is there anything such as a graphic designer registration?

Secondly the contract for services agreement seemed to be centred around the designer are there any templates that protect the client i.e. that I can send to him to sign so it protects me?

Kind regards,

James
 
Hi James,

There isn't really any way to know for sure if a designer is legit, it's a pretty unregulated industry, to be honest. You could look up their details via Companies House if they're registered as a limited company but if they're self emplyed I don't think there's a public record you can refer to anywhere. If they have past clients, get in touch and ask them for feedback. Just be sure the 'client' isn't the designers' parent, partner, sibling, etc.

When you say the contract favours the designer, what are you referring to? It's standard for us to retain copyrights and license intellectual property rights out since there's a lot of people out there who either don't understand the laws around copyrights or just want to screw people over. Most contracts or offers clients present me with in the past have stacked things purely in the client's favour, so often it depends on who's drawing up the contract. Some clients expect to get design files and everything else sent over as soon as a job is done, but this isn't (and shouldn't be) standard practice for a lot of designers.

A contract should be agreed upon by both parties. Don't sign it if you're not 100% happy or sure about what you're agreeing to. Ask the designer to explain anything you're not sure about. If you don't want to agree to it, discuss it with them and either reword the agreement, or part ways if you can't meet in the middle. Better to not work with someone than fall out further down the line.
 
Hi many thanks for your reply,

I really appreciate your feedback,

When referring to the contract favours the designer I meant there doesn't seem to be many rights about the Client and what I am entitled to once the design has completed...Could I perhaps send contract to you via a private message I'm to see if it is something that is quite reasonable i.e. a standard contract a designer would send?
 
You could just ask him to include in writing what you are and are not entitled to. Any discrepancies in a contract generally favour the party that didn't write it, so if you requested files but he refused and it's not in the contract, you could argue that he didn't stipulate that. Send it over and I'll take a look but you're probably better off having as solicitor check it over.
 
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