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contract graphic design
The Art of Business: Finally, a Design Contract for the Little Guy
Client
contracts are essential, but if you're a small to mid-sized business, hiring a
lawyer to create them may be beyond your means. The new "Standard Form of
Agreement for Graphic Design Services" published by the American Institute
of Graphic Arts can help -- and it's free!
(creativepro.com)
By Eric J. Adams, creativepro.com
contributing editor
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
If you're like most designers contract graphic design, you've used a series of client contracts ranging
from hastily written memos to convoluted treatises taken from the back of
design business books or CDs. And if you're like most designers, you're not
sure whether the contract is protecting you well or perhaps even harming your
interests.
It's doubtful
any contract you've used or created is as comprehensive or elegant as "The
Standard Form of Agreement for Graphic Design Services," a free, downloadable contract from the
American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA).
The contract was
drafted in large part by Shel Perkins,
a management advisor to creative firms, chair of the AIGA national task force
on the Center for Practice Management, columnist, and author of the upcoming
book, "Talent Is Not Enough: Business Secrets for Designers" (2006,
New Riders/Peachpit Press). Jim Faris, founder of The
Management Innovation Group, also helped write the contract.
I sat down with
Shel and Jim to ask them about the new contract.
Eric Adams: What
does the new contract cover? What are its major elements?
Shel Perkins and
Jim Faris: The new document being published by AIGA includes basic terms and
conditions and intellectual property issues that apply to all design projects,
plus a series of supplements to address extra issues that come up only on
print, interactive, or three-dimensional projects.
EA: How is it
different from former contracts or standard GA contracts?
SP & JF: It does not take a preprinted, fill-in-the-blanks
approach, and it does not assume that one size will fit all.
What's really
new is that it's modular. This approach seems natural to us as designers.
However, it's not an approach that attorneys take very often.
EA: Who should
use it?
SP & JF: It's intended
for small to mid-sized design firms who are preparing proposal documents to
submit to client organizations. (Large design firms already have contract
language that they've developed with their own attorneys.)
The idea is to write your own proposal contract graphic design, then attach the
appropriate legal modules. Most design firms write proposals that are narrative
-- they describe the scope of work and the methodology that will be used. When
you attach the appropriate terms and conditions, you'll have a complete
document to use as the starting point for your negotiations with the client.
When signed by both parties, the complete document will be your contract.
EA: What were
the major issues that you grappled with when creating it?
SP & JF: The biggest
challenge is that AIGA membership is extremely diverse, with more than 18,000
members involved in a wide range of design disciplines. For this project, we
needed to define common concerns -- legal and financial issues shared by all.
However, we also knew some extra information would be needed that was
discipline-specific. This led to the supplements. To keep the project
manageable, though, we had to focus on major disciplines that would have the
broadest relevance.
EA: What was the
process of contract approval?
SP & JF: The development
process included researching eleven reference contracts, preparing five drafts,
and consulting with four attorneys. We've been working on this for more than a
year.
EA: How can or
should graphic artists use the contract?
SP & JF: For small
design firms, this will be a step up in terms of business practices. It's more
comprehensive than what they've been using, and the modular approach is not
entirely self-explanatory. For this reason, this set of terms and conditions is
being published with instructions and detailed explanations of all the issues
involved. In conjunction with the launch, we'll be presenting educational
events with AIGA chapters around the country on the topic of design contracts.
In these sessions, we'll talk about negotiating strategies. Because the
recommended contract language is comprehensive, it's not particularly short. To
avoid giving your clients so much fine print on every single project, we're
going to recommend negotiating just once at the beginning of each relationship.
Then all future projects can simply refer back to the terms that are already in
place.
EA: Do you have
to be a member of AIGA to use the contract?
SP & JF: No. A printed
copy is being mailed to AIGA members, but anyone can download a version for
free at http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm?contentalias=standard_form.
EA: How can AIGA
help, if at all, to enforce the contract?
SP & JF: This suggested
contract language is being provided as a reference. Our hope, of course, is
that it will be accepted as standard among design professionals. That will only
happen if it's widely used. We're extremely pleased that it has already
received official endorsement from the Association of Professional Design Firms.
It's important to note, however, that legal information is not the same as
legal advice. If you have questions about the application of law to your own
particular situation and specific circumstances, you should, of course, consult
with an attorney.
EA: For creativepro.com readers who don't belong to AIGA, can
you give a little information about the origanization?
SP & JF: AIGA was
created to support the interests of professionals, educators, and students who
are engaged in the process of designing, regardless of where they are in the
arc of their careers. The disciplines contract graphic design represented in the profession range from book and
type design through the traditional communication design disciplines to the
newer disciplines of interaction design, experience design, and motion
graphics.
EA: Tell me
about your backgrounds.
SP: I'm a graphic
designer, management consultant, and educator with nineteen years of experience
in managing the operations of leading creative companies. As a consultant, I
advise a wide range of creative agencies. I teach professional practices at the
Academy of Art University, the California College of Arts, and the
JF: I'm a design
innovator and now focus on helping companies develop a long-term perspective of
their products, processes, and organizational purpose. I have created new
products and identities for Apple Computer, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, the
Prior to
founding Management Innovation Group, I was a principal of AlbenFaris, a
pioneering firm in design for interactive experiences. I was chosen as one of
the ID Forty, ID Magazine's pick of "the most important design innovators
from the West Coast."
More from AIGA
While you're on the AIGA web site, download a copy of
the organization's free brochure, "What
every business needs. And how." The 15-page document explains
to your client, whether in-house or external, the role designers play in
problem-solving. It's a very nice leave-behind for presentations from a worthy
organization.
Read more by Eric J. Adams.