Below is Helenly Design Co.’s standard Terms and Conditions.

Please take time to read through my Terms and Conditions thoroughly and ensure you understand them before you commence a project with me. By requesting designs and/or services from Helenly Design Co. you agree to the Terms and Conditions and you are aware that you are entering a binding contract and payment is required.

The below conditions apply to all individuals, businesses or companies (The Client) engaging the services of Helenly Design Co., unless otherwise agreed to in writing by both parties.

General Conditions of Contract

These Terms and Conditions cover all Contracts entered into by The Client with Helenly Design Co. for services relating to design, printing, copywriting, visual media, websites, domain name registration, website and email hosting, social media, brand identity, illustrations, images and photography (Artwork).

These Terms and Conditions are subject to change without notification by Helenly Design Co.

These Terms and Conditions apply to Helenly Design Co. and all of its contractors and subsidiaries.

Commencement of Work

Acceptance of quote/proposal from Helenly Design Co. constitutes agreement to these terms and conditions.

Ongoing Contract Terms

All contracts are ongoing and the Contract Terms cover any work completed on this project or any work thereafter. If The Client notifies Helenly Design Co. of termination in writing, the ongoing contract will cease as per the Termination Policy. Otherwise, the contract will remain in force under the same terms for an ongoing period.

Fees for Service

It is agreed that the fee for service shall be the cost estimates provided via email, unless work undertaken exceeds work outlined. If work undertaken exceeds the items specified in the quote, The Client agrees to pay appropriate fees for the additional work, outside the scope of the original agreement. Wherever possible the client will be notified of increases in the scope of the project.

Payment

The Client agrees to pay a 35% deposit of the quoted amount to commence any design project, with the balance payable prior to delivery of assets. Once research, resources allocated or design work has commenced on a project, this deposit is non-refundable. In the case of a change of mind by The Client this deposit is non-refundable. Helenly Design Co.’s endeavors to provide graphic and web design services that meet and exceed a client’s needs and expectations, but in the event of a “change of mind” (after a project has commenced) by The Client, the initial 35% deposit is forfeited, plus a pro-rata payment based upon the time spent.

If the work time exceeds 4 calendar weeks in duration, The Client agrees to a progress payment of 50% of the balance per month until the conclusion of the project, with any outstanding amount payable in full upon delivery.

All printing accounts must be settled in full prior to the release of the files to the printer.

Accounts which remain outstanding for 14 days after the due date of the invoice may result in suspension of the project or website/email hosting. If you are having difficulty paying your invoice, please get in touch as soon as you are aware of the issue, so we can discuss a solution that works for your company.

Additional Work

This is defined as any work involving additions to the list of items defined in the Project Proposal/Quotation or changes to all pieces of finished artwork after sign-off by an authorised representative of The Client.

From time to time The Client will require extra design requirements during a project, or extra files upon completion of a project. The Client will be informed that the alterations or changes requested fall outside the scope of the original estimate. If The Client wishes these alterations to be made they must agree in writing, and will be charged the Helenly Design Co. hourly rate.

Additional designs not initially quoted for requested during the design process will have additional costs added to the final invoice, payable prior to delivery of the project.

Publication and/or release of work performed on behalf of the client by Helenly Design Co. may not take place before cleared funds have been received.

Any booking fees, delivery fees, design commencement fees, or progress payments are non-refundable once work has commenced if The Client terminates the contract, after work has commenced.

Approval of Final Artwork

While Helenly Design Co. takes all care to avoid errors, Helenly Design Co. accepts no responsibility for typographical errors, spelling mistakes, or incorrect information on any project committed to print or production. The Client is to proof read and approve all final copy before the production of artwork. The email verification of the Client’s Representative shall be conclusive as to the approval of all artwork prior to their release for printing, implementation or installation. No refunds or reprints are given after a final approved design has gone to print due oversights by The Client’s proof reading.

Print – Returns and Refunds

It is agreed that Helenly Design Co. is not responsible or held liable for any errors contained in the final product after the final product has been approved by the client, (approval may be given either verbally or in writing), committed to print or posted in view of the public. Helenly Design Co. will not be held responsible for any changes or amendments made after approval. It is the sole responsibility of the client to notify Helenly Design Co. of any such errors during the revision cycle and before the final files have been generated.

In the event of a need to reprint due to errors in content, the client must inform Helenly Design Co. within 3 days of product acceptance and must return the product (at the cost of the client) within 10 days of acceptance for assessment.

As with all print projects, payment for re-printed projects MUST be prepaid.

Print – Color Variations

With all printing, there may be some colour variations from what you have seen on screen, to what the final product looks like, and previous orders. This is due to the nature of CMYK printing and bulk-run printing system. There will be no reprints at the expense of Helenly Design Co.

Copyright

Helenly Design Co. retains full ownership of design concepts and materials it produces for marketing purposes. Helenly Design Co. will not share The Client’s finished artwork until The Client has launched or published said artwork. Once a concept is approved, finished artwork is delivered to a client and full payment is received, the agreed ownership rights to the finished artwork transfer to the client. Unused concepts remain the property of Helenly Design Co. and includes design proposals and concepts submitted but not approved for the work outlined.

Until final payment Helenly Design Co. retains ownership of all artwork and website architecture. Helenly Design Co. reserve the rights to certain elements used to create your images including fonts, patterns, stock images, textures, colour palettes and other non-exclusive items.

Other than for the promotional use of Helenly Design Co. all services provided shall be for the exclusive use of the client’s said purposes only.

Helenly Design Co. reservess the right to use all artwork produced, concepts produced in the course of the project (including those concepts not selected) and revisions for the purposes of promoting Helenly Design Co. in print or digital media portfolios, social media and blogs, except where the client has specifically requested in writing otherwise.

Social Media and Content Management Services

Helenly Design Co. has no control over the policies of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and all other social media channels being utilised for campaigns. Helenly Design Co. has no say with respect to the type of content that social media channels accept now or in the future.

You acknowledge that Helenly Design Co. makes no warranty that the Social Media Campaign will generate any increase in sales, business activity, profits or any other form of improvement for your business or any other purpose.

You guarantee any elements of text, graphics, photos, designs, trademarks, or other artwork provided to Helenly Design Co. for inclusion in any campaigns are owned by you, or that you have received permission from the rightful owner(s) to use each of the elements.

Helenly Design Co. reserves the right to reject or discontinue the social media services where we are unable to provide the services due to technical, ethical, legal, or other matters. Where applicable, Helenly Design Co. will refund your money for any services not yet rendered.

Website Design – Credit

The Client agrees to allow Helenly Design Co. to place a link to Helenly Design Co.’s own website on the customer’s website. This will be in the form of a small logo or line of text placed in the footer or towards the bottom of each website page.

The Client also agrees to allow Helenly Design Co. to place websites and other designs, along with a link to the client’s site on Helenly Design Co.’s own website for self-promotional purposes.

Website Design – Post-Completion Alterations

Once website design is complete, Helenly Design Co. will provide the customer with the opportunity to review the resulting work. Helenly Design Co. will make up to three set of minor changes at no extra cost within 14 days of the website review peiod. Minor changes include small textual changes and small adjustments to placement of items on the page. It does not include changes to images, colour schemes or any navigation features. Any minor changes can be notified to Helenly Design Co. by e-mail or text. After 14 days of the start of the review period, an hourly fee for tweaks and amendments after this time is payable.

Website Design – Security and Technological advancements

Helenly Design Co. builds and design websites to the best of their knowledge at the time of completion. Helenly Design Co. cannot take responsibility if The Client’s site is “hacked”. Helenly Design Co. does not provide software updates or take responsibility if the software used becomes out of date and obsolete. Helenly Design Co. does not take responsibility for any unforeseen advancements in technology that may have negative effects on any aspects of the Client’s site or system.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) & Search Engine Listings

Helenly Design Co. builds websites according to the trends of SEO at the time of building. We will help you to explore your key words/key phrases; however final key phrase choice is the responsibility of The Client.

Helenly Design Co. cannot guarantee, and is indemnified by The Client against any claims regarding the following: presence of Google or search engine listing, the position of website in any search engines, which or if any of the web pages will be listed in any search engines, the time it will take for any search engines to list the web site and effectiveness of keywords/key phrases.

Helenly Design Co. takes no responsibility for duplicate content found on The Clients website or if the website is search engine blacklisted due to the written content or images of their site.

You acknowledge that Helenly Design Co. makes no warranty that SEO will generate any increase in sales, business activity, profits or any other form of improvement for your business or any other purpose.

Termination Policy

From time to time circumstances beyond the control of either party may result in the need for project cancellation. In the event of the client cancelling a project after a project has commenced, the advance payment (deposit) will be forfeited in lieu of compensation to Helenly Design Co. This is to cover design and administration time spent, resources purchased and allocated, research time and administration costs. If the project is more that 50% completed (this is determined by Helenly Design Co. and the client by negotiation) a pro-rata payment is payable for time spent up until cancellation notice, at the Helenly Design Co. hourly rate.

If a project is cancelled by Helenly Design Co., due to unforeseen circumstances, the deposit will be refunded in full to the client in a timely manner.

In the event of cancellation of the project by the client, ownership of all copyrights and the original artwork and disks shall be returned and retained by Helenly Design Co.

Liability and Litigation

It is agreed that all work and materials provided for The Client by Helenly Design Co. will be free and clear of all liens and encumbrances and may be lawfully used by The Client without infringing upon the rights of others including, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, any copyright trade secret patent or trade mark rights of any third party.

It is agreed that Helenly Design Co. indemnify and hold The Client harmless from and against all claims for injury or death to persons or damage to property (including cost of litigation and legal fees) caused by, arising from or incidental to the services to be performed during the performance of the work outlined, except any such claims which are caused by the negligence of The Client or its employees, and it is agreed that we shall notify The Client in writing of full details of any such claim.

Confidentiality

It is agreed that employees of Helenly Design Co. shall not at any time either during the continuance of the work outlined or thereafter, except in the course of their duties, divulge any of the confidential affairs of The Client or any of its clients or associated companies to anyone whatsoever without the previous consent in writing of The Client.

Helenly Design Co. aims for complete security of our clients and if we select contractors it is based upon previous work, references, and global checks with previous employers, as well as compliance with strict Helenly Design Co. guidelines of professional behaviour and ethics.

Late Payments and Default

An account shall be considered in default if it remains unpaid for 30 days from the due date of the invoice or The Client has stated expressly that they do not intend to pay an invoice by Helenly Design Co., unless prior arrangements have been made. Helenly Design Co. shall at its sole discretion suspend any and all services provided to the client by Helenly Design Co. or its subsidiaries (including but not limited to hosting, websites designed files, concepts, artwork, and email) and employ debt collection measures until the total outstanding balance has been fully paid. This includes any and all unpaid monies due for services ordered, including, but not limited to design, hosting, domain registration, search engine submission, maintenance, sub-contractors, printers, photographers and libraries plus bank interest calculated daily for each day payment is overdue.

Suspension of such services does not relieve the client of its obligation to pay the due amount. Files on external servers, such as hosted e-commerce solutions will be removed and held until payment is made or for 30 days until the client has paid for their invoices in full.

The Client whose account is in default agrees to pay Helenly Design Co. reasonable legal expenses and third-party collection agency fees in the enforcement of these Terms and Conditions.

Helenly Design Co. retains all copyright for work performed until full project costs have been paid. Helenly Design Co. reserves the right to reuse or resell work undertaken in the case of payment default.

Helenly Design Co. accepts no liability or responsibility for loss of income or damage to the client for work removed from third-party servers, as a result of non-payment and The Client will not take legal action for any situation arising from invoice disputes or removal of the disputed work in such cases.

Amendments to these terms and conditions

All and any amendments to the terms and conditions outlined in this submission must be provided in writing by The Client and signed by an authorised representative of Helenly Design Co. prior to the commencement of work outlined in this submission.

Force Majeure

Helenly Design Co. shall not be liable for any failure or delay in supply or delivery of products/services where such failure or delay is wholly or partly due to any cause or circumstances whatsoever outside the reasonable control of Helenly Design Co. including but not limited to war, strikes, lockouts, industrial disputes or unrest, government restrictions or transport delays, fire, power outages, failure attributable to hosting suppliers, breakdown of plant, theft, vandalism, riots, civil commotions, accidents of any kind or act of terrorism.

Disclaimer

Graphic design, strategy, photography and marketing are all highly creative and subjective art forms. As such Helenly Design Co. takes every possible care with professional advice offered and any suggested creative concepts and/or their implementation, however, Helenly Design Co. cannot be held responsible for variations between expectation and outcome.