TS&CS

Initial consultation

Nicholas Ely Design provides one free initial consultation. Meetings or consultations that arise after this session that have not been provided for in the initial estimate will be billed at an hourly rate of $145.00/hr.

If Nicholas Ely Design has spent considerable time consulting, sourcing supplier quotes and tendering for work that does not commence, a consultation fee may be billed to the client.

Prices

All prices are in Australian Dollars unless stated otherwise. All hourly rates are calculated at $145.00, not including GST, unless stated otherwise.

Changes requested by the client outside of the allocated estimate will be charged in addition at $145.00 per hour. Meetings will be subject to the same rate.

Charges for design services to be provided by Nicholas Ely Design will be set out in a written estimate that is provided to the client. The client agrees that changes required over and above the estimated work or required to be carried out after acceptance of the draft design will be liable for a separate charge. Should there be a change or new concept that differs from the initial brief, a new estimate will be given and additional fees will be payable according to time involved. Prices are subject to change without prior notice and estimates are valid for 14 days.

Rush rates

A percentage will be added to the total of an invoice to cover overtime expenses if the client stipulates a very short turnaround time. This will be communicated to the client via email by Nicholas Ely Design before any work on a ‘rush job’ commences.

Deposit

The client agrees to pay a non-refundable deposit of 50% of the estimated amount marked “TOTAL” to commence any job, with the balance payable prior to delivery of finished artwork. No artwork will be handed over until the full balance has been paid.

Acceptance of this quotation means that the least amount payable at the completion of the project is the ‘TOTAL’ remaining after the 30% deposit.

Costs

Materials consumed and expenses incurred during the design process will be charged at cost at the completion of the project.

Printing costs, production costs and hosting costs are never factored into a quote.

Time and availability

While a quote will remain valid for a period of 14 days following its delivery, a commitment by Nicholas Ely to accept the job after the quote has been issued cannot be guaranteed. For this reason, the client is encouraged to respond as quickly as possible to a quote, to avoid scheduling conflicts or new jobs arising that may result from delay.

Intellectual property

Nicholas Ely Design grants clients (upon full payment of any account balance) a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide, fee-free license to use the logo/artwork/design/material for the original intended purpose. This means that you will be provided with the finished art files as quoted (usually a PDF). By default, Nicholas Ely Design will retain a non-exclusive license over all design solutions produced for the client. Nicholas Ely Design reserves the right to use a picture version of the project when completed as part of a promotional portfolio. This portfolio could be viewed on screen, website, in printed form or as a PDF at my discretion. 

As the copyright owner, Nicholas Ely Design can assign some or all of their rights to you, or offer a full unrestricted exclusive license over particular design solutions and material produced. This means that all design rights are handed over to the client. All native working and final art files are released in this transaction. A licensing fee will apply (from $500) assessed on a case-by-case basis.

If a choice of designs is presented, only one solution is deemed to be given by Nicholas Ely Design as fulfilling the agreement. All other designs remain the exclusive property of Nicholas Ely Design. The client will not have any rights to concepts, drafts and/or ideas used in creating the final design.

Nicholas Ely Design retains all rights regarding design processes (incorporated in the development of working files–such as layered Photoshop and InDesign files). Once again you will be granted a non-exclusive license to use the developed IP for the purpose of the intended project. Full copyright or an unrestricted exclusive license can be purchased for an additional fee as outlined above. Each request for the hand-over of copyright will need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me via www.nicholasely.com

Copyright & trademarks

By supplying text, images and other information to Nicholas Ely Design for inclusion in the client’s design or website, the client declares that they hold the appropriate copyright and/or trademark permissions. The ownership of such materials will remain with the client or rightful copyright or trademark owner.

While Nicholas Ely Design endeavours to create only original work and to never infringe upon existing work or create work similar to anything that has been created already by another designer or design studio, the client understands that it is their exclusive responsibility to copyright the logo design and/or seek trademark. Nicholas Ely Design cannot be held liable for any violations of existing copyright or trademarks if the client proceeds with the work without properly securing their identity in the form of a trademark. Furthermore, any investigation into the pursuit of a trade mark is not a service Nicholas Ely Design provides, nor does Nicholas Ely Design take any responsibility for trade marking of any kind, before, during or after the complete design process. It is the client’s responsibility to check trade marking laws and existing Trademarks for availability.

Fonts

Fonts are not copyright to Nicholas Ely Design, only licensed to Nicholas Ely Design, therefore I am unable to supply you, the client, with fonts used within any given project unless it is for the express purpose of printing without breaching my license agreement with my font suppliers. If fonts are required to be included in any handover of work, and Nicholas Ely Design is required to obtain the font’s on behalf of the client, the client will be charged the additional costs of the font license that meets their needs, as defined by the font EULA or the merchant from whom the font license is legally obtained.

Cancellation

Cancellation of work may be made initially by telephone contact, however following this, Nicholas Ely Design will need formal notification in writing, either by letter or email. The client will then be invoiced for all outstanding work completed by Nicholas Ely Design. The balance due must be paid within 30 days.

If a project is cancelled after approval to start and a booking fee has been paid, this is non-refundable and will act as the cancellation fee. However, if a proof has been given and the project is then cancelled the full estimated price minus booking fee will need to be paid by the client. You will remain liable for all fees during any period when services have been discontinued or suspended due to a failure on your part to comply with these Terms & Conditions.

Suspension of services

Nicholas Ely Design reserves the right to terminate services in any case where the client fails to perform their obligations under the Terms stated here. In any case where an amount payable is overdue by more than 30 days, Nicholas Ely Design may terminate your account with final files withheld.

Print issues

While I do everything I can to ensure your print job is of the highest quality, there may be variations in colour and quality. Where possible I will guide and advise you regarding your print job, however Nicholas Ely Design does not take responsibility for any printing process issues like CMYK colour variations or specialty print issues, which are out of my control. If a press check is available and I think necessary I will suggest this to ensure a close colour match and quality control. I encourage you to attend the press check to approve the colour etc before the job is printed. A press check is scheduled at a time that suits the printer and can be after hours in some cases. Should a press check be required it will be billed to your account for time and mileage by me. There will be no reprints at Nicholas Ely Design’s expense.

Approvals of artwork

While Nicholas Ely Design takes care to avoid errors, once artwork is approved, it is final. Please take time and care in editing your artwork. Spelling mistakes and incorrect information supplied to Nicholas Ely Design, are not my responsibility. No refunds or reprints will be given.

Job progress

Requests for information, revision instructions and/or imagery may be made by Nicholas Ely Design to the client. Failure to meet these requests that impedes the progress of the job shall be considered the liability of the client. 

Confidentiality

Nicholas Ely Design will not disclose or make public to any other client or third party, any information, material or item in connection with this project, unless authorised in writing.

Credit

When designing a website for a client, the client agrees to allow Nicholas Ely Design to place a small credit on the client’s website. This will usually be in the form of a small logo or line of text placed towards the bottom of the home page linking to www.nicholasely.com

The client also agrees to allow Nicholas Ely Design to place any designs and websites, along with a link to the client’s site, on Nicholas Ely Design’s own website for demonstration purposes and to use any designs in his own publicity.

Proofreading

Neither Nicholas Ely, nor any party contracted to complete work on behalf of Nicholas Ely or Nicholas Ely Design shall be responsible for proof-reading or general proofing of any work prior to online release or print. All forms of proofing remain the sole responsibility of the client.

Quote accuracy

If any of the information contained within a quote is incorrect, it is the duty of the client to notify Nicholas Ely before accepting it.

Payment Methods

All invoices will be emailed to the client as a PDF file. Payment can be made by cash, cheque or Direct Deposit (preferred). Please make all cheques payable to ‘Nicholas Ely’. Returned cheques will incur an additional fee of $50 per returned cheque. Nicholas Ely Design reserves the right to consider an account to be in default in the event of a returned cheque.

Project duration

Any indication given by Nicholas Ely Design of a design project’s duration is to be considered by the client to be an estimation. Nicholas Ely Design will endeavour to meet the client’s timeline, but shall not be responsible for any loss or damage caused by late delivery.

Delivery

Nicholas Ely Design is not liable for printing products that are damaged, lost or delayed when in transit. Where possible, the client will be supplied with a tracking number and you can contact the appropriate courier company for more information on your parcel.

Logos

Logos and brand identities created by Nicholas Ely Design will be provided to the client owner in various file formats for the purposes of your unrestricted use of the agreed intended business material. Logo suites will contain editable EPS files for your agreed use, however these files are not to be altered, modified or adapted in any way without permission from Nicholas Ely Design. Should you require changes to the logo I ask that you return to Nicholas Ely Design with your request in order to maintain copyright and design integrity. Fees will apply for this service. 

Final art files

Final art print files (logos excepted) will be provided to the client as high resolution PDF files unless requested otherwise. It is my policy that the final art native working files remain with Nicholas Ely Design to protect both your copyright and mine. If you require the final art working files (InDesign, Photoshop or Illustrator) please request this at the onset of the job to avoid an artwork retrieval fee. A licensing fee will apply (from $500) assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Artwork retrieval

Once your job is completed I archive your artwork files 30 days later. Should you require me to search for and re-open archived files to retrieve artwork and re-supply files to you, I charge a fee for this service.

Supplying files

All text files are to be supplied as electronic Word documents. Any images or logos should only be supplied in 300dpi resolution, images taken from the web are not adequate for print. Large files can be zipped (compressed) and emailed. Company corporate colours, fonts or style guides should be specified before design commences. 

Editing & copy-writing 

Text should be supplied as the final edited text. I recommend professional copy-writing for your text. I do not correct text as I typeset. Unedited text will result in author corrections which are billed per hour.

Client corrections, revisions and changes

Correction requests that fall outside of the initial estimate will be charged as an additional cost at my quoted hourly rate. Client requests (also called author’s corrections) are any requested changes to design, text, structure or content, which vary from the original brief or are requested after approval of that project stage has been received.

Usually two or three minor revisions are factored into the initial estimate. If the revision process exceeds this allocation, additional hourly charges of $145.00 will be applied. The client will be notified by Nicholas Ely Design in writing when the allocated budget has been exceeded.

Scope creep

Alterations to the scope of the brief that fall outside of the initial estimate will result in additional hourly charges, as outlined above, and may require a new estimate.

Client approval

Nicholas Ely Design is not responsible or liable for any errors typographic or otherwise on design work once the client has approved proofs both electronic or printed. Please check all artwork thoroughly.

Free pitching

Nicholas Ely Design does not endorse ‘free pitching’, but supports the Australian Graphic Design Association Code of Ethics on the issue. Any presentation to a client requiring the production of original ideas/concepts must be reimbursed either with an agreed pitching fee or the signing of a design proposal and must be in confidence.

Closing jobs

Nicholas Ely Design has a policy to close off long term jobs that are stagnant after 6 months. The client will be notified two weeks before close off and given the opportunity to provide further instruction or content to progress and complete the job within a reasonable time frame. The job will be invoiced at close. 

Print brokerage

Nicholas Ely Design does not charge a print brokerage fee which is a surcharge on top of printing costs. Instead I charge a Print Management fee as outlined in all estimates requiring print management. This covers my time in consultation and coordination of any print project. Should further quote sourcing (above 3) be required following a submitted proposal or specifications change – further print management fees will apply. Nicholas Ely Design does not carry the printing cost of any project unless agreed at the onset of the project. All print/production costs are invoiced directly to the client, unless under the express request of my printer or client at the time of quoting.

Websites

While I do everything I can to ensure your website is trouble free, once it’s launched on the internet there are many things out of my control. Nicholas Ely Design takes no responsibility for any third party products, plug-ins, software or components used in the website development. Nicholas Ely Design is not responsible for any third party interference or account suspension of your website following the launch.

Domain registration and hosting charges are not included as a part of the quote unless stated otherwise. Nicholas Ely Design can organise an appropriate hosting solution if required, a quote for which will be issued. Where clients decide to organise their own hosting, I should be consulted before finalising the type of hosting, as it should meet the requirements of the technology used for the website development. Please note that I may require full access with hosting support. Nicholas Ely Design will not be liable for any delays or errors caused by direct or indirect actions of the hosting company. Further technical support, repairs, training, maintenance or updating will be charged by the hour.

Payment and invoicing

Terms of payment are strictly 30 days from invoice date unless an alternative arrangement is negotiated prior to commencement of the project.

Nicholas Ely Design reserves the right to request up to a 30% deposit before commencing a project. Extended projects (more than one month) may be invoiced per stage or per month with progress payments. Payment in full of any balance must be received before files are handed to client or website goes live. Quotes are valid for 14 days. All charges shown are estimates only and are subject to change.