Poster design for Batman: The Dark Knight is revealed

I like movies in general, but for a few exceptions, I'm hardly impressed (graphically) by their posters. The Dark Knight Returns' teaser poster is one of these exceptions. I like it very much: it's all about character and story, nothing about the cast.

- It omits showing the characters, but they could never be more present than this, even if you knew only a little about the Bat-lore.
- Again, without seeing the Joker at all, the poster clearly states we will not deal with anything close to Romero or Nicholson's portrayals. This Joker seems to mean deadly business, and if I had kids, I'd reconsider right away bringing them to the theater.
- The graffiti approach gives us the impression the posters are there to taunt Bats and that the release date of the flick will be a showdown not to miss.

I know I won't.

Graphic Designers Getting in Business (GD-GIB): Contracts

Other GD-GIBs:
-GD-GIB: Overview

This post is an edited blurb I gave on the GDC listserv on things to include in a contract, including a lot of valuable comments and suggestions from the list's members integrated in it.
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Some suggestions based on my rules:

- First rule of business: make a written contract.
- Second rule of business: make a written contract.
- Third rule of business: make a written contract, and what the heck is this Fight Club thing?

- Verbal contract do exist, but should be only done by someone who has done written contracts before, and for very basic things that can't get out of hands. Sorry, I don't have any examples in mind to give. This is a sign as how rarely this should be done ;). Plus, you're breaking the first 3 rules if you do so.

- The contract defines the structure of the work relation. It does not protect you only, but also your client.

- A contract doesn't necessarily mean fixed price, it can be by hourly rates.

There is also special form of contract made for freelance jobs. It is called a "retainer". Basically, a "retainer" reserves a predetermined amount of your time per week (or longer) to the client, for a given price and over a fixed period of time (say, 20 hours per week for 2 months at x$/hour). This amount should be paid periodically (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) even if you haven't received any work from them in that time. That's right: You may have worked for them less than predetermined, but you've built your schedule around the assumption work would come. Any additional time will be charged accordingly. Usually, the rate charged on the predefined period will be lower than usual because it is "assured income" (Pick in your profit margin or work-time estimate adjustment, but don't chip in your overhead or personal income) while additional time will be closer to your regular fee. Clauses like rush fees, late fees and business hours shouldn't be left out either.
If I'm not mistaken, I think the RGD Ontario site has a template for retainers.


Things to do/say in a contract:

- Milstone the payments, and start right off with a contract-opening one, invoiced at the signature of the contract. A classical example in a fixed-price contract would be: opening/research, presentation, delivery. all at 1/3 of total fee. Always milestone with something you have to give without having to wait for the client. Example:. don't use a "sketch approbation" as a milestone. This is an invitation for a bad client to evade payment by not giving his approbation.

- Do not set deadline in dates, but rather as increment. for example: set 1st revision at x business days after receiving the signed order. (always, always, aaaalwaaaayyyys talk in business days and business hours)

- Set a fixed number of propositions and revisions. When the limit busts, you charge per hour (specify the hourly rate)

- Set a minimum turnaround period for "last minute changes" (remember, all in business hours). Say also that, depending on the amount of work asked, a longer period may be needed, but that you'll advise the client beforehand. If needed in a shorter amount of time, extra fee of x$ / hour (rush fee) will be charged, with estimate of time given and approved by the client. All changes should pass through a singed change order form.

All this may seem very corporate for a one person operation, but there will be times where you will have more than one project at once, and that turnaround thingy might just save your healths.
Yes, "healths" with an "s".
Physical health, mental health, family health...

- Fix delays for client comebacks (be generous, unless the clock is already ticking) and set a fee for each day passed that limit. When a client linger on and on for each approbation, this jeopardize many things like reserved time with a printer, or working schedules, as said above.

- Expenses: All expenses you make—for that project only (like couriers or taxi)—should be paid by the client—including their sales tax—as an advance. That means before the next milestone...

- Late fees. Don't forget it. The percentage is applied to the base price PLUS previous late fees. i.e. if you charge 2% per month, it is more than 12% per year. You can also offer a discount for fast payers. It's a great way to incite them to pay promptly. This is often called something like a "two in ten", meaning 2% off if paid 10 days after billing. Usually, the amount on late fees and early discount mirror themselves.

- (moral, copy)Rights and ownership. There are two types of rights: moral rights (paternity) and copyrights (usage, ownership). Moral rights on original creation are yours, unless you freelance or work under an artistic director (who gets them). Moral rights cannot be transfered, but they can be waived.
Specify that all copyrights + properties on original creation are yours until full payment of full contract. In cases of cancellation, you should also keep full ownership of those rights. You will still have to define the transfer of rights and its scope in your contract, otherwise you will have created something your client cannot legally use.
Unless it's a logo, don't give away the copyrights for all time. Let them go on specific period of time, for a specified number of publications, a territory, etc. All these factors will influence your price, and it generates a fair income if it's successful and the client wants to re-use the work or expand its territory.
Original work (physical or electronic like photoshop, ill. or inDesign files) remain your property with limited usage and are not transferable to the client. (some let them go for a 200% buyout). Even if you give (or sell) the working files, this does not mean the client can use it as he likes. He's still restricted by the copyrights and moral rights related to the work(though now it's harder to control), and I'm not talking only about your part. Font, pictures and all other elements you did not create also have to be taken in consideration. You cannot give those without being sure the clients has them, either by proofs (copy of invoices) or a signed affirmation from the client that he has paid for those rights (with detail for each elements). If you forget to deal with one element' rights, you will be held responsible in case of a suit for infringement. Some designers will not give/sell the working files unless the client is ready to pay for a full copyright transfer.

There's a lot to say about ownership, and I think it will deserve a post of its own soon.

- Alterations: No work by outside intervener may be done on your original material unless you agree to it first.

- Cancellation (kill fee). Sometimes, things go sour in a project and parties have to part ways, budget reasons prevents client to continue, product gets discontinued... Basically, this section should say that if the contract gets canceled, you should be paid for the amount of work done.

All good. Any Examples?
I suggest you get the Graphic Artist Guild (GAG)'s "Pricing and Ethical Guidelines Handbook" (the PEG) which many consider the best start in contract reality, even if it's a U.S. book where laws and pricing differs from here.

Also, check with your local professional association (SDGQ, RGD Ontario or GDC) to see if there aren't any templates available. BTW, get your membership to your professional association. It's full of useful stuff like templates and documents to help you navigate that business sea, a grat place for networking and an unbelievable source of mentoring goodies.

Even with all of this, get a lawyer to work with you and review your contracts. Just, don't do work for him/her. You know, conflict of interests and all.

Graphic Designers Getting in Business (GD-GIB): Overview

Other GD-GIBs:
-GD-GIB: Contracts

Entering the business world as a graphic designer is not hard, but it does demand preparation. You'll be able to make it without being prepared, but you will learn harsh and sometimes very painful lessons along the way.

I know, I did.

I know that others did, too. Every year, the listserv of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) sees the arrival of posts asking for advice on what to do with bad payers, ownership of rights or files, fees, and get-together for beers.

While not able to be very helpful with the latter, other than pointing you on a map the location of Vancouver—man, do those guys ever get any work done? ;)—I thought I could post some of the advice regularly given to the inquiring minds. With chance, people may find it while googling on the matter, but I think it'll be practical mostly for me by copy-pasting when the questions arise.

I'll begin with a totally incomplete overview of things to look out for, then I'll add some posts exploring in more details the various aspects of GD-GIB.

1-Learn the basics.
I strongly suggest to get a business course. There are several local community courses that will help you for a low price. No need to get an MBA.

2-Subscribe to your local professional association.
Seriously, it's worth it. Make that Graphic Designer a Professional Graphic Designer, and say to the world you mean business. First of all, you'll learn what it means to be a graphic designer in the business world. Business courses are good, but each profession has its quirks. Those associations can help you focus your business in a graphic design model.

Each graphic designers' professional associations have a code of fair practice. Learn it and live by it, even if you're not part of your association. Codes of fair practice are the guidelines to a professional designer's attitude toward the clients, his peers and the business in general. It is a great beginning to learn what the public (should) expects from a designer and practice pitfalls to avoid. The code should be included in your contracts. In subsequent posts, I'll go over the different codes from the various Canadian organizations. With hope I'll be able to have comments from their respective spokesperson on the matter and give some background on how they came to be (the codes, not the spokesperson. We already have a pretty good idea of how THAT works).

There are three professional designer associations in Canada.
- In Quebec, it's the Société des designers graphiques du Québec (SDGQ),
- ROC has the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC), divided in local chapters.
- In Ontario, you have the Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario (RGD Ontario) or the GDC (as member at large). The RGD Ontario will ask of you a minimum of 7 years of combined education and professional practice, including a minimum of 3-4 years of post-secondary GD diploma.

Each of these association have their own subscription process. Go take a look, ask them questions if you have some and get certified.

3-Set your price.
VERY important point, of course. In a nutshell your fee IS NOT your salary: it INCLUDES it. Your fee must take in consideration the following aspects:
Your professional material. Computer (and its eventual upgrade), softwares (and their continuous upgrades), that 54" cinemascope monitor that's sooo necessary, cutting board, exatos (if you somehow still use that) and such.
Office material. Chair, desk, printer, Fax, iPhone...
Office expenses. Ink, stamps, paper...
Running expenses. Phone bill, cell bill, electricity, heating, rent... Of course, if you work from home, you only consider the part you use.
Ongoing professional expenses. Most notably (but not limited to), your accounting fee. Even if you decide to do your own accounting, you should charge that activity as overhead, otherwise it will take away billable time or personal time. Not good.
Professional membership annual dues. (that SDGQ/RGD/GDC thing)
Representation + advertisement fee. Finding new clients (networking event$), your website, business card...
Income. Right, let's not forget that one. This is the money you want to make for yourself to spend on those little extras like groceries, rent and college for your kids. Pffff, you're so demanding. THIS is the place where you insert the number coming up when you ask yourself "how much do I want to make a year"
Profit. When things are slow, this helps you maintain your income rate, when thing are rolling, this puts your kids to Harvard
Vacation time. including statutory holidays, period between Christmas and New Year, your own (summer) vacations. You should also include some sick days.

As you see, pricing takes some time to come up with, and you will definitely have to come up with a budget.
BTW, this is one of the things you may learn in a business class.

I will give more details on techniques to calculate all of this in subsequent posts.

4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10- Make a contract
You have no ideas how bad I want to make that header bigger. Even bigger than your last job's client requested size for his logo. That's how bad I want it BIG.

A contracts is not only a piece of paper saying you are doing business with a client for price x. It is a full description of the work procedures of a project: when will you bill; how many revisions there will be; overtime; when will you bill; how much time the client has to pay you, late fees; limitations of liability; ownership of rights; cancellation; alteration of work... The structure of the contract will change depending if it's fix-priced, by the hour, or for freelancing (which is usually called a "retainer")

Boy, are there things to take in consideration. Don't despair, there are resources available to help you.

This is the perfect example of where a business course—and especially your local professional association—will come in handy. The GDC and RGD have very useful templates for contracts. You may have to adjust them to your provincial legislature, though local chapters probably have some ready. Did I say it was a good idea to get your professional membership?

Another good source for contract making is the "Pricing and Ethical Guidelines" (affectionately called the PEG), published by the Graphic Artist Guild (GAG). Prices and regulations are U.S. based, but it gives a very good idea of what to put in a contract, depending on the nature of the job.

I have a more in-depth post on contracts.

11- Get your prospective clients "certified"
Not really essential for small jobs, but when you begin to get projects with a comma in the price, it's a good idea to make sure the client has the resources to pay you. If the clients gets flagged for some reasons (they may be a startup or they are an in-betweener and they rely on their own client payment to pay you), it doesn't mean you shouldn't do business with them, but rather adjust the contract accordingly (all payment in advance, higher prices...).

12- Attitude
Graphic design is viewed in different way by the general public (and your future clients) and, unless they already have done business with a professional designer, they are usually wrong or largely incomplete. Don't be offended by that, it's not their job to know. Take it as part of the game with every new clients, and DO educate them about what a graphic designer is. I'm not saying to give them a lecture, of course. When you'll meet them for the first time, talk about process, the importance of brief, being audience-centric and not taste-driven, research, etc. Let them know graphic design is part of strategy, that it's more than a service, but closer to partnership. This will probably clear all bad ideas the client may have, like "my nephew has Photoshop, he could do this..."

Again, do it all in a non-lecture sort of way, but rather show your "partner" side right from the start.

The GDC has a nice document helping to present the role of graphic designers in business. Did I say you should become a member of your professional association?

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Well, that's all I can see for now for an overview on thing to consider when you start your own graphic design studio. I hope these tips will point you on what you have to prepare before making the trip, or adjust if you're already sailing the 072 sea.

As I said, I'll come up with some tips a bit more detailed in later posts.