The Art of Business: Finally, a Design Contract for the Little Guy
If you’re like most designers, 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, 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 https://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 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 University of California. I write the column “Professional Practice” for STEP magazine, the “Design Firm Management” column for Graphics.com, and the monthly newsletter “Design Business” for the AIGA. I was honored with a One Show award for my participation in the development of content for the FUSE98 conference site.
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 Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and others.
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.
This article was last modified on December 14, 2022
This article was first published on December 14, 2005
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