Terms of service
Here are my standard terms of service for any design project. Take a good look, and if anything stands out as a concern, let me know before we get started so we can talk through any adjustments that might be necessary for your specific project.
Diana Jermann Graphic Design provides businesses and individuals (together, the “Clients”) with services in the areas of graphic design, branding, layouts, and related creative services (together, the “Services”).
These General Terms and Conditions (“Terms and Conditions”) apply to all Services provided by Diana Jermann Graphic Design. The specific details regarding the scope of Services and payment terms shall be set out in a separate contract (the “Design Project Contract”). Together, these Terms and Conditions and the Order Form constitute the legally binding agreement (the “Agreement”).
By placing an order, the Clients acknowledge that they have read, understood, and accepted these Terms and Conditions.
Deposits, Final Payments and Delivery
A deposit equal to 50% of the total project cost is payable before work will commence.
The remaining balance for the Services must be paid in full before the final deliverables are released. Diana Jermann Graphic Design reserves the right to withhold delivery of any Services until full payment has been received.
If the Clients are uncontactable for a period exceeding 30 days, Diana Jermann Graphic Design reserves the right to invoice the outstanding balance prior to completion of the project.
Clients may request a payment plan, which Diana Jermann Graphic Design may approve at her sole discretion. Any payment plan must be agreed to in writing.
Invoices will be issued by email to the most recently provided email address.
All payments are due within 15 days of the invoice date. Late payments will incur interest at a rate of 5% per annum from the due date until payment is received in full.
Unless otherwise agreed, all prices are quoted in CHF or AUD and are exclusive of GST/VAT or any other applicable taxes.
If payment remains outstanding for more than 30 days, Diana Jermann reserves the right to recover all costs associated with the collection and recovery of the unpaid amount, including but not limited to legal fees, debt collection agency fees, and administrative costs.
The Clients shall provide Diana Jermann Graphic Design with all information and materials required for the project (including, without limitation, content, images, logos and text) in a timely manner and shall cooperate in good faith to ensure the smooth execution of the project.
The Clients warrant that they hold all necessary rights to the materials provided by them, or are otherwise authorised to permit their use within the project. Diana Jermann Graphic Design is under no obligation to review any materials supplied by the Clients for potential legal infringements, including, without limitation, third-party copyright or trade mark violations.
Should any third party assert claims arising from materials supplied by the Clients (including claims relating to copyright or trade mark infringement), the Clients shall bear all resulting losses, damages and costs. In such circumstances, the Clients agree to indemnify and hold harmless Diana Jermann Graphic Design against any liability and to reimburse any necessary expenses incurred, including reasonable legal costs.
Licensing of any used fonts or typefaces
All fonts or typefaces purchased for the final design and/or in support of the brand identity are subject to applicable commercial licensing laws. A font or typeface licence grants only the licence holder the legal right to use the font or typeface as permitted under the relevant licence terms.
Information regarding the fonts used and where they may be purchased will be provided in the initial concept presentation. It is the responsibility of the Clients to obtain all required font licences (whether paid or free licences). This responsibility also applies upon approval of any designs.
It is unlawful for Diana Jermann Graphic Design to provide a “copy” of any font or typeface owned and licensed by Diana Jermann Graphic Design.
Where Clients wish to use a font purchased by Diana Jermann Graphic Design for commercial purposes, the Clients must obtain the appropriate licence and ensure that it is registered in their own name.
As a general rule, fonts used within a logo design do not require separate licensing by the Clients, as the typography is converted into vector artwork and is no longer editable. However, if the Clients require the font for use in their own editable materials — including, without limitation, websites, presentations, or printed collateral — the Clients must obtain their own licence, such as an appropriate desktop licence.
Usage rights and restrictions
No rights whatsoever in relation to any concepts, drafts, sketches or design proposals presented by Diana Jermann Graphic Design shall transfer to the Clients prior to full payment being received. In particular, the Clients must not use, edit, reproduce, distribute or disclose any presented ideas or files to third parties before completion of the project.
All original preparatory materials, sketches, drafts, graphics and other interim project outputs shall remain the exclusive property of Diana Jermann Graphic Design until the project has been completed and paid for in full.
Diana Jermann Graphic Design reserves the right to reuse unused or rejected ideas and concepts from the project for future projects or for other clients. Where an unused concept closely resembles the final logo or design in style or appearance, Diana Jermann Graphic Design will make reasonable modifications to avoid confusion or similarity.
Subject to any applicable confidentiality obligations, Diana Jermann Graphic Design may display final deliverables in her portfolio, on her website, and in marketing materials. Upon written request by the Clients prior to commencement of the project (for example, under a non-disclosure agreement), publication will be withheld until the Clients provide approval for release.
Following completion of the project, the Clients are free to modify or further develop the final design to suit their needs. Any such modifications are undertaken entirely at the Clients’ own risk, including in relation to any resulting legal infringements or any deterioration in design quality caused by improper alterations.
All preparatory materials, sketches, images and electronic files, source files, as well as any pre-existing elements, tools and methods, shall remain the property of Diana Jermann Graphic Design.
Upon receipt of full payment, the Clients shall be granted an exclusive, perpetual, worldwide, transferable and sublicensable licence to use the final deliverables for all business purposes, including modification, further development and trade mark registration.
If the final payment is not made, no licence shall be granted and any use of the deliverables shall be unauthorised.
Diana Jermann Graphic Design reserves the right to display any work, ideas or sketches created for the project as part of her professional portfolio, including, without limitation, following completion of the project. Where the Clients require confidentiality due to non-disclosure obligations, stealth mode operations, or a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), this must be disclosed and agreed upon prior to commencement of the project.
Final payment ensures that only the approved and agreed final deliverables transfer to the Clients. All other concepts, drafts, preliminary works and unused ideas shall remain the property of Diana Jermann Graphic Design unless otherwise agreed in writing.
Cancellation during the project
If the Clients choose to cancel the project after concepts, ideas or proposals have been submitted, all payments made up to that point shall be non-refundable. However, depending on the extent of the work completed and the overall project budget, Diana Jermann Graphic Design may, at her sole discretion, consider a partial refund.
If Diana Jermann Graphic Design is unable to complete the project due to illness, injury or other unforeseen circumstances, any amounts paid shall be refunded on a pro rata basis according to the work completed at the time of termination. Where the completed work can reasonably be transferred to another designer for continuation, an appropriate percentage refund based on the completed stages of work may be provided, or another fair arrangement may be agreed upon.
If Diana Jermann Graphic Design is unable to meet agreed deadlines due to illness, injury or unforeseen circumstances, the parties shall discuss and determine the current status of the project and the remaining services to be provided. If the revised timeline is not acceptable to the Clients, the Clients shall have the right to terminate the project.
Where no work has been completed at the time of termination, the Clients shall receive a full refund of any deposit paid. Where work has already been completed, the Clients shall be invoiced on a pro rata basis for the work performed up to that date.
If completed work can reasonably be transferred to another designer for continuation of the project, the parties may discuss an equitable partial refund based on the progress achieved, or agree upon another fair arrangement.
Project Suspension
Diana Jermann Graphic Design reserves the right to suspend or terminate a project in circumstances involving excessive micromanagement, a demonstrated lack of trust that materially impedes the progress of the project despite the presentation of a reasonable number of unique design concepts, or a refusal to make the final payment.
In such circumstances, reasonable notice will be provided and the Clients will be given an opportunity to resolve the issue before the project is suspended or terminated.
If a project is suspended or terminated on these grounds, no refunds shall be provided, and all work completed up to that point shall remain the sole property of Diana Jermann Graphic Design.
Unpredictable Events / Force Majeure
Diana Jermann shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performing contractual obligations where such failure or delay arises from circumstances beyond her reasonable control.
Such circumstances include, without limitation, force majeure events such as natural disasters, government actions, terrorism, civil unrest or war, as well as supply shortages, pandemics, significant transport disruptions, or other comparable events beyond reasonable control.
In such cases, Diana Jermann will inform the Clients as soon as reasonably practicable of the cause of the delay and the expected impact on the project timeline. Performance of the Services shall resume as soon as circumstances permit, and no claims for damages or compensation shall arise as a result of such delay or non-performance.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, all liability of Diana Jermann towards the Clients is excluded.
Diana Jermann warrants that all presented design concepts are created originally and, to the best of her knowledge, do not infringe any third-party intellectual property rights or constitute plagiarism. Reasonable and basic research is undertaken to minimise the risk of unintended similarity or conflict with existing third-party works.
However, Diana Jermann accepts no liability for any loss, damage or claims arising from legal disputes concerning the originality, authenticity or alleged infringement of the designs.
The Clients remain responsible for conducting their own independent searches and investigations in relation to any existing trade marks, designs, copyrights or other intellectual property rights.
Any concerns regarding the uniqueness or registrability of a design must be raised promptly and, in any event, prior to the commencement of the project.
Diana Jermann expressly notes that she does not provide services relating to the verification or clearance of trade marks, business names, titles, or other intellectual property rights.
Due to the complexity and potential costs associated with comprehensive searches for existing trade marks, copyrights, company names or other protected rights, Diana Jermann is unable to undertake such legal assessments as part of the design services provided.
Where the Clients intend to register or protect a logo or design as a trade mark or other intellectual property right, it is the sole responsibility of the Clients to obtain qualified legal advice and to arrange any necessary searches or registrations through the appropriate authorities or professional advisers.
The Clients are solely responsible for ensuring that any proposed business name, product name or brand name is legally available and free from conflict prior to commencement of the project. Should any legal issues relating to the name arise after completion of the project, no refunds shall be provided and Diana Jermann accepts no liability for any resulting claims, losses or disputes.
The Clients must ensure that the intended name has been properly reviewed and cleared for legal use before the project begins. Changing a name during the course of the project is both costly and difficult to implement and is likely to result in significant delays.
If a name change becomes necessary after substantial logo exploration or design development has already been undertaken, the total project fee may be recalculated to account for the additional work and revisions required.
It is essential that the Clients undertake appropriate due diligence to confirm that the proposed name is not already in use and does not infringe any existing trade marks, business names or other legal protections.
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Switzerland, excluding any conflict of law provisions. The exclusive jurisdiction for any disputes arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be Zürich, Switzerland.
Any amendments or additions to this Agreement (including these Terms and Conditions) must be made in writing in order to be valid. Email communication shall not satisfy this requirement unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing.
Severability
If any provision of these Terms and Conditions is found to be wholly or partially invalid, unlawful or unenforceable, the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall remain unaffected.