Terms of Business

The following Terms and Conditions of Service apply to all products and services provided by Lauren Howat (hereinafter referred to as howatdesigns) and in the event of any dispute are governed by the laws of Scotland.

All work is carried out by howatdesigns on the understanding that the client has agreed to our terms and conditions.

Copyright is retained by howatdesigns on all design work including words, pictures, ideas, visuals and illustrations unless specifically released in writing and after all costs have been settled.

If a choice of designs is presented and one is chosen for your project, only that solution is deemed to be given by myself as fulfilling the contract. All other designs remain the property of howatdesigns, unless specifically agreed in writing.


Project Acceptance

At the time of proposal, howatdesigns will provide the customer with a written estimate or quotation by email. These Terms and Conditions can be read at any time on the howatdesigns website.

The client may send an official purchase order in reply to the estimate or quotation which binds the client to accept the terms and conditions, or an email acknowledging acceptance of the quotation.

For the avoidance of doubt, the howatdesigns Terms & Conditions are what govern the job, not any conditions on the customer’s purchase order.


Design Charges

Charges for design services to be provided by howatdesigns will be set out in the written estimate or quotation that is provided to the customer. At the time of the customer’s acceptance of this estimate or quotation, indicating acceptance of the Terms & Conditions, a non-refundable payment of 50% of the quoted fee will become immediately due.

Unless agreed otherwise with the Client, all design services require an advance payment of a minimum of fifty (50) percent of the project quotation total before the work commences or is supplied to the Client for review. The remaining fifty (50) percent of the project quotation total will be due upon completion of the work prior to upload to the server or release of materials.


Source Files

I will supply proofs and PDF files as appropriate for printing, or other graphic files as detailed in the job scope or request.

Charges for design work include the release of copyright design source files, including but not restricted to indd, psd, AI, png, fla or other source files or raw code; and will be released to the client after the full payment has been recieve and cleared.


Charges for Other Services

Charges for any additional services requested during the project that are over and above the estimated time and quotation will be fully paid at the time of the project and added to the final invoice, including the remaining 50% of the initial quotation.


Payment

The customer will be provided with Proof Email and an Invoice prior to final publication. At this time the remainder of the amount due will become payable, including any additional services. Prior to any payment the customer will be required to clearly state in writing that they approve the design work conducted by howatdesigns and are therefor responsible for any information missed.

Any invoice queries must be submitted by email within 14 days of the invoice date.

Accounts which remain outstanding for 30 days after the date of invoice, will incur late payment interest charge at the Bank of Scotland Base Rate plus 8% on the outstanding amount from the date due until the date of payment.

Payments may be made by online transfer, credit card (Visa, Mastercard) or Debit Card.

Publication and/or release of work done by howatdesigns on behalf of the client, may not take place before cleared funds have been received.


Default

An account shall be considered default if it remains unpaid for 30 days from the date of invoice. howatdesigns shall be entitled to remove howatdesigns ‘s and/or the customer’s material from any and all computer systems, until the amount due has been fully paid. This includes any and all unpaid monies due for services.

Removal of such materials does not relieve the customer of its obligation to pay the due amount.

Customers whose accounts become default agree to pay all howatdesigns ‘s reasonable legal and accounting expenses and third party collection agency fees in the enforcement of the debt and these Terms and Conditions.


Copyrights and Trademarks

By supplying text, images and other data to howatdesigns for inclusion in the customer’s website, publication or any other medium, the customer declares that it holds the appropriate copyright and/or trademark permissions. The ownership of such materials will remain with the customer, or rightful copyright or trademark owner.

Any artwork, images, or text supplied and/or designed by howatdesigns on behalf of the customer, will remain the property of howatdesigns and/or its suppliers unless otherwise agreed in writing. A license for use of the copyright material is granted to the customer solely for the project defined in the scope or request and not for any other purpose.

The customer may request in writing from howatdesigns, the necessary permission to use materials (for which howatdesigns holds the copyright) in forms other than for which it was originally supplied, and howatdesigns may, at its discretion, grant this and may charge for the additional usage. Such permission must be obtained in writing before any of the aforesaid artwork, images, text, or other data is used.

Any software, code, plugin or other third party material used in a web or digital project remains the property of the creator and any ongoing license fees or fees for upgrades are the responsibility of the client, not howatdesigns.

By supplying images, text, or any other data to howatdesigns, the customer grants howatdesigns permission to use this material freely in the pursuit of the design.

Should howatdesigns, or the customer supply an image, text, audio clip or any other file for use in a website, multimedia presentation, print item, exhibition, advertisement or any other medium believing it to be copyright and royalty free, which subsequently emerges to have such copyright or royalty usage limitations, the customer will agree to allow howatdesigns to remove and/or replace the file on the site.

The customer agrees to fully indemnify and hold howatdesigns free from harm in any and all claims resulting from the customer in not having obtained all the required copyright, and/or any other necessary permissions.


Alterations

The customer agrees that changes required over and above the estimated work, or in addition to the agreed scope, or where the client makes changes to the supplied copy or changes required to be carried out after acceptance of the draft design, will be liable to a separate charge.

The customer also agrees that howatdesigns holds no responsibility for any amendments made by any third party, before or after a design is published.


Licensing

Any design, copywriting, drawing, idea or code created for the customer by howatdesigns, or any of its contractors, is licensed for use by the client on a one-time only basis and may not be modified, re-used, or re-distributed in any way or form without the express written consent of howatdesigns and any of its relevant sub-contractors.

All design work – where there is a risk that another party make a claim, should be registered by the client with the appropriate authorities prior to publishing or first use or searches and legal advice sought as to its use.

howatdesigns will not be held responsible for any and all damages resulting from such claims.

howatdesigns is not responsible for any loss, or consequential loss, non-delivery of products or services, of whatever cause. The customer agrees not to hold howatdesigns responsible for any such loss or damage.

Any claim against howatdesigns shall be limited to the relevant fee(s) paid by the customer.


Data Formats

The client agrees to howatdesigns’s definition of acceptable means of supplying data to the company.

Text is to be supplied to howatdesigns in electronic format as standard text (.txt), MS Word (.docx)  or via e-mail / FTP or shared folder.

Images which are supplied in an electronic format are to be provided in a format as prescribed by howatdesigns via e-mail / FTP. Images must be of a quality suitable for use without any subsequent image processing, and howatdesigns will not be held responsible for any image quality which the client later deems to be unacceptable.

howatdesigns cannot be held responsible for the quality of any images which the client wishes to be scanned from printed materials.

Additional expenses may be incurred for any necessary action, including, but not limited to, photography and art direction, photography searches, media conversion, digital image processing, or data entry services, colour correction and alteration of images


Design Project Duration

Any indication given by howatdesigns of a design project’s duration is to be considered by the customer to be an estimation. howatdesigns cannot be held responsible for any project over-runs, whatever the cause. Estimated project duration should be deemed to be from the date that cleared funds are received by howatdesigns for the initial payment or by date confirmed in writing by howatdesigns.


Rights of Access

The client agrees to allow howatdesigns all necessary access to computer systems and other locations, as required, in order to complete a website project until all due funds are cleared, including the necessary read/write permissions, usernames and passwords.

The customer also agrees to allow howatdesigns access to any computer systems, usernames and passwords required to remove data and/or sites for failure to comply with these Terms and Conditions.

The customer agrees to supply howatdesigns with all necessary materials, electronic, or otherwise, required to create and complete the project, and to supply them in a timely manner.


Design Project Completion

howatdesigns considers the design project complete upon receipt of the customer’s clear approval and sign off email. Other services such as printing, display panel production, filmwork, website uploading, publishing etc either contracted on the client’s behalf constitute a separate project and can be treated as a separate charge.


Design Credits

The customer agrees to allow howatdesigns to place a small credit on printed material exhibition displays, advertisements and/or a link to howatdesigns own website on the customer’s website. This will usually be in the form of a small logo or line of text placed towards the bottom of the page.

The customer also agrees to allow howatdesigns to place websites and other designs, along with a link to the client’s site on howatdesigns’s own website for demonstration purposes and to use any designs in its own publicity and portfolios.


Rights of Refusal

howatdesigns will not include in its designs, any text, images or other data which it deems to be immoral, offensive, obscene or illegal. All advertising material must conform to all standards laid down by all relevant advertising standards authorities. 

howatdesigns also reserves the right to refuse to include submitted material without giving reason. In the situation where any images and/or data that howatdesigns does include in all good faith, and subsequently discovers is in contravention to such Terms and Conditions, the customer is obliged to allow howatdesigns to remove the contravention without hindrance, or penalty. howatdesigns is to be held in no way responsible for any such data being included.


Cancellation

Cancellation of orders may be made initially by telephone contact, however, following this, howatdesigns will need formal notification in writing. The client will then be invoiced for all work completed over and above the non-refundable deposit that will have been made at the time of first ordering. The balance of monies due must be paid within 30 days. Please note: any cancellation which is not formally confirmed in writing and received by howatdesigns within 14 days of such instruction being issued, will be liable for the full quoted cost of the project.


Disclaimer

howatdesigns makes no warranties of any kind, express or implied, for any and all products and/or services that it supplies. howatdesigns will not be held responsible for any and all damages resulting from products and/or services it supplies. howatdesigns is not responsible for any loss, or consequential loss of data, or non-delivery of products or services, of whatever cause. While I take reasonable steps to investigate the materials I recommend, I accept no responsibility for the performance or quality of materials or any consequential loss arising from their failure. The customer agrees not to hold howatdesigns responsible for any such loss or damage. Any claim against howatdesigns shall be limited to the relevant fee(s) paid by the customer.

howatdesigns reserves the right to use the services of sub-contractors, agents and suppliers and any work, content, services and usage is bound by their Terms and Conditions. howatdesigns will not knowingly perform any actions to contravene these and the client also agrees to be so bound.

howatdesigns and its clients agree to comply with Printers Terms and Conditions which include disclaimers for non-completion on time and the flexibility to supply quantities within 10% of the total ordered. howatdesigns recommend that if an exact quantity is required, then 10% extra is added to the quantity and extra time made available should the job be delayed.


General

These Terms and Conditions supersede any previous Tearms and Conditions distributed in any form. howatdesigns reserves the right to change any rates and any of the Terms and Conditions at any time and without prior notice.


Acceptance of Terms and Conditions and Quotation

The placement of an order for design and/or any other services offered by howatdesigns, by email, verbally or in writing, is deemed to be acceptance of these terms and conditions, which are freely available at www.howatdesigns.co.uk.

An estimate validated by the customer’s approval of the estimate or quotation by email, constitutes acceptance of the estimate or quotation and agreement to comply fully with all the Terms and Conditions and forms a Contract for Business between the client and howatdesigns.


Etsy Sales and Purchases

The placement of an order via howatdesigns Etsy shop, is deemed to be acceptance of the terms and conditions which are freely available at www.etsy.com/uk/shop/howatdesigns.

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