Service Terms

Service Terms and Conditions for Working Together

01:: Introduction

I’ll make every effort to provide excellent service, deliver work to the highest of standards, and strive to achieve your project goals to the best of my ability, but all work needs to be guided and protected by terms and conditions to help set expectations, responsibilities, and policies from the beginning so that we’re both on the same page in moving forward to achieve the best work for your project. Please get in touch if you have any questions! :)

A separate Project Proposal (“Proposal”) will be sent to you by email that outlines details specific to your project. This Proposal might be a separate formal document that’s attached or linked within the email or more informal and included as part of the email text, and might include a link to these Service Terms or include Service Terms specific to your project as part of the Proposal which will be noted in the Proposal. Either way, both forms of communication and methods of delivery are considered as the Proposal. The Proposal, along with these Service Terms and Conditions for Working Together (“Service Terms”), are part of the Agreement you enter into when you engage my services.

02:: Mutual Agreement

This Agreement is between me, Lilly Skye, and you, the Client. In these Service Terms, “you” is the Client, its employees and agents, and “I,” “me,” “my,” and “Designer” is Lilly Skye and its agents, both collectively referred to as “we,” “us,” “our,” and “parties.” By hiring me and working with me, you’re entering into this Agreement, which includes the Proposal and these Service Terms, and you’re hiring me to provide you with services for the estimate as outlined in the Proposal. You acknowledge and accept this Agreement as a legally binding contract.

03:: Fees and Charges

Project Fees — For performing the services for the project, you agree to pay me the fees according to the estimate as outlined in the Proposal. A 50% nonrefundable deposit may be required to begin work and will be outlined in the Proposal. Estimate includes my fees only and you’re responsible for any outside costs and payments to third parties for products and services including things like stock imagery, photography, videography, copywriting, printing and fulfillment, website domain registration, website hosting, product licenses, and other design services. Estimate is subject to change if scope of work and/or timeline and/or deliverables changes and/or there are delays in content delivery and feedback.

Rush Fees — This Agreement assumes the project will be completed within a non-rush schedule during my normal business hours of Mon-Fri 8A-5P, Arizona MST. Projects that require rush turnaround are sometimes unavoidable and I understand that you can’t always control those circumstances or predict when that will be. I’ll always try to work with you in meeting your compressed deadline, but will charge a rush fee of 35% of the project estimate for projects that require turnaround of design proof within 72 hours or require working outside normal business hours to complete, excluding weekends. Based on my current project schedule, I’ll let you know if I’m able to accommodate your request, and then if we both agree, I’ll commence with the work.

Abandonment Fees — When we agree to a project, we make a mutual commitment to time, schedules, energy, and resources. If the project stalls because of your lack of communication, response, or information for 30 calendar days, I’ll consider the project abandoned and closed and will invoice you at my current hourly rate for work completed and payment will be due within 7 calendar days of invoice date. If you want to restart the project, that’s no problem, but you’ll be charged a restart fee of $100 or 25% of the estimate as outlined in the Proposal, whichever is greater.

Payment and Invoices — Payment can be made by Zelle, check or money order, major credit card (VISA, MasterCard, and Discover), and direct deposit. Payments made by credit card are processed securely through Square and incur a 2.5% convenience fee. Payment on invoices is due within 14 calendar days of invoice date. Past due invoices will be charged a 1.5% monthly late fee until the full amount has been paid. If invoice goes unpaid for more than 45 calendar days, I may refer collection to an attorney or collections agency and you’ll be responsible for all legal and/or collection fees. I reserve the right to withhold delivery of project files and any transfer of ownership until outstanding invoices are paid in full and payment has cleared.

04:: What Both Parties Agree to Do

As the Client, you agree to provide one decision maker to communicate with me throughout the course of the project and have all parties involved in the decision-making process review all proofs before submitting revisions. Before beginning design work, you agree to provide me with materials and resources I’ll need to complete the project in the format I ask for and ready for implementation including final and approved content [i.e., text/copy and media (e.g., logo, photography, video, audio, PDFs, other graphics)], reference materials, and any other content to be included in the design or referenced throughout the design. For website work, you also agree to provide admin logins including hosting, domain, social media, and other related account login information as needed to complete the work. You agree to review my work and provide feedback, revisions, and/or approval in a timely manner, as set out in the Proposal. You agree to be bound by the dates we set together and to be reachable and return emails or calls within 2 business days, unless project timeline requires faster response, unforeseen circumstances prevent this, or other arrangements have been communicated to me.

As the Designer, I commit to make every effort to provide excellent service, deliver work to the highest of standards, and strive to achieve your project goals to the best of my ability and will carry out my services in a professional and timely manner as set out in the Proposal. I agree to provide you with proofs, work-in-progress, and other communications as necessary in a timely manner as set out in the Proposal. I agree to be bound by the dates we set together and to be reachable and return emails or calls within 1 business day, unless project timeline requires faster response, unforeseen circumstances prevent this, or other arrangements have been communicated to you.

We both agree to maintain the confidentiality of any information that we exchange during the course of the project — unless it’s information that’s already public, or if required to comply with the law, court, or other government authority — and to use this information only as needed to fulfill the needs of the project.

05:: Relationship of Parties

As the Designer, I’m an independent contractor and not your partner, employee, agent, or representative, and I control the means, manner, and method by which I perform my services. We both acknowledge that this Agreement doesn’t create an exclusive relationship between us and that you’re free to engage others to perform services similar to mine and I’m free to offer and provide my services to others of the same or similar industry as yours. I’m permitted to use third-party service providers as needed to complete the project, providing that any additional costs be communicated to, and approved by, you. These third parties, their services, and work developed are covered under this Agreement.

06:: Timelines

This Agreement assumes the project will be completed within a non-rush schedule during my normal business hours of Mon-Fri 8A-5P, Arizona MST. Timelines we establish are an estimate only and may shift due to unforeseen circumstances, changes in the project, extensive revisions, and/or schedule conflicts. We both agree to act in good faith and do our best to communicate such shifts. I’ll endeavor to meet timelines we establish and to provide you with proofs and/or work-in progress in a timely manner, but I won’t be responsible or liable, financially or otherwise, for a missed delivery date or deadline if you’ve been late in supplying materials, feedback, revisions, and/or haven’t approved or signed off on my work on time at any stage.

07:: Approvals, Errors, and Omissions

I’ll make every effort to produce work to the highest of standards, but can’t guarantee that final work will be completely error-free and won’t be responsible or liable, financially or otherwise, for any errors or omissions. You’re responsible for the accuracy of all content and for proofreading, reviewing, and approving all work. Project files won’t be released or uploaded without an emailed approval.

08:: Revisions and Changes

Revisions are part of and vital to the design process to achieve the best work and I don’t want to limit your opportunities to change your mind. The number of revisions and details specific to your project are outlined in the Proposal. If you have additional revisions or changes, that’s no problem, but there will be an additional charge and this will need to be agreed to before extra work commences. This extra work may affect timelines and I’ll do my best to always try and be upfront about this if and when it happens. I require all revisions to be in writing and sent in complete rounds/batches. Revisions provided in piecemeal will be considered separate revisions that will be counted towards the number of rounds outlined in this Proposal. The revision process is meant to move the design closer to the final work and typically follows these steps:

• I’ll submit the design concept or proof to you for review
• You’ll review the concept or proof and gather feedback
• You’ll provide me with all of your feedback at one time, in writing via email
• I’ll ask questions as needed for clarification and make revisions to the design
• I’ll submit the next design proof to you for review and the process repeats until the final design is approved

A standard revision is considered to be a minor change, slight modification, or course correction to an initially presented, or in-progress, design concept and includes minor changes and adjustments to text/copy, images, and/or layouts, with each revision decreasing in complexity. Examples of changes that fall outside the parameters of a standard revision include things like major changes made to text/copy, or sending me new text/copy; redesigning a layout; changes made to design once concepts and/or layouts have been approved; and request for new concepts and/or layouts. These would require a new Proposal and may result in the current project being cancelled.

For logo design projects, typically a group of concepts will be presented from which one will be selected. Revisions will be made to this selected concept for further refinement and development. Revisions do not include redesigning a concept or combining parts and pieces of individual concepts to create a new concept.

09:: Infringement

To the best of my knowledge, work I develop won’t infringe on the rights of third parties, is original and hasn’t been previously published, or that consent has been obtained to use it, and that it doesn’t contain anything unlawful. However, I don’t assume any rights or responsibilities regarding copyrights, trademarks, service marks, or designs applied in the course of the project. You’re responsible for making such determinations and assume all responsibility for current and/or future legal challenges. You agree that you own, have rights to, or permissions to use all content you provide to me in the course of the project.

10:: Design and Development

Proofs, Production, and Deliverables — Proof details specific to your project are outlined in the Proposal. Typically, proofs will be supplied in digital format via email and in PDF or JPEG format. Website design proofs/pages will be presented on a live staging environment. I’ll design your project to the highest of standards using current technologies and best practices, but due to differences in viewing device screens, color processes (i.e., PMS and CMYK for print application, RGB and HEX for digital application and device screen viewing), diversity of print production processes, and differences in applications of design and development software, I can’t guarantee that the actual deliverable or colors will appear or produce exactly as conceptually designed or viewed in a proof.

Website Specific

Website Design and Development — I use third-party services, applications, software, and open source technology for website design and development projects. While every effort is made to ensure deliverables are free of errors, I don’t make any warranty that your website will be error-free or that access will be continuous or uninterrupted. I won’t be responsible or liable, financially or otherwise, for losses incurred and costs and problems arising from malfunctions of the website or any part of it, including where such malfunction is caused by errors made by third parties, changes to third-party software and/or applications (such as updates, upgrades, and bug fixes), updates made by you, or your failure to maintain your website with regular updates and backups.

Website Access and Permissions — For purposes of completing work according to the Proposal, you agree to: provide hosting, domain, social media, and other related account and/or login information as needed; grant me access to your website with rights permissions to all files and directories; grant me access to your hosting provider; and grant me permission to install any necessary WordPress plugins to achieve functionality as outlined in the Proposal and for maintenance and security.

Website Domain Name, Hosting, and Other Third-Party Services — I don’t offer website domain name registration, website hosting, email, or support for these and/or related third-party website services. I may offer service provider recommendations but I won’t be responsible or liable, financially or otherwise, for any product/service purchase/renewal, maintenance, failure, quality of service, and/or losses including, but not limited to, website going offline, service interruptions, limitations of these services, security breaches, and loss of data. I encourage you to research third-party providers to ensure their services will meet your needs. As part of my website design services, I may install and configure a third-party website analytics application on your website known as Google Analytics so that you can track and monitor website traffic for website improvement, search engine optimization, and marketing purposes, but I’m not responsible for monitoring your Google Analytics account and/or providing reports.

Website Design and Development Platforms — Websites are built using WordPress as the Content Management System (CMS) and Divi as the page builder theme framework. Both platforms are industry-leaders that are strongly supported, user-friendly for website owners to manage, highly customizable and scalable to evolve as your needs change, and search-engine friendly out of the box. To ensure these platforms meet your needs, I encourage you to learn more about them by visiting their websites and to confirm with your website host provider that they support WordPress websites. Additional third-party plugins might be installed on your website to extend its functionality and to meet your project needs.

• WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS) that allows you to edit, add, and delete pages and blog posts, text, images, and more.
• Divi is an all-purpose WordPress theme framework and front-end visual page builder. Divi extends the functionality of WordPress and is virtually unlimited in the types of websites it can build.
• A plugin is a piece of software that can be added to a WordPress website to extend the functionality and add new features to a website. Divi comes feature-packed out-of-the-box, but adding plugins for things like marketing, social media, security, performance, and SEO can really add value to the visitor’s experience.

Website Optimization for Search Engines — I’ll implement basic on-page Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies to ensure your website is SEO-friendly and visible to search engines. These strategies include designing your website to provide a great user experience (UX); building your website on WordPress and Divi, which are SEO-friendly platforms; optimizing your images and pages with page titles, page descriptions, and media tags; installing and configuring the Yoast SEO plugin that includes XML sitemap creation and submission to search engines; setting up Google Search Console used in conjunction with the Yoast SEO plugin to make sure your website is indexed properly by search engines and also used to improve and optimize your website for search engines; and setting up Google Analytics to help you better understand your visitors and website performance to help in your ongoing SEO efforts. I don’t provide comprehensive or advanced SEO services and strategy and make no representations or guarantees that work delivered will increase traffic to your website or improve website search rankings or positioning.

Website Testing on Browsers and Devices — I’ll make every effort to design a website that ensures a visitor’s experience is appropriate to current browsers and devices it’s being viewed on and will test work for compatibility in current versions of major browsers and desktop, notebook, tablet, and mobile devices, but can’t guarantee and won’t be liable, financially or otherwise, for correct functionality and/or website pages displaying correctly across all browsers and devices, current or future. I don’t test in older, outdated browser versions, including Microsoft Internet Explorer, which is no longer updated by Microsoft so I can’t predict your website’s behavior or guarantee its functionality. Compatibility is defined as all critical elements of each page being viewable in these browsers and on these devices.

Website Accessibility — I’ll implement basic design and development best practices in effort to design a website that is accessible to potential visitors with diverse needs, including disabilities, but can’t guarantee, and won’t be liable for, financially or otherwise, that your website will be accessible by all visitors with disabilities. For a comprehensive accessibility-compliant website, I recommend consulting with an accessibility expert and can recommend professionals in this area.

Website Support — I’ll provide email and phone support for 14 business days after your website goes live. I encourage you to use this time to become familiar with your website, its functionality, and uploading content. Support is limited to the troubleshooting and fixing of items/content/functionality as specified in the Proposal. Issues reported after this timeframe, or additional support requests after the 14 business days, will be billed at my current hourly rate.

Website Training — Unless otherwise specified in the Proposal, I’ll provide up to 4 hours of training on how to make basic text and image updates to your content within WordPress and the Divi theme. Please note, though, that many structural and design elements require an advanced knowledge of markup and coding to perform. Training does not include general WordPress or Divi tutorials or support. If you’re unfamiliar with these platforms and want to learn more, I recommend you check out LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda), Udemy, and Elegant Themes Divi Documentation for tutorials on the topics that are most relevant to you.

Website Care — In my experience, website owners lose control of their websites very quickly by not properly caring for and maintaining them. WordPress, Divi, and plugins are always being updated with new version releases to address bug fixes, security issues, and changes/improvements to product and functionality. Updates are important and not keeping your website updated can make it vulnerable to security, performance, and SEO issues. I offer a website care plan for a quarterly fee which includes the following services performed each quarter: updating WordPress, Divi, and functionality plugins to their latest versions; maintaining security features and scanning for malware and other security breaches; checking for broken links; clearing cache to ensure the most up-to-date web pages are displayed to visitors; cleaning spam comments in blogs (if applicable); confirming backups are running within your host provider; and simple troubleshooting and fixes.

11:: General Project Exclusions

Unless otherwise specified in the Proposal, scope of work and deliverables exclude:

• Custom illustration
• Retouching and/or editing of original client-supplied and/or stock photography, graphics, and/or other imagery
• Editing and/or compressing of original client-supplied video, audio, and/or PDF files
• Multilingual design versions
• Materials and expenses for color printed comps/proofs and/or courier/overnight fees
• Onsite meetings and/or offsite travel and associated/related expenses

12:: Cancellation

Both parties can cancel the project at any time and for any reason, but the notice needs to be in writing. If you cancel, all work I’ve completed as of the cancellation date will be billed at my current hourly rate, less any payments that have been made and received, and is due within 7 calendar days of invoice date. If I cancel for any reason other than a breach in Agreement by you, I’ll offer you a refund of monies paid. In either case of cancellation, I retain all rights and ownership to files and work developed.

13:: Rights and Ownership

Assignment — All services performed and work delivered under this Agreement are for your exclusive use for this project. Upon project completion and receipt of full and final payment, final work developed will be provided in the formats and forms we’ve agreed on as deliverables as set out in the Proposal and rights and ownership are assigned as follows:

• Content — You, or rightful copyright owner, retain all rights and ownership to any content you provided for use in the project but grant me permission to use this material during or as part of the project
• Logo Design — Assigned all rights and ownership to the final work developed
• Print Design — Assigned the rights to use, display, and reproduce the final work developed
• Digital Design (Digital Ads and Social Media Graphics) — Assigned the rights to use, display, and reproduce the final work developed
• Digital Design (Websites and Email Marketing Templates) — Assigned all rights and ownership to the final work developed, including updating content and custom code I include as part of your design – however, all custom designs are my intellectual property and you may not sell, redistribute, give away, or creative derivative works

Designer Tools — I retain all ownership and rights to design tools I develop and use in performing my services including, but not limited to, original native design source and layered files; working designs including sketches, concepts, layouts, mockups, presentations, rejected concepts, and discussion materials; and web source files including markup, CSS, and other code. If you require native design source files for print and/or digital design projects each file cost is 50% of the final project total as invoiced. The file will be saved in the native format in which the design was created. I retain native design source files for 90 days from the date project is completed. For logo design projects, because all fonts are converted to outlines and treated as part of the design and final work developed, native design files would not be of use and are not offered.

Third-Party Tools — I use third-party and open-source tools in performing my services including, but not limited to, graphic design software and applications, fonts, website design software and applications, WordPress Content Management System, Divi theme, and plugins. These tools are owned by the respective third parties and used within the license agreements of their respective owners.

Attribution and Promotion — I love to display work I do for clients and reserve the right to reproduce, publish, display, use, and write about the final work I develop for you for promotional and recognition purposes, including my website, social media, trade media, other media or exhibits, and to be credited as the designer of the work in connection with such uses, including your name or name of your business, organization, or cause. For print work, you agree to provide me with 5 samples to be used for these same promotional and recognition purposes.

14:: Disclaimers of Warranties, Liability, and Indemnification

I’ll make every effort to provide excellent service, deliver work to the highest of standards, and strive to achieve your project goals to the best of my ability, but services and work performed and delivered are sold and provided “as is.” I disclaim warranties or guarantees of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, that the quality of my services or work delivered will meet your expectations, generate any particular results, or impact results, either positively or negatively; use for a particular purpose; and non-infringement.

You understand that by hiring me and engaging my services, you do so at your own discretion and risk. I won’t be responsible or liable, financially or otherwise, to you or any third party for any loss, lost profits, lost data or content, business interruption, expense or liability of any kind, or for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages arising out of services and work performed and delivered.

You agree to indemnify and hold me harmless from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, actions or lawsuits, costs or debt, expenses including legal and related fees and expenses, and judgments sustained or incurred by you or any third party, resulting from or arising out of services and work performed and delivered, uses for which you don’t have rights to or authority to use, or your use or third-party use and further development of my work after it’s delivered.

Neither of us will be in breach of this Agreement or responsible for any failure or delay in performance, or liable to the other for any consequential, indirect, special or punitive damages because of catastrophe; fire, earthquake, flood, hurricane, or other severe weather; labor dispute, act of war, terrorism, riot, or other severe civil disturbance; death, illness, or incapacity of either party; or any local, state, federal, national or international law, governmental order or regulation, or any other event beyond our control.

15:: Law and Jurisdiction

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the United States and the state of Arizona without regard to its conflict of law provisions or the conflict of law provisions of any other jurisdiction. In the event a dispute arises, we both agree to first try to resolve it by negotiation between us. If we’re not able to resolve it this way, it will be subject to adjudication in the state of Arizona and you consent to the venue and jurisdiction of such courts. If any part of this Agreement is deemed invalid, unlawful, void, or unenforceable, then that part will be deemed severable from this Agreement and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining portions. A printed version of this digital Agreement will be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this Agreement to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form.

16:: Next Steps

I’m excited to move forward so please be sure to review everything thoroughly and get in touch if you have any questions or want to touch base on anything. If everything looks good, then you’re required to accept these Service Terms along with the separate Proposal, which will be noted in the Proposal, and then we can proceed. Let’s do it! :)