Terms and Conditions
These are my standard Terms and Conditions for any design project. Have a good read through, and if anything jumps out at you as a potential issue, please let me know before the project begins.
The most up-to-date version of my Terms and Conditions will always be available on my website, and supersede all previous agreements or understandings.
Payment
Any quotes are valid for 30 days from the date of the Business Agreement/Proposal.
I reserve the right to require a first payment or ‘deposit’ of between 30% and 50% of the agreed total costs before starting any work. If a deposit is requested, an invoice will be generated and delivered to you via email and payment is expected before the project start date. By remitting deposit funds you (the ‘Client’) are accepting these Terms of Service and entering a contract with me, Tanya Coyle (‘Leapdog Design’).
I will invoice for the project balance and associated services prior to the release of any assets and final exports. I reserve the right to withhold delivery or website ‘Ownership’ until payment has been received in full. Upon completion, if a Client decides they no longer want the work, or wish to make changes to the website or project, they are still obliged to pay for the work that has been done to date.
You reserve the right to request a payment plan which may be accepted at my discretion. All payment plans must be agreed by both parties in writing.
For work of value less than £500, I reserve the right to invoice for the total amount and receive full payment before any work begins.
Work Schedule and Launch Terms
My priority is to work closely with you to achieve the best results within the mutually agreed-upon timeframe, and I appreciate your commitment to a collaborative effort. Delays may occur if there are extended periods of inactivity or if essential materials and feedback from you are not received as scheduled.
I am not liable for costs incurred; compensation or loss of earnings due to the failure to meet agreed deadlines, but every effort will be made to ensure deadlines are met and I will inform you if deadlines will be effected.
Website design work will be provided to you for approval, along with details about user flow, content and page functionality. Work will start on the website build and functionality only once you have ‘signed off’ on these elements. Any significant changes to the design or website structure and functionality once built has started will be subject to an additional charge. No further work will be conducted until the additional scope of work and associated costs have been agreed.
Once the website has been signed off and the balance has been paid, I will transfer full site Ownership to you, remaining as a ‘Contributor’ to provide support beyond launch as needed. It is your responsibility as ‘Owner’ to add, remove or edit site permissions as required.
If there are issues with the final payment, I reserve the right to remain as site Owner and remove the site from public access until payment is received.
Once the site has gone live, you will receive a two-week period of support (or a support period as otherwise agreed), during which time I will show you how to use and update the website, either in-person, or through online walkthroughs and/or videos. Any significant amends requested during that period will be considered a Change Request and scoped up separately.
I understand Clients may want to independently edit their website after completion of the project. Tanya Coyle (Leapdog Design) is not responsible for any damage created by the Client or agent of the Client. Any repairs will be assessed and billed at an hourly rate.
Intellectual and Property Rights
The Client guarantees that any element of text, fonts, graphics, photos, designs, trademarks, or other artwork furnished to Tanya Coyle (Leapdog Design) for inclusion in the project are owned by the Client, or that the Client has a license or permission from the rightful owner to use each of these elements, and will hold harmless, protect, and defend Tanya Coyle (Leapdog Design) from any claim or suit arising from the use of such elements furnished by the Client.
I accept no responsibility for copyright infringements caused by materials used and submitted to Tanya Coyle (Leapdog Design). I reserve the right to refuse any material that it believes to contravene copyright laws unless proof is given that permission has been granted to use the material.
I affirm that any design presented to you will be original and to the best of my knowledge will not infringe/plagiarise any other work. I will perform limited checks to ensure that my work has not unintentionally infringed on another’s design, including limited checks against the WIPO database and reverse image checks across search engines. However, I assume no legal responsibility for any loss or damage suffered or incurred related to legal issues regarding the originality or authenticity of my work. You agree to perform your own checks and due diligence regarding plagiarism and originality. Should you have any concerns, please discuss this item with me prior to commencing work.
You take full responsibility for ensuring that your company/product/name is legally free/available before work is started. Should any legal issue arise with the naming after the project has been completed, no refunds are possible, neither am I legally responsible for any problems thus arising.
Licensing of Fonts
All fonts or typefaces are subject to licensing laws. A font/typeface licence gives only the owner full rights to use the font/typeface.
When I present my logo concepts/site styling, I will provide information about the typeface(s) used, what licenses are required and where they can be acquired. It is the responsibility of the client to acquire any necessary font licenses (paid or unpaid), so please bear this in mind when approving designs.
It is against the law for me to provide any client a ‘copy’ of any font/typeface that I own, and have personally purchased. If you would like to use a copy of a font/typeface that I have purchased, to be used commercially, you must purchase the respective font/typeface licence, and register it in your name.
Typically, a font used in a logo will not need to be licensed, as the graphics are converted to vector artwork and can no longer be edited. However, should you require a font to use in your own artwork for editing purposes, such as on a website or a print presentation, then you will need your own license through a desktop license purchase.
Certain fonts available for website use on Squarespace are provided through Squarespace’s integrated font library, which includes a broad selection of Google Fonts and a curated list of Adobe Fonts. Should you request an Adobe Font that is not included in the Squarespace font library, you must supply the necessary embed code from your own Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. Alternatively, you must obtain a valid web font license directly from the relevant foundry, with appropriate files and usage rights for web.
I am not responsible for any future changes Squarespace may make to its font offerings. If updates to your website become necessary as a result of any font library changes, this will be considered outside the original scope of work and billed as an additional cost.
Website Platform and Updates
Squarespace is an all-in-one website builder and hosting provider that offers users a simple way to create and manage a website through its content management system (CMS).
In purchasing a Squarespace web hosting and subscription plan, the Client agrees to their Terms of Service and DPA. You can check current Squarespace subscription plans and pricing here.
Squarespace is continuously improving its platform by adding new features and tools to enhance a website’s performance, design flexibility, and functionality. While these improvements help keep your site modern and competitive, some platform updates can be significant, altering available features and the underlying design system.
Following such updates, website design, custom CSS, functionalities or compatibility with third-party integrations may be impacted, requiring redevelopment or redesign work. Such updates are outside my control. Any work required due to Squarespace updates or changes to site features will be discussed and quoted in advance.
If the platform provider makes changes that meaningfully reduce your rights or significantly affect your website’s features or functionality, you will be notified and given an opportunity to respond or cancel applicable services if allowed by the platform’s terms.
You are responsible for reviewing these notifications and deciding on any necessary actions, including approving additional work to adapt your website to platform updates.
Tanya Coyle (Leapdog Design) is not liable for any direct or indirect losses, damages, downtime, or interruptions related to platform updates, changes, or discontinuations, including any loss of data, revenue, functionality, or access to services.
In case of any disputes regarding ownership or access to the website or related platform accounts, resolution will be handled between you and the Squarespace. Tanya Coyle (Leapdog Design) is not responsible for resolving such disputes.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
All website projects will be optimised in accordance with established on-page SEO best practices. This includes, but is not limited to: Clear and semantic headings, targeted keywords, well-crafted metadata (titles and descriptions), logical internal linking, image alt tags, readable URL structures, and unique, high-quality content.
As part of the launch process, I will submit the sitemap to Google Search Console and request indexing of its pages. While these steps facilitate discovery and improve the chances of being indexed, there is no guarantee regarding how quickly, or even if, Google will crawl and index any given page. I accept no liability or responsibility for the timing or outcome of Google's crawling and indexing process.
Clients should be aware that search engine results depend on a range of factors outside of my control and the initial website scope of work. Achieving and maintaining strong search engine positions often requires continuous SEO work, content development, and site promotion efforts. For advanced SEO and site promotion services, the Client will need to engage with specialists in this area.
Website Documentation
As part of every website package, I will provide a cookies notice and banner for the site which will disclose information regarding the use of standard cookies used by Squarespace.
By law, certain websites need to have a comprehensive Privacy Policy, particularly regarding data collection and handling, and penalties for non-compliance can be very costly.
It is the responsibility of the Client to provide any legal documents that may be required for their website and business, including but not limited to: Privacy Policy, Disclaimers, Policies, Terms of Service, or Terms and Conditions.
Ownership and Copyright
All preparation materials, sketches, visuals, including the electronic files used to create the project remain the property of Tanya Coyle (Leapdog Design). The final artwork/digital files/website will become your property ONLY upon final payment of the project.
If final payment is not received as agreed, all designs and concepts will remain the property of Tanya Coyle (Leapdog Design) until payment is received.
If there are issues with final payment, I reserve the right to reuse or amend any of these ideas for other clients, or to be used freely as concepts in my portfolio.
Should the client attempt to use/modify/alter/replicate or steal any of my ideas without making agreed final payment, I will take immediate legal counsel.
Final payment ensures that ONLY the agreed logo design becomes your property. Any previous ideas/concepts remain the property of Tanya Coyle (Leapdog Design), unless any prior agreement has been made.
You do not have the rights or permission to use/modify/alter/replicate or borrow any of the previous ideas/concepts/sketches that I present. All original preparation materials, sketches, visuals and unused ideas shown and considered will remain the property of Tanya Coyle (Leapdog Design).
I am free to use these unused and previous ideas for future conceptual and client work. Where a previously unused idea/design retains a similar look and style to the finished logo, I shall repurpose and style so that the end design is sufficiently different as to not cause conflict.
You are free to change, modify and edit the finished logo design, but you do so at your own risk.
Displaying Work
Unless otherwise agreed, I reserve the right to showcase Client work on my website and social media channels, as well as any number of online galleries/portfolio/showcases/awards or printed literature, now and in the future. This is typically, but not limited to the completion of the project. If you have any specific secrecy requirements or NDA requirements, please mention this before agreeing to the proposal.
Any supporting artwork and designs required by this project can be used as indicated by myself for personal or professional reasons.
All websites designed by Leapdog Design will include a link in the smallprint of the footer, crediting Leapdog Design as the designer. Removal of this back link is only allowed with my express permission.
Cancellation
If you choose to cancel midway through the project, where ideas and proposals have been submitted, all fees up to that stage are to be paid. This will be calculated by the number of hours worked to date, and any expenses occurred.
On cancellation or postponement to the commission or any part of it for any reason, all work legally belongs to Tanya Coyle (Leapdog Design) and the Client is not permitted to use the designs for personal or business use unless the fee agreed in advance for the work had included assignment of the copyright and the fee in total has been paid. Furthermore, any individual, including the Client or another designer, is not permitted to recreate the ideas or designs that have been created by Tanya Coyle (Leapdog Design).
I reserve the right to cancel or suspend any project if;
A Client behaves poorly and effects the workflow of a project or shows a lack of focus in getting a project finished.
There is interference with excessive micromanaging, demonstrating a continued lack of trust and inability to move forward after showing more than a reasonable number of unique design ideas/concepts.
Client demonstrates a reluctance in making a payment.
There is no communication after 30 days. We are all human and I am open to listening and helping whenever I can - we just need to communicate.
Fair notice will be given with fair chance to remedy the situation without resorting to project suspension or termination. Any suspension, or termination, will not result in any refunds and ownership of any creative shall be retained by Tanya Coyle (Leapdog Design).
In the event of illness or other unforeseen circumstances affecting my ability to work, I will notify you with proof and reason. The project may be paused for up to one month to accommodate recovery or resolution of the situation. If I am unable to complete the project, if any work can be used for another designer to pick up, then a percentage will be refunded based on the work completed or any other reasonable suggestion will be considered.
Thank you.