Terms and Conditions

1. Booking Projects

Summary: You’re booked in once you agree to your contract and pay your deposit. If you ghost me, I might cancel your job after 3 days.

A project is booked in when the client has agreed in writing to the conditions set forth in their contract (see Section 2 Design Brief and Contract) and paid any required deposit (See Section 11.5 Extra Charges). Origami Graphics may cancel the booking if the client does not reply within 3 days of the booking’s commencement. 

2. Design Brief and Contract

Summary: You’re considered booked in once you’ve accepted your contract and paid your deposit. You’ll need to provide me with some personal information so that I can issue those things. If your project is small, your contract might be replaced with an accepted official quote and agreement to these Terms instead of a comprehensive document.

Preliminary stages of design are usually conducted through the development of a design brief and project contract. This involves the designer and client discussing the aims and goals of the project in detail, developing a projected cost for the project, and establishing a deadline – all of which is described in a detailed PDF dossier. In less substantial projects or in ongoing work, an accepted quote with deadline, accompanied by these Terms and Conditions, may form the contract in place of the full document.

2.1 Acceptance: Acceptance of the terms set out in the contract, including agreement to these Terms and Conditions, is acceptance of a legally binding contract to finish your project.

2.2. Privacy: Drafting a contract involves the collection of some personal information including contact details. These are kept confidential and only used for communicative and project development purposes e.g. sending your files to you. For more information on privacy, see Origami’s Privacy Policy.

2.3. Failure to Agree: Failure to agree to the terms set out in the contract, including acceptance of the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, will result in negotiation to reach a solution. If negotiation is unsuccessful the project may be terminated.

2.4. Deposits: For projects over $500, the designer will charge a nonrefundable deposit payable to secure the booking. This deposit is generally 50% of the value of the work, with the remainder payable on conclusion prior to transfer of final files. Deposits function as a security guarantee for both designer and client, by offering a tangible indicator of commitment to uphold the contract to the exclusion of other clients for that booking slot.

Origami Graphics offers a cooling off period of 7 days inclusive from your date of deposit payment, where you may cancel for a full refund of deposit and no penalty as long as work has not yet started on your job. After that time period, or once work on your project has commenced (whichever is sooner), deposits become completely nonrefundable excepting specific conditions of designer cancellation or designer contract breach, listed in Section 6, Project Termination and Section 6.5 Deposit Nonrefundability.

2.5. Discrepancy in Terms: If there is any discrepancy between the web version of Origami Graphics’ Terms and Conditions, and the Terms and Conditions you received in a contract or document from me, your contract terms take precedence. This usually happens when I create custom agreements for your project, such as a special hourly rate, lower late fee penalties, or an extended deferral allowance – due to your individual circumstances or the price of your work. This won’t be reflected in my standard Terms and Conditions available online to the general public.

3. Sending Your Files

Summary: Please don’t send me blurry photos or documents I can’t edit.

Origami Graphics kindly requests that text files sent to it for use in publications are Microsoft Word files (.doc, .docx). Any images sent to Origami by the client must be an appropriate resolution – make sure images intended for print are 300dpi and images intended for web are at least 72dpi.

4. Communication

Summary: I work online and usually talk to clients by email, phone and Zoom, but if you’re a Canberra local or I’m in your area we can get coffee.

The bulk of Origami’s communication will take place over e-mail and/or phone, with drafts delivered by email. Clients from Canberra are welcome to organise face-to-face meetings. You may elect a preferred form of primary communication prior to starting the project. 

Clients are also expected to be available to give regular, timely and consistent feedback to their design drafts when asked and to cooperate with all reasonable requests by the designer to promote a smooth and orderly workflow.

5. Safe Work Policy

Summary: This is my code of conduct. If you violate it, you may be asked to leave without a refund.

Everyone has the right to feel safe and respected at work. It is expected that clients behave in a way which is professional and respectful at all times.

Accordingly, the following behaviours are considered to be violations of your contract justifying immediate project termination and potential forfeiture of deposit:

• Abusive or demeaning speech, including overt insults, harassment, or threats to the designer.
• Displaying behaviours which would be reasonably considered racist, sexist, or otherwise discriminatory.
• Actual or reasonably suspected criminal client behaviour which relates to your design project, including use of your business and design collateral to facilitate activities such as fraud, terrorism, or unlawful human or animal abuse. Note that clients whose projects are cancelled for this reason will be immediately reported to police.

6. Project Termination

Summary: Once you’re booked in, you can cancel anytime but you won’t get your deposit back unless required by law. You may also be liable for further charges if I’ve done more work than you’ve paid for yet.

Either party may terminate (cancel) this project or part thereof at any time and for any reason, provided the deadline has not passed.

6.1. Cooling Off Period: The 7 days inclusive from the date you pay your deposit are considered a “cooling off” period, and cancellation of a project or part thereof by you will receive a full refund of applicable amounts during this time as long as your project has not yet commenced. Once the project has commenced (on the agreed date), the Cooling Off Period is deemed to have finished, and you will not be able to avail of the full period even if 7 days has not yet passed since your date of booking. Please keep this in mind when booking large-cost projects within a week of their intended commencement date, as the immediate preparation time required limits the designer’s ability to offer cooling off refunds.

6.2. Client Cancellation: If you cancel the project or part thereof more than 7 days after you have paid your deposit, you are financially liable to Origami Graphics for:

a) Payment of any work that is already completed, plus

b) A 15% cancellation surcharge applied to the cancelled portions of work, to compensate the designer and any other relevant parties (see Section 15, “External Design Suppliers”) for the loss of booked income.

If the value of any deposit paid already covers this combined amount, then you will not be required to make any further payment. In addition, you may be entitled to a waiver of the cancellation fee and a partial refund, if you are cancelling the project or part thereof due to a legitimate and citable breach of contract by the designer in accordance with Australian Consumer Law, or in extremely exceptional circumstances, communicated pre-deadline, supported by evidence, and at the designer’s absolute discretion.

6.3. Designer Cancellation: If the designer cancels the project for any reason, internal or extenuating, you as the client remain liable to pay for all completed portions of work. However:

a) You will not be charged any cancellation fee.

b) Your deposit will be refunded less any amount payable for already-completed work, if the designer’s cancellation was not made due to cited client breach of contract.

c) The designer will provide you with recommendations to other designers who may be able to help complete your project.

6.4. Cancellation After Deadline: Projects and parts thereof cannot be cancelled after deadline has passed and all project fees plus any applicable late fees will become due by you on receipt of invoice from Origami Graphics. This condition holds even in the occurrence of exceptional circumstances, as you are expected to inform the designer of these circumstances prior to deadline. Please see Section 12: Deferring Your Project, and Section 13: Late Fees for your options instead.

6.5 Deposit Nonrefundability: Note that project deposits remain completely non-refundable when projects are terminated by the client for any reason other than: availing of the Cooling Off Period, genuine breach of contract by the designer, or at the designer’s absolute discretion during an exceptional client circumstance supported by evidence. Deposits are, by nature, a project security and income protection measure, and it is recommended that any concerns about the project or contract are addressed prior to client’s contract commitment and deposit payment.

If you are experiencing unforeseen circumstances and can’t continue with a project but don’t want to cancel entirely, or don’t fit the criteria for a refund, see Section 12: Deferring Your Project to pause the work until later instead.

7. Project Responsibility and Third-Party Actions

Summary: I have no control over your actions and over the actions of third parties, so I can’t be held responsible for those things.

While utmost care for your project will be taken during the time that you are engaged in work with me, no responsibility will be taken by the designer, financial, legal or otherwise, for errors or events out of their control. This includes, but is not limited to:

1. Errors found once a design has been approved by a client. This includes spelling errors and low-resolution photos provided by the client.
   
   
2. Errors or damage during printing and delivery which has been conducted by a third party.
   
   
3. Client losses suffered through third-party events such as website server downtime, third-party security breaches, and/or discontinuation of services, software, or technologies provided by a third party. These third parties may include website hosts, website building companies, website plugin developers, and/or design or publishing software companies. 
   
   
4. Website issues or breaches which occur because you have not taken reasonable steps to keep your website secured and regularly updated, or which occur because you have not paid the designer or another web developer to keep your website regularly updated.
   
   
5. Unauthorised use of copyrighted content by the client. Please ensure you have the legal rights to use anything you send Origami Graphics for production.

Note that Taylor does take responsibility for the quality of design work of certain third-party designers who may assist her to complete project work during peak seasonal periods. See Section 15, External Design Suppliers, for further details.

8. Final Design Files

Summary: You’ll get a big folder full of design files. If your project was a website, you’ll get access to and ownership of the website. I’ll also keep copies of your work forever as a backup unless requested otherwise.

Final design files will be sent to you in a zipped (compressed) folder electronically or delivered via a cloud services such as Dropbox, whichever is most suitable for you. Provided files may include .png and .jpeg images, .eps, .ai and .psd documents, and .pdf documents. Websites are delivered as online products, to which you will have an account for access, editing, administration, and maintaining ownership.

Origami Graphics retains copies of original files indefinitely unless requested by you to destroy them, so feel free to get in touch if you require alterations in the future.

9. Licensing

Summary: You own your files once I deliver them to you, but I need to be credited as the creator. This might mean you have to pay royalties if you’re profiting by selling the design I made for you. You also won’t own any concepts that you rejected.

Upon the delivery of your design files, Origami grants you, the client, exclusive, worldwide of those files, including editable source files, with the exception of Origami Graphics, which retains the following rights:

1. The right to be asserted as the creator of the graphic designs, alongside negotiated royalty payments in situations where ongoing profit is made primarily from the sale of those designs (eg. a picture book, a t-shirt with prominently featured logo);
   
   
2. The right to keep and use copies of the final designs in its portfolio for promotional purposes. You may elect to have personal or contact details removed from these files.
   
   
3. The right to ownership of designs and concepts which the client has rejected and which as a result were not delivered as part of the final product.
   
   

10. Printing

Summary: Printing is generally not included unless you ask for it. If you do, I’ll manage it for you for a small fee and add the costs to your invoice.

You may elect to handle printing yourself or have Origami organise it on your behalf. The designer will choose a printer based on the service deemed most appropriate for project needs. Printing fees apply equivalent to the cost of printing and postage plus a consultation and management fee (approx. $150-$300; 1-2 hours). Printing costs will be added to the invoice and must be paid before printing commences.

11. Payment and Invoicing

Summary: I reserve the right to charge a nonrefundable deposit of up to 50%. I charge $150 an hour unless otherwise discussed. I take electronic payments only, processed by PayPal and the involved banks. Payment will be late after 7 days of invoicing and I may take you to court if you don’t pay. You also won’t get your final files until you pay. Finally, may have to pay for necessary third-party costs like website hosting or domain registration for your own business on top of your design fees.

11.1 Payment Methods: Payment is conducted through PayPal and bank transfer. Origami Graphics accepts all major credit cards through this secure portal.

11.2 Fees: Unless a custom or express rate has been negotiated, payment is calculated by multiplying anticipated project completion time by $150.00 per hour, GST inclusive.

11.3 Invoicing: The projected invoice is included in the initial design brief and will be approved by the client before going ahead with the project. A final invoice is sent at conclusion.

11.4 Payment Deadline: Payment will be late after 7 days of final invoicing. Final, high-quality design files will not be sent to you until payment is received, and you will not receive access to online assets such as websites until payment is made. Once your payment has cleared via PayPal (instant) or in my bank account (allow several working days), a receipt will be issued and ownership of design files and access will be transferred to you.

Unpaid invoices are theft and are subject to legal action by the designer. It is the client’s responsibility to make sure all banking details are correct before transferring funds. Origami Graphics takes no responsibility for lost funds due to an incorrect transaction and the full amount owed must still be paid. If work remains outstanding for payment after 30 days of invoice issue, your design assets may be discarded and your website/s taken down.

11.5 Extra Charges: Origami reserves the right to charge a nonrefundable deposit of up to 50% of the total projected fee prior to the commencement of a project in order to secure the booking. Additional fees created after projection will be negotiated based on the time requirements of the additional project components. These additions will be added to the final invoice following client approval.

Some projects may also require payment of third-party fees, such as website hosting. By committing to work with Origami Graphics you agree that sometimes your project may entail paying third party fees necessary to the conduct of the service, and you agree to abide by that third party’s own Terms in doing so.

12. Project Deferrals

Summary: I get that unexpected things come up and employees can let you down, so I’ve created a policy that lets you postpone your design project for up to 6 months without penalty.

Sometimes unexpected events happen and life gets put on hold. While the designer is unable to refund deposits except in the case of designer contract violation (see Section 2.4 Deposits and Section 6.5 Deposit Nonrefundability) or other extremely specific situation detailed in Section 6, you may choose to defer your project for up to 6 months with no penalty in the case that you encounter a disruption. All requests for project deferral will be automatically accepted and the price of your project frozen for that deferral period, provided the below conditions are met:

12.1: Pre-Commencement: If you are facing a delay and find yourself unable to commence your booked project, simply contact the designer and ask to defer the project. You will be allowed to rebook anytime in the next six months, pending availability for your exact chosen date,  for no additional fees beyond your original quoted amount. This new booked date will be officially held for you using your existing prepaid deposit.

12.2: Post-Commencement: If something comes up when work has already started, contact the designer and ask to defer the project. Your project will be placed on hold for a period of up to six months from the date of deferral request for no extra charge, and you can ask to resume anytime during that period, pending availability for your exact preferred date.

If the project has progressed more than 50% of the way to completion at your time of deferral request, the designer will require you to pay your final invoice and any outstanding late fees in full prior to accepting the deferral request. This payment is not refundable even in the case of any subsequent cancellation by you, and any further work will be requoted as an additional charge if you do not resume the project within six months of the initial deferral request.

12.3: Impact on Late Fees: Provided that you request an extension or deferral before your project’s deadline, you will not be liable for late fees (see Section 13 Late Fees). It is therefore recommended to make a request for extension or project deferral rather than failing to communicate a project delay and violating a deadline. Deferrals requested after deadline has passed will require payment of both final invoice and any applicable late fees before the deferral request can be accepted.

12.4: Subsequent Deferrals: You may continue to defer your project as many times as you like without finanical penalty, up to a limit of six months from the date of initial deferral request. You can make a subsequent deferral request at any time; however, if your initial deferred deadline has already passed, you will be required to pay your final invoice and any applicable late fees before a subsequent deferral request can be accepted. Exact dates for recommencement of a deferred project are subject to designer availability.

12.5: Six Months Expiry: The designer is unable to accommodate deferrals in perpetuity without charging additional fees for resumption of the delayed work. Therefore, if client action is not taken to resume the project by a deadline of six calendar months following the date of initial deferral request, the project will be considered abandoned, and any future design work undertaken on the project will be requoted as a completely new project.
The new quote will account for any hourly rate changes which may have occurred in the time since the original booking was made. In addition, no payments will be refunded to the client in the case that their project becomes abandoned.

The designer may agree to extend a project deferral beyond six months for no penalty only at the designer’s absolute discretion, and upon request only by a client experiencing an extremely exceptional circumstance supported by evidence.

13. Late Fees

Summary: If you ghost me throughout our design project, you will get smacked with a fat late fee to compensate me and the clients waiting after you for the undue delay. If the designer is late, you’ll have the opportunity to either negotiate a different deadline that works for everyone; or, cancel the project entirely without paying any cancellation fee, and get a refund for any paid-but-uncompleted work per Section 6.3 Designer Cancellation.

Origami Graphics takes deadlines seriously and meets them consistently. I recognise that they are important in building trust and helping business to flow smoothly, and pride myself on my ability to complete quick and high-quality work.

However, it is also essential that the client communicates in a prompt manner to avoid delays. When you book, time is plotted out for you and delaying progress – for example, failing to write copy on time or replying unreasonably slowly – can cause substantial income loss and interrupt the clients whose bookings follow yours. As a result, a late fee surcharge is applicable to projects delayed past deadline through no fault of the designer, as follows:

3 days late: 5%

1 week late: 10%

2 weeks late: 20%

3 weeks or more late: 30%

These percentages are proportional to the value of your entire booked project. A 2-week late fee on a $4000 project, for example, will be $800 GST inclusive bringing the final amount payable to $4800.

It is important to note that late fees are intentionally high in order to discourage unexplained lateness and/or repeated and unreasonable delay which seriously impacts my business and my other clients. These fees are not intended to punish clients who have genuinely experienced unforeseen circumstances and have let me know that they are having trouble committing time to the work. As a result, late fee surcharges will be waived in exceptional circumstances, or if you communicate well ahead of time that you need a deadline extension or deferral (see Section 12 Deferring Your Project for more information) – just chat to me and let me know!

What if the designer is late, not the client? In general, small designer delays <2 weeks will be communicated well ahead of time, with revised deadline or relaxed project timeframes negotiated with and accepted by the client. However, very occasionally, the designer may experience an extenuating circumstance such as severe illness or family tragedy which causes substantial project delay (>2 weeks), or the client may have a hard deadline which cannot accommodate any delay. In such a situation where there is a significant delay which cannot be avoided or remedied even with the assistance of Taylor’s design subcontractors (see Section 15) or with a negotiated project discount for significant designer lateness, you will be offered the opportunity to cancel the project, with no cancellation fee and an appropriate level of refund in line with the terms of designer contract breach in Section 6.2: Client Cancellation.

14. Refunds and Revisions

Summary: You’re protected by Australian law and are entitled to a refund or revision if the quality of your design work is objectively lower than it reasonably should be. Change of mind, preference or opinion doesn’t count as low quality, especially if you’ve already made revisions.

Origami Graphics complies with Australian consumer law. Accordingly, you are entitled to a refund or revision of your files if they have a major problem. More information on what constitutes a major problem and what you are entitled to can be found on the ACCC website. Change of mind is not a valid reason for refund.

https://www.accc.gov.au/

15. External Design Suppliers

Summary: Origami Graphics tends to be very busy these days, so I have design assistants available to help when needed. They may complete part of your project. If you only want me (Taylor Eggleton) working on your project, you need to let me know in advance and this may cost extra during peak times like End of Financial Year May-June or Annual Report season September-November.

Other freelance designers may occasionally be engaged to provide design support during high-demand periods, or in case Taylor becomes seriously ill. Taylor will remain responsible for all client communication, as well as for the quality and final output of your work at all times, despite the potential use of these third parties to help prepare your designs.

If you do not want anybody else seeing or working on any part of your project at any time, please advise Taylor prior to commencement and a completely private one-on-one job will be arranged. Note that this may attract extra fees during peak business periods such as the End of Financial Year, as the personal time demands on Taylor tend to be extremely high during these times (labour demands in reporting cutoff periods are often in excess of 50 hours per week).

If you are particularly thrilled with your design work and would like to know if any other designers have contributed, please get in touch; and, if an external designer was used, Taylor can facilitate an introduction pending their consent.