Contract check for freelance designers
Read what a client’s contract commits you to, before you sign it.
Paste a client-drafted agreement and read the six terms that decide the deal — scope, revisions, ownership, payment, termination and indemnity — plus the two clauses to raise first.
A worked check
The six terms that decide the deal, in plain English
Brand identity and a six-page site for a four-person studio, six-week engagement.
- ScopeWhat work is included, and what counts as extra?
- A logo suite, a twelve-page style guide and designs for the home page plus four inner pages. Copywriting, photography and the build sit outside the fee and would be quoted separately.
- RevisionsHow many rounds are included, and what happens after the last one?
- Two rounds on the logo and one on the site designs. Anything past that is billed hourly, at a rate the contract leaves blank.
- IP and licensingWho owns the work, and what may the client do with it?
- The client owns the work outright once the final invoice is paid, including early directions and the working files you would normally keep.
- Payment termsWhen are you paid, and what happens if the invoice is late?
- Half up front, the balance 45 days after the final invoice. No due date is given for the deposit and no late fee applies if the balance slips.
- TerminationHow can either side end the project, and what are you paid if they do?
- The client can stop the project on seven days’ notice and pays only for delivered work. You cannot end the engagement until the current phase is complete.
- IndemnificationWhat are you promising to cover if a claim is made?
- You cover the client against any claim connected to the work, including claims about the images, fonts or copy you supply.
The two flags to raise first
Every check ranks the flags it finds, worst first. These two lead the list — the ones to put to the client before you sign anything.
- 1
High risk You carry the client’s legal costs for anything in the work
What this means for you: If a photo, a font or a line of copy is challenged, defending the client comes out of your pocket. On a fixed fee, one claim can cost more than the project pays.
Term: Indemnification
- 2
Worth raising Revisions stop being paid after the second round, at a rate left blank
What this means for you: Every extra round is work with no agreed price behind it. That blank line is where a fixed fee quietly turns into unpaid hours.
Term: Revisions
Free on every check
- The six terms that decide the deal — Scope, Revisions, IP and licensing, Payment terms, Termination, Indemnification — each in plain English
- The first two ranked red flags, each with a line on what it means for you
- Text in, text out: you paste the agreement, so there is no file to attach, and nothing is kept after your session ends
The full ranked report
The free result stops at the first two flags. The rest of the ranked list — every flag this contract raises, in the same worst-first order — sits past that point.
Run a check
Paste the contract and read the six terms
The whole agreement as text — the vaguest paragraph and the strictest one included. Nothing you paste is kept after you close the tab.
Waiting for the contract text
Before you paste
Six terms decide a freelance design deal
The check reads the whole agreement and answers each of these in plain English, then names the flags worth raising first.
Scope
What work is included, and what counts as extra?
Revisions
How many rounds are included, and what happens after the last one?
IP and licensing
Who owns the work, and what may the client do with it?
Payment terms
When are you paid, and what happens if the invoice is late?
Termination
How can either side end the project, and what are you paid if they do?
Indemnification
What are you promising to cover if a claim is made?
How it works
From a contract you skimmed to one you understand
Three steps, one paste, and the clauses you actually argue about.
- Copy the agreement as text
Take the whole document the client sent, schedule and small print included.
- Read the six terms, then the two flags
Each term comes back in plain English, with the clauses worth raising ranked worst first.
- Put the flags to the client before you sign
Name the clause, say what it costs you, and ask for it to change while there is still time.
Where it goes wrong
Three clauses that cost designers the most
Each is cheap to fix before signature and expensive to argue about afterwards.
Scope that never closes
Vague deliverables turn every friendly request after kickoff into unpriced work.
The whole folder changes hands
A blanket transfer can carry off the directions the client turned down, and the right to reuse them.
A fee with no date on it
Payable on completion, with no deposit and no late fee, leaves the timing to the client.