Write a Contract

DOWNLOADABLE VERSIONS:

Print and Fill Contract Template: ContractForGraphicDesigners

PDF Form Contract Templates: LiveContractForGraphicDesigners

(Bonus Download, Original Source Here / Not an Ofazomi.org Document: AIGA Standard Contract)

I am not a lawyer, business consultant, member of the SBA or in any conceiveable way qualified to offer advice on business, contracts or law. Do not trust me. I offer no implied warranties or expertise. The sample above is just that, a sample. Be sure to contact your local county and/or city clerk, state taxation authority, business lawyer, cpa and all applicable laws before coming up with your own contracts. Got it? Good.

OVERVIEW / COPYRIGHT:
These sample contracts are offered as a helpful example under the Creative Commons copyright license (cc by-nc-sa). You may copy, reuse, reprint or edit the ofazomi.org contract samples to serve your purposes for any use, commercial [personal use as contract materials]  or non-commercial but you must in turn share alike. (You can’t sell any derivative contracts or agreements as templates but you may post them freely.)
Many students begin their freelancing careers without even a boilerplate contract. Above is my show and tell.

LEGAL SCHMEGAL:
Be sure to click on the Contract Addendums (addendum=add on) link above the initial box to check out all the clauses, sub-clauses and other santa related jargon. I have folks review this as additional pages because it’s too darn dense for a clean, one page summary agreement.

GETTING PAID:
It is highly recommended that you not start any job until you have received a non-refundable, 25% – 35% downpayment. I have set up a PayPal account to accept payments. They skim 3% off the top but I recommend it for a few of reasons.

  1. PayPal emails me the second cash is put into my bank account.
  2. I have an dated 3rd-party record of payment.
  3. Clients must pay me via credit or debit card. Why? Bounced checks stink for everybody.

AUTOMATED CONTRACT:
I choose to automate my contract for the same reason I use PayPal. It offers instant confirmation of signature and offers the benefit of outside party date-stamping and verifiability.

SAMPLE CONTRACT:
There used to be a sample here but a malicious individual (yes, you: world.pokerMas.terUkraine) thought it would be fun to thrash around while I was on vacation. The clean up took far too long and I am pulling the whole thing down. If you would like a sample, please contact me and I am overjoyed to share.


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