Someone asked me what the deal was with the whole aspect of ‘ownership’, in relation to logo design files when a project is completed. Fair question I thought.

I’m not the sort of person who likes to get into paragraphs of T&C’s, they just look boring, no one reads them and they are just dull. I keep my initial proposal short and sweet.

You may find the following useful, you may not. It’s just the portion of my proposal that outlines the specifics to logo file and design ownership. This is not the exact version, as I tend to make fine tweaks on a per client basis, but you get the idea. It’s simple, short and sweet.

I am not saying this is all you need – some people prefer more detail, the ‘watch your own back’ variety – but it works for me. It at least gives you the freedom to do use your own designs for promotional applications and states quite clearly, payment = ownership.

Feel free to copy and paste, edit and hack.

DESIGN & FILE OWNERSHIP

All preparation materials, sketches, visuals, including electronic files used to create the project, remain the property of [insert your name here] until final approval has been made.

Upon final approval, and once any outstanding invoices have been paid, [insert your name here] will pass ownership of the final approved designs as specified in the proposal to [insert name of client here].

This does not include unused intermediate ideas and concepts, which will remain the property of ImJustCreative.

[insert your name here] reserves the right to show any artwork, ideas and sketches created for this project in a portfolio, in various online galleries and in logo process posts as examples of client work.

If you are unhappy for me to display your logo design in portfolios and in other online inspiration galleries, please discuss this with me before proceeding with the project.