Project Acceptance

At the time of proposal, Smart Digital will provide the Client with a written estimate or quotation by email. Smart Digital will not be bound by any price quoted on the telephone. A written quotation which has been approved by the Client in the form of either a signature or a written communication (email)  to proceed will be deemed valid. Quotations are valid for 30 days.

Preliminary Work

Early in each project, Smart Digital conducts preliminary work, such as research, sketches, rough layouts, visualizations, demos and/or comps. These are prepared solely for the purpose of demonstrating an idea or a potential direction for the client’s consideration. All preliminary work undertaken whether experimentally or otherwise will be charged at current rates. All work produced, experimentally or otherwise, at customer’s request is billable. This means that we do not undertake to do design or other work speculatively, ( i.e. where the client pays for it only if he/she likes it). All development work has value. If a client requests a job/work, from us, whether it’s a large project or a small one, the client is signifying their agreement to pay for all work and time required to implement the work, and will be invoiced accordingly. The Client will pay Smart Digital for the work completed to date, along with all expenses incurred on the project. Deposit will be credited against the amount due.

Design Charges

Charges for design services to be provided by Smart Digital will be set out in the written estimate or quotation are based on estimated total project development time and level of expertise necessary to complete a project. It is to be understood that all estimates given are just that ‘estimates’. It may not be possible to give a fixed price because of the evolving nature of most creative projects.

Design Payment Schedule

Unless otherwise noted, the Client’s payment schedule is as follows: fifty (50) percent deposit upon contract acceptance before the work commences and the balance of (50) percent balance due upon delivery of the final design (In large scale projects, prior to release of materials).

Website design Only

Typically, Smart Digital designs a template for the Client’s web site. Smart Digital requires that the template is approved by the customer before coding of a site commences. Once the template(s) for the web site are approved by the Client, coding will commence; any changes to navigation items, colours, structure or content that require changes to the template will incur an additional charge (25- 35 euro per hour).

Once web design is complete, Smart Digital will provide the customer with the opportunity to review the resulting work. Smart Digital will make one set of minor changes at no extra cost within 14 days of the start of the review period. Minor changes include small textual changes and small adjustments to placement of items on the page. It does not include changes to images, colour schemes or any navigation features. Any minor changes can be notified to Smart Digital by e-mail. Smart Digital Design will consider that the client has accepted the original draft, if no notification of changes is received in writing from the Client, within 14 days of the start of the review period.

Website Payment Schedule

Unless otherwise noted, the Client’s payment schedule is tied to the project’s milestones as follows: thirty (30) percent deposit upon contract acceptance, thirty (30) percent on approval of final design, thirty (30) percent on approval of HTML/CSS files of final website, ten (10) percent balance due when site goes live.

Out of Scope Work / Additional Services

We understand that the client may want additional content added to a given project or may request additional change requests to a given project, that are outside the scope of the original brief and original price estimate agreed. Changes in client input or direction or excessive change requests will be charged at a minimum of 25-35 euro per hour. Any work the Client wishes Smart Digital which is not specified in the original estimate/agreement will be considered as extra billable time / Out of Scope work. In all cases we will flag this with the client in advance and seek agreement on additional billing, before project proceeds further.

Project Termination

Cancellation, termination or postponement of projects may be made initially by telephone contact, or e-mail at the request of the client, however, following this, Smart Digital will need formal notification in writing to Smart Digital’s postal address. On termination of a project, or any part of it, for any reason, the Client will pay Smart Digital for the work completed to date, along with all expenses incurred on the project. Any deposits provided  will be credited against the amount due. Please note: any cancellation which is not formally confirmed in writing and received by Smart Digital within 14 days of such instruction being issued, will be liable for the full quoted cost of the project. In the event of termination, Smart Digital will retain all copyright.

Proofs, Errors and Final Artwork Approval

The Client will be required to proofread and approve all elements of final designs. Approval must be provided before production can continue and artwork is released. Proofs are made available for Clients approval at several stages of the project. Corrections, if required, will be identified from proofs and submitted for Smart Digital to revise and resubmit for client approval. Final approval is required on every project for release and production. Email authorization from you will constitute authorization and approval to carry out work defined.

Smart Digital is responsible for ensuring the finished job matches the signed off and approved final proof. The client accepts responsibility for proofing all the artwork accurately. No responsibility or liability will be accepted by Smart Digital for (i) any errors after the final proof has been approved by the client or (ii) for any material for which the client has given instructions that allow for artists license (iii) any errors in spelling or grammar made by Smart Digital where a final proof have been submitted to the client. Change requests will be deemed Out of Scope Work / Additional Services and charged at 25 – 35 euro per hour.

Source Files

It is to be understood that the Client does not automatically own any development files or development designs, but only a set of the Finished Artwork files. We will supply proofs and PDF files as appropriate for printing, or other graphic files as detailed in the job scope or request. 

Charges for design work do not cover the release of our copyright design source files, including but not restricted to indd, psd, AI, png, fla or other source files or raw code. Projects which include content from other third party vendors (e.g., fonts, stock illustration, stock photography, stock video, software) which are purchased by Smart Digital – often for just one specific rights managed usage, intellectual property ownership for those materials remains with those third party vendors. Therefore it would be unethical and illegal for Smart Digital to release those tools to clients or third parties. 

Design Credits

The Client agrees to allow Smart Digital to place a small credit on printed material exhibition displays, advertisements and/or a link to Smart Digital’s own website on the Client’s website. This will usually be in the form of a small logo or line of text placed towards the bottom of the page. 

Marketing Rights

Smart Digital reserves the right to retain samples of materials produced for it’s clients for use in our portfolio (including online) or for use in marketing/advertising activities unless instructed otherwise by the client in advance in writing.

Billing

Payment terms are 30 days from the date of invoice, unless agreed otherwise in writing. Smart Digital reserves the right to charge interest (8%) on overdue invoices that have been held without due cause and explanation. 

Smart Digital  reserves copyright title to all goods and designs produced by it and intellectual rights to concepts and copy produced, until all relevant invoices have been paid. We reserve the right to dispose of all development files after a period of 3 months.

Annual Renewal

Payment for the annual renewal of a domain name and hosting is necessary before the renewal date in order for the domain/hosting not to expire. The Client will be invoiced by email 30 days before the domain/hosting is due to expire and reminded again by email 7 days before the domain/hosting is to expire.

Failure to pay renewal fee before the expiry date will result in the domain/hosting being suspended. Additional charges (Redemption Fees) of up to €75 – €250 may apply to renew a domain name that has expired. Such fees are applied by country specific domain registration bodies. An account shall be considered default if it remains unpaid for 30 days from the date of invoice, or following a returned cheque. Smart Digital shall be entitled to remove the Client’s material from any and all computer systems, until the amount due has been fully paid. This includes any and all unpaid monies due for services, including, but not limited to, hosting, and domain registration.

Removal of such materials does not relieve the customer of its obligation to pay the due amount.

Client content

The Client will provide accurate and complete information and materials to Smart Digital, and warrants and guarantees that all materials are owned by the Client or that the Client has all necessary rights (including copyright and waiver or moral rights) in such materials, to allow Smart Digital to use them for the project. Text, images or trademarks provided by the client are the intellectual property of the client. Smart Digital is not responsible for any intellectual property infringements arising out of use of a clients content in Smart Digital’s work.

Smart Digital is not responsible for errors or omissions in any work produced as per the Client’s approval, and no financial responsibility is assumed by Smart Digital for errors or damages resulting from such errors.

Smart Digital will not be responsible for delays in delivery caused by acts of God, strikes, fires, floods, or any other similar circumstances beyond Smart Digital’s control.

Acceptance of Terms and Conditions and Quotation

The placement of an order for design and/or any other services offered by Smart Digital , by email, verbally or in writing, is deemed to be acceptance of these terms and conditions, which are freely available at www.smartdigitaldesign.ie.