Terms and Conditions

Responsibilities of The Client

The Client agrees to the following:

• I will read booking information, terms and conditions and email correspondence thoroughly and very carefully before purchasing or booking with The Designer.

• I will take responsibility for my own release schedules, making a note of Schmidt’s turnaround times.

• I will take responsibility for any delays caused by me not replying to correspondence in a timely manner.

• I will complete and submit required design details as per the dates given to me in my booking confirmation email.

• For custom book covers, I will find at least one image that I would like on my cover using Adobe Stock, Depositphotos or by sending a high resolution version of a correctly licenced image I have purchased (from another stock site or from a photographer) to The Designer

• I will respect The Designer’s need for space to apply their expertise without directing them on every detail and minor tweak, giving them creative autonomy.

• I will check final files for errors in spelling and text / image placement, alerting The Designer of any further changes within 48-hours of receiving my graphics.

  • If a language other than English is used, it is The Client’s responsibility to ensure correct spellings are provided to The Designer.

• I will remain polite, respectful and calm in all of my correspondence with The Designer.

The Client understands the following:

• If details are missing from a design brief or if The Designer does not receive relevant information within the required time frame, this will delay the design process and is likely to result in them having to re-book.

• Unless replies to correspondence are timely, delays to the design process are inevitable due to The Designer’s tight schedule and this is likely to result in The Client having to re-book.

• If incorrect details are sent on a design brief, an additional charge for the time it takes to rectify The Client’s mistakes may be applied.

• The Designer aims for all work to be carried out, delivered and for all correspondence to be conducted within the stated turnaround times, but The Client will allow for delays at busier times and for when The Designer finds themselves in circumstances that are out of their control (these may include—but are not limited to—illness, family matters, unavoidable priorities with The Designer’s main occupation, technical issues).

  • The Designer endeavours to alert clients of delays at the earliest possibility but requires patience and an understanding that Shower of Schmidt is a very small business with limited resources.

• The Designer will not be held responsible for release schedule disruption where The Client has not booked well in advance or has neglected to respond to communication in a timely manner.

• The Designer will not be held accountable for items going to print with errors on them.

• The Client is paying for The Designer’s time and skill in addition to the final products. This time includes—but is not limited to—back and forth correspondence in the form of responding to emails, edits to designs, tweaks, image searches, font searches, additional graphics, paperback resizing and the actual design process.

• Micromanagement of any kind by The Client will not be tolerated.

  • The Client is permitted a set number of changes / modifications to drafts once they have been sent. That said, The Designer is flexible and endeavours to ensure The Client is entirely satisfied with the final product and therefore some additional tweaks and changes may be permitted within reason.

• Communication that is deemed aggressive / rude / disrespectful is highly likely to result in The Designer terminating the contract with immediate effect.

  • In this instance, the deposit will remain with The Designer along with any payment already received that covers completed work that exceeds 50% of the work.

• .psd files will not be released to The Client.

• Terms and conditions are n0n-negotiable.

Payment:

Unless other, mutually-agreed arrangements have been made between The Client and The Designer, The Client agrees to:

• pay The Designer the full amount of each item.

  • Some items can be paid for in two halves depending on the cost.

  • 50% of the cost of each item is a non-refundable deposit.

• pay The Designer the full balance before final custom files are delivered.

Once a paperback cover has been sized, if The Client makes changes to their manuscript that alters the initial page number, there will be NO additional charge for a re-size.

EXTRA CHARGES:

The Designer’s hourly rate is £55

• additional work on graphics that exceeds the value of items purchased - charged per hour

  • this may include—but is not limited to—image manipulation in the form of: head swaps, tattoos, facial hair, hair colour, clothing additions etc. - charged per hour

• re-design due to The Client wanting to go in a different direction - charged per hour

• errors (or additional changes) on finalised files that are brought to The Designer’s attention after the 48-hour cooling off period - charged per hour

• additional images beyond the stated number of images in each design package - charged at £3 per image

• additional images to be added to pre-made covers - charged at £3 per image

• email communication that takes up excessive amounts of time - charged per hour

Additional charges are applied at the discretion of The Designer. These are non-negotiable.

Custom Work:

The Designer agrees to:

• discuss The Client’s design information with them.

• provide up to 5 draft concepts for each item being designed allowing up to 5 tweaks and changes of The Clients preferred concept.

  • When The Client has a very clear vision of what they would like their cover to look like, it is unlikely that there will be more than one draft that will then be tweaked and altered to include the allowed number of changes.

• search for and download images—other than the image required by The Client—and fonts.

*The Designer endeavours to make all changes necessary to the preferred draft concept to ensure The Client is 100% satisfied with their product. However, any additional work (e.g. re-design) that goes beyond the value of payment already made will be charged at £55 per hour.

Pre-made work:

All pre-made items will only be sold once.

The Designer agrees to:

• make alterations to the pre-made item as per the customer’s design brief e.g. title, author name, tagline, series title, some colours and placements if required and feasible

  • The Client understands that colours and placement are not always able to be altered due to the nature of the design process.

It may be possible for some individual pre-made covers to be altered to create a series. Please enquire by contacting us. The Client understands that this might not always be possible due to the nature of the design process.

*The Designer endeavours to make all changes necessary to ensure The Client is 100% satisfied with their product. However, additional work may be charged at an hourly rate of £55 per hour.

Delivery:

Files will be delivered to the email address provided by The Client as attachments from shower.of.schmidt@gmail.com once full payment is received.

AI Usage

• Shower of Schmidt Designs does not deliberately use AI of any sort.

• In the event of accidental usage, or if a stock site updates their listings, The Designer will discuss this with The Client and work with them to rectify the error.

  • In this instance, if The Client chooses not to have their graphics updated to remove the accidental AI content, The Designer will not be held responsible for any backlash regarding the AI usage. Full responsibility will lie with The client.

Image Use

The Designer uses stock images from Adobe Stock and Depositphotos and purchases standard licensing only. If The Client requires extended licensing, it is their responsibility to purchase images at this higher cost. Similarly, if The Client requires a premium stock image, the cost will fall to them.

Termination:

Where custom work is concerned, either party may terminate this agreement in the event of material change of circumstance sent in writing to the other party at the e-mail address (es) provided.

• The Designer reserves the right to cancel a booking at any point.

  • If The Designer terminates the agreement due to circumstances out of their control, the deposit—minus the cost of work already completed where it exceeds the value of the deposit—will be returned to The Client.

  • If The Client terminates the agreement due to The Client becoming disrespectful or abusive, all deposits—and monies to the value of work already carried out that exceeds the cost of the deposit—will remain with The Designer, including all already-designed files.

• The Client reserves the right to cancel a booking at any time.

  • If The Client terminates the agreement, the initial 50% deposit will remain with The Designer, and The Client will pay The Designer for any services already carried whose values exceed that amount.

  • The Client will allow up to 5 working days for refunds to be processed.

Refunds for pre-made purchases are not permitted under any circumstance.

Indemnity:

While The Designer will make every effort to ensure there are no typing errors / misspellings / grammatical mistakes on graphics, it is the responsibility of The Client in ALL cases to check that ALL text is correct and to bring any errors to The Designer BEFORE sending anything to print / sharing on social media etc. The Designer will not be held accountable for any errors found after the fact.

While The Designer will make every effort to bring questionable material to the attention of The Client, The Client agrees to indemnify and save harmless the The Designer from any and all claims or demands, including legal fees, arising out of any alleged libel or copyright infringement committed by The Client in creating the work.

The Designer does not represent, nor is she affiliated with any agents.

Designing is a subjective process that begins by offering advice and suggestions to The Client. The Designer will use her background and experience in designing, recognising that this experience, while successful for her, may not be successful for The Client. The Designer's sole function is to aid and assist The Client in coming up with a suitable design and executing the idea. In this light, The Designer will make her best efforts to advise and suggest changes to improve the design. The decision to accept or reject these changes is solely The Client's. No guarantees are made as to the saleability or marketability of any brands that are represented by The Designer's work. These decisions are subject to the ‘whims of personal taste’ and the perceived marketability of the branding. Whilst working to aid The Client in preparing the best designs possible, The Designer has no control over the market or the whims and caprices of the buying public.

if The Client insists on design features that the The Designer deems as low quality or something that will show The Designer in a less than desirable light, The Designer reserves the right to refuse to action said design elements.

All royalties and monies gained by the sale of The Client's company / brand will be the sole property of The Client.

Applicable Laws

COPYRIGHT:

The Designer retains all copyrights for all graphics sold. Purchasing graphics from Shower Of Schmidt Designs grants The Client an exclusive license for the use of said graphics—excluding pre-made stationary and pre-drawn illustrations—but does not permit modification or redistribution / sale of the items, nor is it permitted for any other designer to create graphics that are a continuation of / replica of any graphics designed by Shower of Schmidt.

Under UK Copyright law, Shower Of Schmidt has:

• The right to attribution: this is the right to be recognised as the creator of the work. Agreeing to these terms and conditions, The Client recognises that The Designer is asserting their right to be identified as the creator of all graphics.

• The right to object to false attribution: this is the right not to be named as the creator of work that The Designer did not create.

• The right to object to derogatory treatment of a work: derogatory treatment is defined as any addition, deletion, alteration to or adaptation of a work that amounts to a distortion or mutilation of the work, or is otherwise prejudicial to the honour or reputation of The Designer.

The terms of the contractual agreement and any attached appendices shall be interpreted according to the laws of The United Kingdom.

DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER

Under The Defamation Act of 2013 any posts on social media and/or third party may be liable to legal action and may be fined under this civil law. The Client acknowledges that by making any payment to The Designer they are agreeing to the above terms and conditions and to refrain from making slanderous, hurtful or untrue comments on social media and/or third-party platforms that may in any way affect The Designer’s business. All issues The Client may have will be brought to the attention of The Designer where a resolution will be agreed upon privately.

Requirement of Serious Harm:

• A statement is only considered defamatory if its publication has caused or is likely to cause "serious harm" to the reputation of the claimant.

• For a business, "serious harm" requires serious financial loss. 

Special Clauses:

Any credits will be gratefully received and appreciated. Please credit: Eleanor Lloyd-Jones of Shower Of Schmidt: showerofschmidtdesigns.com

The Designer may use the final designs to provide samples of work to prospective clients.