Terms of Service

Deposits, final payments and delivery.

DesignStories.ca reserves the right to request a 50% deposit for all projects. If a deposit is requested, an invoice will be issued and delivered to your provided email address. Remittance of deposit funds constitutes acceptance of these Terms of Service and forms a binding contract with DesignStories.ca. Full payment of the deposit invoice is required before project commencement.

 

Should a payment plan be requested, it shall be accepted only at the sole discretion of DesignStories.ca. Should DesignStories.ca accept a payment plan, the specifics must be agreed to by all parties in writing before project commencement.

 

DesignStories.ca will invoice for the remaining costs and associated services of the project before the release of any files or final exports. DesignStories.ca reserves the right to withhold delivery of final files or exports until payment has been received in full.

 

The final invoice is payable within 30 days of issuance. Beyond 30 days, a 2% penalty will be charged each month. Beyond 60 days, ownership of final files and exports will remain with DesignStories.ca in perpetuity or until payment including late fees is received.

DesignStories.ca reserves the right to invoice for any fees incurred relating to the commencement of collection and recovery processes for accounts that remain unpaid for more than 60 days.

 

Licensing of fonts/typefaces or photography, audio and video assets (*Assets).

 

Fonts or typefaces purchased for any project are subject to commercial licensing laws. A font or typeface licence is only applicable to those who have purchased it. It is against the law for DesignStories.ca to provide anyone with a ‘copy’ of any font or typeface that DesignStories.ca owns or has licenced. Upon project completion, DesignStories.ca will provide information as to where the fonts and typefaces can be acquired. It is your responsibility to acquire any necessary font licences and the liability of any unauthorized usage of fonts or typefaces resides solely with you.

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*Assets for commercial use require a paid license. Terms and pricing for licensing vary by source but generally prohibit resale, redistribution, implied endorsement, and credit to the creator may be required. It is against the law for DesignStories.ca or anyone to use Assets taken from the internet in this regard. As part of the design process, DesignStories.ca will recommend Assets for use in material and will also provide anticipated cost for their intended commercial use. Final approval must be given and you will be invoiced for these costs at the completions of the project. 

 

Ownership of artwork.

These Terms of Service do not confer or bestow the rights or permission to use, modify, alter, replicate or borrow any of the ideas, concepts, or sketches that DesignStories.ca presents. All original materials, including but not limited to sketches, visuals, concepts and unused ideas shown and considered, will remain the intellectual property of DesignStories.ca.

 

DesignStories.ca reserves the right to use any unused and previous ideas for future conceptual and client work. Where a previously unused idea or design retains a similar look and style to the finished logo. DesignStories.ca may re-purpose and style so that the end design is sufficiently different to not cause conflict.

Unless otherwise agreed and arranged, DesignStories.ca reserves the right to showcase any finished logo and design assets in its portfolio and in any number of online galleries/portfolio/showcases/awards as well as in printed literature including books and magazines, now and in the future. Associated designs and artwork can include commercial print design/business cards/stationery design/signage/desktop icons/mobile phones and other portable device application icons and imagery.

 

Changes, modifications and adaptations of finished designs may be performed at your discretion, but you do so at your own risk exonerating DesignStories.ca from any liability that should arise from any modification to the original design.

 

Should there be any attempt to use, modify, alter or replicate any of the presented concepts or designs without receipt of final payment(s), DesignStories.ca will seek legal counsel and pursue such actions as the law permits.

 

If you have any specific non-disclosure agreement requirements or other privacy or sensitivity concerns regarding the final products created, these MUST be disclosed before the commencement of the project. Acceptance of these Terms of Service shall constitute that there are no privacy concerns or non-disclosure clauses discussed with DesignStories.ca.

 

Final payment ensures that ONLY the finalized and agreed-upon logo design shall leave the ownership of The Company. Any previous ideas/concepts remain the legal intellectual property, absent any prior written agreement.

 

Trademark & copyright.

 

Due to the lengthy and often costly procedures required to initiate any form of trademark, copyright, or legal name searches, DesignStories.ca does not provide these services nor does it hold any legal or other liability for the registration of names, trademarks, copyrights, or other legal pursuit of the protection of intellectual property.

 

Please ensure that the name(s) you are using have been subject to appropriate checks, are not in use by someone else, and/or do not infringe on any other registered trademark, business name, etc. It is your responsibility to ensure any names are free and legally safe to use before committing to a project. Project name changes during a project are exceptionally costly, challenging to implement, and can cause significant delays. If a change of name is required during the course of a project and significant logo exploration work has already been presented, DesignStories.ca will at their discretion either: re-calculate the total cost of the project to allow for re-design and will, if necessary, bill immediately for a further retainer, or; discharge all further obligations and duties related to the project with no refunds of monies paid.

 

Acceptance of these Terms of Service shall constitute a complete discharge of DesignStories.ca of any responsibility to ensure names or business titles of a company, product, service or business asset are legally free and available before the project is started. Should any legal issue arise with the naming after the project has been begun, no refunds are possible. DesignStories.ca bears no legal responsibility for any issue that arises, in whole or in part, of any disputes of ownership or licensing of a name, title, company, product, or other named business asset, either during the project’s duration or after completion of the project.

 

Limitation of liability.

Acceptance of these Terms of Service establishes that DesignStories.ca is not legally responsible for any loss or damage suffered or incurred related to the use of any of the services provided, including but not limited to: amendments, errors or omissions in documents, designs, information or any goods or services provided, and use or reliance on any third party content, links, comments or advertisements. The use of, or reliance on, any information or materials produced by DesignStories.ca, including any amendments or designs is entirely at your own risk, for which DesignStories.ca shall not be held liable.

 

Acceptance of these Terms of Service constitutes acknowledgement that such information and materials may contain inaccuracies or errors and that DesignStories.ca is not liable for said inaccuracies or errors. It is your responsibility to read, review and proof all materials presented by DesignStories.ca for any such inaccuracies or errors.

 

DesignStories.ca affirms that upon delivery all designs presented are original intellectual property and will not infringe upon or plagiarize any other work to the best knowledge available. To ensure this, DesignStories.ca will perform limited checks to ensure that designs or services provided have not unintentionally infringed on any other design, including but not limited to checks against the WIPO database and reverse image checks across search engines. However, DesignStories.ca shall assume no legal responsibility for any loss or damage suffered or incurred related to legal issues regarding the originality or authenticity of work or services provided. Acceptance of these Terms of Service precludes performing independent checks and due diligence regarding plagiarism and originality. Should any concerns arise, it shall become incumbent upon you to discuss said concerns with DesignStories.ca as soon as the aforementioned issues arise.

 

Cancellation, suspension or termination of project.

 

If a request for cancellation of the project is received after the commencement of a project after concepts, ideas, samples, and/or artwork have been submitted, DesignStories.ca reserves the right to determine how much, if any, of a refund may be distributed.

 

Should illness or other unforeseen personal circumstances render DesignStories.ca unable to complete the project promptly, a portion of the funds received may be returned and/or efforts will be extended to procure a service provider that will be able to complete the project as needed. Should it be determined a refund is the best course of action, the amount refunded will be determined by DesignStories.ca based on the amount of time spent and work completed to date. Reasonable suggestions will be considered.

DesignStories.ca reserves the right to suspend or terminate any project where there is unreasonable interference with the project including but not limited to lengthy delays in communication and feedback. Fair notice and due consideration will be given with a reasonable chance to remedy the situation without resorting to project suspension or termination. Suspension or termination of a project will be decided upon at the sole and exclusive discretion of DesignStories.ca. This decision will not result in any refunds and all designs and work thus developed remains under the full ownership of DesignStories.ca.

 

Force majeure.

If DesignStories.ca is unable to complete its obligation due to an “act of God” or an act of any government, terrorism, riot, war, accident or any deficiency in materials or transportation or any other cause of any nature beyond its control, such failure shall not be deemed to be a breach of these Terms of Service provided that adequate notification is produced of the existence and nature of the reason for the non-performance and delay of services, and as long as performance is resumed immediately upon the conclusion of the relevant force majeure.