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Having a business that caters to both men and women is challenging enough. When creating a logo that will not turn off men, yet wanting to show the head honcho is female, might be a bit difficult. Having a girly logo may not be the answer.

You see, Lori is proud that her company is a one woman operation. Yet she wanted her business to attract customers of both the male and female persuasion. She also wanted her logo to feel as if she was approachable and friendly as she is as well as indicating that she is an expert in help field who brings value to her clients. She also wanted to keep her logo simple.

This is very important to me as a designer, since people what to advertise all 100 thousand things they  do or are certified on.  Identifying her business with a girly logo would be detrimental to her cause. She wanted to show value, attract both sexes and be a friendly and approachable expert.

Knowing what she wanted and not continuing to research “what she thinks she wants that other people already have”, gave her the upper hand and made the job of the designer, surprisingly easy. The final logo is clean, professional and not sitting on a high horse. A girly logo that is not screaming super girly yet, my client loves it.

Definitions- The client shall mean and refer to you, your, yours. The designer shall mean and refer to Elaine Biss, I, my, me.
1.Payment and fees

Immediate payment is preferred and required on projects under $750. However, clients on waiting list, may follow a fee schedule set by the designer of a 33% non refundable fee to start work and/or place the client in the waiting list. A 33% fee of the total amount owed will be due at the start of the project, and the remainder %34 will be due once the final artwork or site template is approved. All payments are accepted through 2checkout.com, and Paypal. E-Checks will be held until cleared and will delay the client`s artwork, please keep that in mind. Deposits for work are at the discretion of the designer.

Cancellation and Kill Fees: Cancellation (“kill”) fees are due based on the amount of work completed. Fifty percent
(50%) of the final fee is due within 30 days of notification that for any reason the job is canceled or postponed before the final stage. One hundred percent (100%) of the total fee is due despite cancellation or postponement of the job if the art has been completed. Upon cancellation or kill all rights to the art revert to the Designer and all original art must be returned, including sketches, comps, or other preliminary materials.

Defaulting on the payment schedule will cancel all the work on the site/artwork. Declining any part of the package will not lower the price. This contract is non negotiable. All contracts shall me mailed or faxed in order for work to start, or agreed to by electronic format, as agreeing to the terms and conditions tab on the survey shall create an electronic signature binding the client to this contract. If the client was working with another designer or firm prior to retaining me, please absolve the relationship with the other designer first! If a third party is involved, the designer will reserve the right to work with you.

2.The Survey

The survey is very important, because this is where I get familiar with what the client does, the product and what the client`s ideas for the logo are. Be as detailed as possible. It will give me a better grasp of what styles you like. The logo survey is when the client should take the time to research styles, competitors and the market you plan to target. Once the survey is submitted, do not research it further. As you continue to research different styles and logos, your specifications will change each time. Your final logos will look different as the designer was guided by the specifications on your survey.  It is imperative that you know what you want, otherwise you will need to wait to hire the designer.

3.Time Frame and Turnaround

My turn around is usually about 24 to 72 hours for logos, and 4 days to a week when there is a waiting list. Revisions take 3-4 hours or/and up to 7 days. e-Commerce Websites can take from 30 days to 8 weeks, depending on the amount of revisions. Brochure sites have a turnaround time of about 1 week to 30 days. However if you need logos/artwork/site before that time frame, the fees will doubled. The revision process can and will delay the site completion. Any projects not rendered within 30 days due to no fault of the designer shall incur a fee at the discretion of the designer.

Once the site is ready to be tuned over to you, support will be provided for a maximum of thirty (30) days after which the designer`s current hourly rate will apply.

4.Communication/Business Hours

Please keep in mind that the designer works Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM EST. The designer is not available during the weekends and evenings. You may contact her through email. Please, do not contact the designer outside business hours. During the design process, the designer expects to have communication with you either by email or phone. You may contact the designer by phone only during business hours, through email outside business hours.

5.Logos/Illustrations/Web Sites

If you will be displaying your logo and/or artwork in your website, a link must be placed crediting the designer, regardless of print/ownership license. This link shall not be removed by the site owner or third party. Those found in violation will have their print/ownership licenses revoked and sites taken down for violation of this contract. A credit line suitable to the design of the page will be used. Client agrees to pay an additional fifty percent (50%) of the total fee, excluding expenses, for failure to include credit line. Credit line is required independent of Artist’s signature, which shall be included at Designer’s discretion unless otherwise agreed in writing above.Editing the logo or illustration, animations, website templates, auction templates is strictly prohibited. That includes but not limited to editing through any type of software which distorts or changes the artwork and/or code from its original state or any edited artwork by anyone else except the designer, is subject to copyright infringement, will be asked to be taken down. You are not allowed to provide the template to another designer. You are also asked not to edit the template as it can render the site useless. All artwork rendered will be displayed in The designer`s portfolio as reference. All artwork not chosen by the client, remain property of the designer. Any concepts provided by the client, remain your property. Any concepts, ideas, color schemes that the designer created are the property of the designer and a the client agrees to Nondisclosure Agreement for Idea Submission.

5.Licensing

The license only gives the client the right to print the logo not the illustrations made for the project. Once payment and terms are set, the artwork is converted in printable formats and made available to the client for the purpose of promoting YOUR business.

Any work that is found abandoned, licensed or not, the ownership will return to the designer. Any work found on someone else`s site other than the client will be subject of copyright infringement. All work rendered by the designer falls under Licensed Work. You may buy out the designer for a royalty fee or a flat fee at the discretion of the designer.

Reselling your business does not entitle the new owner to the artwork. They would have to purchase a new licensing agreement with the designer.

6.Revisions/Revision Requests

Revisions are any modification, alteration, or changes done to your logo, template or artwork that will alter its original state. All logo/Illustrations have 10 revisions. Site templates have three revisions. If you need more revisions, a fee at the discretion of the designer will apply. This is non negotiable and logos will not be revised unless this fee is paid. If the client chooses not to proceed with the logo package purchased at this point, you will NOT be entitled to any refunds. If changes are needed due to an oversight on the designer`s part, the client will not be penalized. Site templates have 3 revisions. Business Card/Postcard/Letterhead/Hand Tag have 3 Revisions. Layouts of the Business Card/Postcard/Letterhead/Hand Tag will be chosen by the designer based on the design. Any misspelling errors due to no fault of the designer will incur a fee.

Requests

If the client emails the designer 3 modification requests in one email, the designer counts it as one revision request. If the client emails the designer 100 modification requests in one email, the designer counts it as one revision. All revision request must be emailed. Any emails following the request will be consider a separate revision request and it will be treated as such, no exceptions. Keeping your requests together will save the client and the designer time.

7.Extra Work Outside of the Outlined Agreement

Any and all extra work will be discussed prior to agreement, outlined, estimated, amended and agreed upon and paid in full before rendering the work. No data entry or picture editing shall be done by the designer.

8.Refunds

Please keep in mind that all design work is custom work and the client is paying for the designer`s time which cannot be refunded. Therefore refunds will not be issued.All the artwork ownership returns to the designer. Usage of said artwork/concepts will result in legal action.

9.Payment Arrangement

Whenever a payment arrangement is in place, any default on a payment will result in your website being suspended and the artwork ownership returns to the designer. Any claims made through Paypal or 2chekout.com will be disputed. However, anyone wishing to carry on with the project and payment schedule, will be honored will a time limit of 30 days.

Under no circumstances are third parties shall be involved, This includes but not limited to, friends or family who are not business partners, business counselors-you may hire them after the product is finished, programmers, other web or graphic designers. If the client`s spouse does not support your business decision, please, do not hire the designer.

11.Software Compliance, Gateways, Content Management, Hosting, Third Party Hosting and Security

Although the client is not required to purchase a license for the cart or content management script, it is recommended as it will add extra support to the e-comerce or content management site. A list of payment gateways will be made available to the client that are compatible with the e-commerce site. The designer is not responsible for managing the content, adding text, keyword or any meta data or pictures to your site. A software fee may apply.

Although not required, the client may not update the software to the latest version without interruption. If the e-commerce site has had modifications, in which turn a programmer will be needed and recommended to upgrade it. Programmers will be recommended, however any outsourcing without the designer`s consent to any web site rendered before the time designated, will be considered a breach of contract. In doing so you may render the site useless.

Certain browsers and/or other software may conflict with the proper function of the cart, in which case recommendations will be made to assure proper function. Elaine Biss Designs makes no guarantees in regard to security. Proper secure certificates must be acquired and it is the responsibility of the client. Hosting must be in compliance with the requirements of the shopping cart system and content management system.

Hosting may be done under one of the companies from the list the designer provides. The client may take your site to another host, however, the designer will not support the transfer and this is done at the clients own risk.

12.Legalities, Arbitration, Indemnities, Privacy and Confidentiality

In the rare and very extreme case that, any act of abuse, communication harassment either though email, phone or postal mail, unfair leverage, name calling, libel and slander and threats of any kind will not be tolerated and will be reported to the proper authorities, forwarded to the designer`s attorney and prosecuted. Details of the transaction are to be kept in confidential by both parties.

The clients agrees to indemnify the Designer from any penalty, legal fees and damages occurring from any lawsuit or claim of copyright infringement from any third party in cluded but not limited to damages, costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees, incurred by reason of any breach of the clients` warranties provided herein; or any acts or omissions of the client, its agents, contractors, or employees, arising out of this Agreement. If any action or proceeding is brought against  the Designer by reason of any such claim, the client (upon notice by Designer) shall defend the same at Agency’s expense by counsel reasonably acceptable to Designer.

Any matter needing legal attention, will be forwarded to the designer`s attorney. His contact information will be provided upon request. Any and all matters will be litigated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Any third parties asked to participate in an arbitration must be discussed prior to meeting as well as subject matter for the meeting.

elainebissdesigns.com will not sell, share or compromise your private information, payment information, electronic and street mail addresses. All information transmitted to Paypal and 2checkout.com is encrypted. 2checkout.com never shares sensitive or identifying information with anyone. Information disclosure will only be made available to law enforcing agencies in legal matters and to comply with the Patriot Act. Information will NOT be disclosed with any individual regarding transactions, phone calls, electronic communications, work rendered, agreements entered into, or any matter as long as the client is a client of elainebissdesigns.com. You are bound to this contract to not disclose with any individual regarding transactions, phone calls, electronic communications, work rendered, agreements entered into, or any matter as long as you are a client of elainebisshdesigns.com, unless the individual is your legal counsel and you are seeking his counsel.

elainebissdesigns.com will not render logos to promote adult websites, religious entities, political parties/sites, hate/paramilitary type organizations and sites or organizations that give destructive, dubious, offensive or morally reprehensible information. Refund will be issued if that is the case. Any manipulation by the client of the designer`s time and resources will not be honored. This includes but is not limited to excessive emailing, weekend phone calls, changing designs after execution and exorbitant requests. I reserve the right to refuse service to any one at any time with or without cause.

Client Signature________________________________________ Date_______________________________

Name of Business_________________________________________________________________________

Designer Signature________________________________________Date____________________________

Fax to  (206-350-6420)

U.S Mail

Elaine Biss

P.O.Box 72

Bausman Pa 17504

Don`t forget to visit my new site for more girly illustrations!! See the old portfolio here.

I guess when selling is slow, the best way to appeal consumers to come back and spend  cash, is to strum a heart string and appeal to that part of you that is really never aroused by the thought of toilet paper commercials. I say this, because about 14 years ago there was a toilet paper commercial that would make me cry all the time, and I would effectively buy it.

Today the same is done by the big brands who still believe you are so hypnotized watching reruns of Friends, that you won`t notice their game.

1. WALMART-Summer costs less at Walmart. I really despised Walmart. After their lawsuits over no breaks, forcing workers to stay and work without pay and sexual harassment, I can`t say I would ever purchase anything there. I rather go without. But this commercial has in fact softened my heart. But I am still not buying!!! It has a catchy tune, sunny scenery and of course, a solution to not having enough when kids are home for the summer.
   
2. Coca Cola-Open Happiness. Truly the best one I have ever seen. Very sexy, hypnotic and suggestive with the shape of a classic Coca Cola bottle being displayed everywhere, this sweaty guy gets “happy” by quenching his thirst with a Coke.
   
   Or if you are into cute, this commercial will be the one that will get you to buy a Coke.
   
3. The Battle of The Taste KFC Grilled Chicken-I`ve always loved their chicken, but the word “fried” throws a damp towel to my diet and I just don`t feel like running 2 hours on the treadmill just to burn off a chicken thigh.  But when KFC said “grilled”, I jumped for joy and ran to buy some. Only to find out how gross it tastes. Never mind grilled, just fry it. Their commercial, clean and simple mirage of people repeating over and over Kentucky GRILLLEEDD Chicken, get stuck in your head until you spring the cash for it. It literally talks you into it!
   
4. Ecoimagination-GE. What to do when you have to buy an appliance but you don`t want to feel guilt about saving the planet? Then buy ecofriendly with the only company that has ECOIMAGINATION! When there are so many companies doing the same, making up a word makes you a cut above the rest, no?? So let`s milk it, show off how we do it and add a little social responsibility with a touch of green for good measure.
   
5. Tostitos and the Consumer Thought Process. Okay I found the one I really wanted to find which was the one where the girl reads the word hint, and she goes off on a tangent where people are “hinting” she should get married and have babies or her baby machine won`t work-Or something to that effect. The thought process makes me feel like my I.Q. is abnormally high for the average girl. It`s a bit insulting to think we reason or justify purchases with our life experiences. But the fact is, when there is little money on the grocery budget, we do justify buying that bag of Oreos or the Tostitos. The best part, they are doing it for you.  So go have a bag!

No I was not paid for doing this post. This is just a small sampler of the gimmicks used by big corporations to get you to buy their product when you could buy, less advertised and less costly brand. Not only can you use these ideas when advertising, but now you will be wise to their ad campaign.