Graphic design contract, Copper Kettle Brewing identity

Graphic design contract template with concepts, rounds and usage rights

Two things end design relationships: an endless run of revisions nobody priced, and a client who does not know whether they can put the logo on a shirt they sell. This contract counts the concepts and rounds for every deliverable and sets out the usage rights medium by medium.

Create a document with OneCraft4 A4 pages, editable, then download as a PDF

The document, page by page

Every page as it renders and as it prints, with nothing summarised. Read the wording before you reuse it.

MD
Marlow Design
Studio 7, 118 Gertrude Street · studio@marlowdesign.example
Graphic design contract · Copper Kettle Brewing · MD-2026-64Page 1 of 4
Graphic design contract · Copper Kettle Brewing · MD-2026-64Page 2 of 4
Graphic design contract · Copper Kettle Brewing · MD-2026-64Page 3 of 4
Graphic design contract · Copper Kettle Brewing · MD-2026-64Page 4 of 4
Graphic design contract

This contract is made on 16 November 2026 between Marlow Design, of Studio 7, 118 Gertrude Street, called the Designer, and Copper Kettle Brewing, of 3 Tanner Way, called the Client. It covers a brand identity and the first set of can labels.

$3,200
Fee
3
Initial concepts
2
Revision rounds
50%
Kill fee
1. Deliverables
1.1
What is being designed
A primary logo and one secondary mark, a colour and type system, and label artwork for three beers in a 375 millilitre can format, supplied as print ready files to the can printer's template. The table sets out how many concepts each item starts with and how many rounds of change are included.
Deliverable
Format
Concepts
Rounds
Due
Primary logo
SVG, EPS, PNG, PDF
3
2
4 Dec
Secondary mark
SVG, EPS, PNG
1
2
11 Dec
Colour and type system
One page PDF
1
1
11 Dec
Can label, pale ale
Print ready PDF
2
2
18 Dec
Can label, lager
Print ready PDF
1
2
18 Dec
Can label, summer ale
Print ready PDF
1
2
18 Dec
1.2
What a round is
A round is one consolidated set of changes from the Client in a single message. A change that reopens something already approved is a new round, and a request to see a different direction after a concept has been chosen is a new concept, charged under clause 3.2.
1.3
Not included
Printing and print management, photography, naming, trade mark searching and registration, packaging engineering, a website, social templates, and any label beyond the three named. Each is quoted separately.
2. Usage rights
2.1
What the Client may use the work for
On payment in full, the Client owns the approved logo, the secondary mark and the three label designs, and may use them in the media below without any further payment to the Designer. Ownership passes on payment, not on delivery.
Medium
What is allowed
Term
Packaging
Cans, cartons, kegs, labels, unlimited print run
Perpetual
Signage and venue
Taproom signage, glassware, vehicles, uniforms
Perpetual
Digital
Website, social, email, online listings
Perpetual
Advertising
Print, outdoor and paid digital advertising
Perpetual
Merchandise for sale
Shirts, caps, posters sold to the public
Perpetual
Resale of the artwork itself
Not allowed without written consent
Excluded
2.2
What the Designer keeps
The Designer keeps the working files, the unused concepts and its own reusable assets, and may show the finished work in its portfolio, on social media and in an award entry after the beers are on sale. Fonts are licensed to the Client in the Client's own name, and the licence cost is the Client's.
3. Fees and the kill fee
3.1
The fee
The fee is $3,200 for the deliverables in clause 1, invoiced in two parts of $1,600, the first on signing and the second on delivery of the final files. Each invoice is payable within 14 days. The Designer is not registered for GST, so none is charged.
3.2
Extra work
A round beyond the number in the table, an extra concept, an additional label or a change after final files are supplied is charged at $95 an hour, estimated in writing before it starts.
3.3
If the project stops
If the Client ends the project after concepts have been presented, the Designer is paid 50 percent of the fee, less anything already paid, and the Client receives nothing it has not paid for in full. If the Client ends it before concepts are presented, the deposit covers the work and nothing further is owed.
Why a kill fee exists
The Designer holds the dates for this project and turns other work away to do it. The kill fee covers the time already spent and the time that can no longer be filled, and it is capped at half the fee so it never becomes a penalty for changing direction.
4. Working together
4.1
What the Client supplies
The brand brief signed on 12 November, the beer names and the label copy including the alcohol content and volume statements, the barcode numbers, the can printer's template and specification, and one named person who gives feedback and approvals.
4.2
Label compliance
The Designer sets the label copy that the Client supplies, in the sizes the Client specifies. Checking that the label meets the labelling and alcohol laws that apply to it, including the standard drinks statement and the pregnancy warning mark, is the Client's responsibility and its printer's, not the Designer's.
4.3
Originality
The Designer warrants the work is its own original work and does not knowingly copy another mark. It does not search the trade mark register, so the Client has the chosen name and mark searched before it commits to a print run.
5. General
5.1
Ending it, disputes and whole agreement
Either party may end this contract by written notice, and clause 3.3 sets what is then owed. A party in serious breach has 10 business days to fix it after notice. The parties talk first and go to mediation before proceedings. This contract and the deliverables table are the whole agreement and replace the proposal dated 12 November 2026.
For Marlow Design
Name
:
Date
:
For Copper Kettle Brewing
Name
:
Position
:
Date
:

Section by section

What each section is for, so you can keep the ones you need and drop the rest.

Parties and key terms
Designer and client, then the fee, the concept count, the rounds and the kill fee.
1. Deliverables
Six deliverables with formats, concepts, rounds and dates, what a round is, and exclusions.
2. Usage rights
A six row rights table by medium, and what the designer keeps and may show.
3. Fees and the kill fee
Two payments of $1,600, the hourly rate for extra work, and what is owed if the project stops.
4. Working together
What the client supplies, who checks label compliance, and the originality warranty.
5. General
Ending the contract, disputes, and what this contract replaces.
Signatures
A block for the designer and one for the client.

How to adapt this agreement

For a single logo job, cut the deliverables table to two rows and drop the usage table to three lines, because a small client will not read six. For an ongoing retainer, replace the fee clause with a monthly allocation and a rollover rule, and change the usage table to cover everything produced during the term. For work that will be licensed rather than sold outright, change clause 2.1 so copyright stays with the designer and the client gets a licence instead, and then the usage table becomes the whole commercial deal rather than a summary of it.

Who this is for

A small studio or a freelance designer doing identity work for a product business, and a client who has never bought design before and does not know which questions matter. The deliverables table and the usage table between them answer almost every question that comes up later: how many looks will I see, how many times can I change my mind, and where am I allowed to put this. It is written for a one off identity project rather than a retainer, and it deliberately keeps trade mark searching and label compliance with the client, because a designer who takes those on is taking on risk nobody has priced.

What makes this document work

Concepts and rounds are counted per deliverable

The logo starts with three concepts and two rounds, the secondary mark with one and two, the pale ale label with two and two. A designer quoting from this table knows what it costs, and a client can see what buying one more concept adds.

Usage rights are a table, not a sentence

Six rows cover packaging, signage, digital, advertising and merchandise for sale as perpetual, and exclude resale of the artwork itself. The brewery can answer the shirt question without emailing the designer.

The kill fee is explained, and capped

Fifty percent if the client stops after concepts are presented, nothing further if it stops before. An info callout says why: the designer held the dates and turned other work away, and the cap keeps it from becoming a penalty for changing direction.

Questions people ask

What should a graphic design contract include?

The deliverables with formats, the number of concepts and revision rounds for each, what counts as a round, exclusions, the fee and its payment points, usage rights by medium, what the designer keeps, and what happens if the project stops partway through.

How many logo concepts should a designer present?

Enough to explore genuinely different directions without turning the project into a catalogue. Three is the number in this contract, with two rounds of refinement on the chosen one. Anything more is charged at the hourly rate rather than absorbed.

Who owns a logo after it is designed?

The client, on payment in full, not on delivery. Clause 2.1 says so explicitly. The designer keeps the working files, the unused concepts and its own reusable assets, and may show the finished work in its portfolio once the product is on sale.

What is a kill fee?

A payment owed when a client stops a project after work has started. Here it is 50 percent of the fee if concepts have already been presented, less anything paid, and the client receives nothing it has not paid for in full.

Does the designer check the label is legal?

No, and clause 4.2 says so. The designer sets the copy the client supplies in the sizes specified. Checking that the label meets the labelling and alcohol laws, including the standard drinks statement and the pregnancy warning mark, sits with the client and its printer.

Is a trade mark search part of the work?

Not here. Clause 4.3 warrants the work is original and not knowingly copied, but says plainly the designer does not search the register, so the client should have the chosen name and mark searched before committing to a print run.

Build your own in about a minute

The button below opens the generator with this use case already described. Change the wording to match your own, generate, then edit anything you like.

Make my graphic design contract template with concepts, rounds and usage rights

Other document examples

DJ contract template with set times, power and an overtime rate

A DJ booking is made on a phone call and remembered differently by everyone. This agreement writes the night down as six timed segments, says exactly what power and space the venue has to supply, and prices the hour after midnight before anyone is asking for it at midnight.

Painting contract template with a colour schedule and a coats standard

Most painting disputes are really arguments about how many coats went on and what counts as preparation. This contract writes both down before the first drop sheet comes out, puts every room, colour and finish in a schedule, and leaves a touch up window open for 30 days after the furniture goes back.

Handyman services agreement with an hourly rate and a job list

Handyman work is bought by the hour but decided by the list, and the list is usually a conversation at the front door that nobody wrote down. This agreement turns the walkthrough into six numbered jobs with estimates, and then names the work a handyman is not allowed to do at all.

Want the steps in the builder? Read Create a document with AI, then Add components to a document. For everything this generator can do, see the document maker.

Sources

Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .