client must commission our services from Rooster Graphics International, Inc. directly.
We believe in the value of getting the client and the artist(s) together at
the very beginning of a project without the use of any management
intermediaries or agents.
Although we provide free quotes for detailed RFPs, we can not provide price estimates for undefined projects. Also, we do not disclose ideas and concepts without any
committment on the part of the client to good faith negotiations. At Rooster Graphics, our policy is to develop and submit ideas or concepts only for a fee which is deductible from our
design fees if and when an agreement is negotiated and signed.
Clients must be able to communicate us their needs and objectives in
terms of the product and the market. Our regular customers usually have
staff with expertise in commissioning artwork who are specifically
responsible for purchasing. However, in cases where our clients are unsure about
the nature of their visual communication problems or the look they want
to achieve, we have the expertise to offer them alternatives and to guide
them to discover their needs.
During initial meetings, the client and our artists and Art and/or
Technical Directors directly discuss the design problem in term's of
the client's objectives and possible solutions, fees, usage, and contract
terms. These discussions create a relationship that addresses the concerns
of both the client and Rooster Graphics International. We recommend
that a written agreement or contract be signed prior to beginning the work.
For more information about contracts, please refer to the document Pricing principles or review samples
of our standard agreements with all the legal fine print in our Contracts section.
At Rooster Graphics International,
we have gone one step further and developed a software to aid our clients in
communicating their needs, detailing their complex projects, and facilitating
the scientific determination of the project fees. Our proprietary on-line product
planning and pricing software - "Calc
© - is developed
for our clients' use in accordance with the above mentioned Pricing principles. There is no other
graphic design or information architecture firm that provides such an
on-line service! Currently, our clients can obtain on-line quotes only for
website development projects! (Versions for commissioning artwork and
traditional media projects are in progress and should be available soon
since we even wrote another software to generate other
"Calc ©; applications!)
Just give us a call to obtain the password for "Calc
©; to plan and price your projects on the screen.
-
In cases where the client is an advertising agency, we expect the buyer or
art director of the client agency to provide Rooster Graphics with a
purchase order that details not only the essentials such as deadlines
and cancellation fees, but also expressly specifies the ownership of any art,
and time period, market categories, media and geographical regions for which
any rights are purchased. The rights purchased may be in in any or all of a
number of categories such as (in order of increasing value):
-
- presentation and research rights,
- test market rights
- display/trade show/PR usage rights
- point-of-purchase rights
- outdoor use rights
- traditional or electronic publication rights
- TV use rights
Ethical standards
The Graphic Artist Guild is mandated by its constitution to monitor,
support, and foster ethical standards in all dealings between graphic
artists and buyers. This is accomplished through Guild programs for members,
through cooperation with related organizations, and through legislative
activity on local, state, and federal levels.
Rooster Graphics International strives to establish equitable and
ethical relationships in its practices of buying and selling graphic arts
and website design services. We value the accepted standards of ethics
and professional conduct outlined in the Code of Fair Practice of
The Joint Ethics Committee. The articles of this code relevant for our clients
are reproduced below:
- Article 1.
- Negotiations between an artist or the artist's representative and a
client should be conducted only through an authorized buyer.
- Article 2.
- Orders or agreements between an artist or artist's representative and
buyer should be in writing and shall include the specific rights which are
being transferred, the specific fee arangement agreed to by the parties,
delivery date, and a summarized description of the work.
- Article 3.
- All changes and additions not due to the fault of the artist
or artist's representative should be billed to the buyer as an additional and
separate charge.
- Article 4.
- There should be no charges to the buyer for revisions or retakes made
necessary by errors on the part of the artist or the artist's representative.
- Article 5.
- If work commissioned by a buyer is postponed or cancelled, a
"kill-fee" should be negotiated based on time allotted, effort expended and
expense incurred.
- Article 6.
- Completed work shall be paid for in full and the artwork shall be
returned promptly to the artist.
- Article 7.
- Alterations shall not be made without consulting the artist. Where
alterations or retakes are necessary, the artist shall be given the
opportunity of making such changes.
- Article 8.
- The artist shall notify the buyer of any anticipated delay in delivery.
Should the artist fail to keep the contract through unreasonable delay or
nonconformance with agreed specifications, it will be considered a breach
of contract by the artist.
- Article 10.
- There shall be no undisclosed rebates, discounts, gifts, or bonuses
requested by or given to buyers by the artist or representative.
- Article 11.
- Artwork and copyright ownership are vested in the hands of the artist.
- Article 12.
- Original artwork remains the property of the artist unless it is
specifically purchased. It is distinct from the purchase of any production
rights. All transactions shall be in writing.
- Article 13.
- In case of copyright transfers, only specified rights are transferred.
All unspecified rights remain vested with the artist. All transactions shall
be in writing.
- Article 14.
- Commissioned artwork is not to be considered as "work for hire."
- Article 15.
- When the price of work is based on limited use and later such work is
used more extensively, the artist shall receive additional payment.
- Article 16.
- If exploratory work, comprehensives, or preliminary photographs from
an assignment are subsequently used for reproduction, the artist's prior
permission shall be secured and the artist shall receive fair additional payment.
- Article 17.
- If exploratory work, comprehensives, or photographs are bought from an
artist with the intention or possibility that another artist will be assigned
to do the finished work, this shall be in writing at the time of placing the order.
- Article 18.
- If no transfer of copyright ownership has been executed, the publisher of any
reproduction of artwork shall publish the artist's copyright notice if the
artist so requests at the time of agreement.
- Article 19.
- The right to remove the artist's name on published artwork is subject to
agreement between artist and buyer.
- Article 20.
- There shall be no plagiarism of any artwork.
- Article 21.
- If the artist is specifically requested to produce any artwork during
unreasonable working hours, fair additional renumeration shall be paid.
- Article 22.
- All artwork or photography submitted as samples to a buyer should bear
the name of the artist or artists responsible for the work. An artist shall not
claim authorship of another's work.
- Article 23.
- All companies and their employees who receive artist portfolios, samples,
etc. shall be responsible for the return of the portfolio to the artist in
the same condition as received.
- Article 29.
- Examples of an artist's work furnished to a representative or submitted to a
prospective buyer shall remain the property of the artist, should not be
duplicated without the artist's consent and shall be returned promptly to the
artist in good condition.
Copyright © 1995 by The Joint Ethics Committee, Post Office Box Number 179,
Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10017, U.S.A.
Rooster Graphics International has adapted the above guidelines,
and their natural extensions to the electronic and website publishing
environments, in its dealings with its clients. Our standard contracts operationalize these
ethical principles. However, these guidelines are only
"guidelines" and can be modified by written agreement between the parties.