1. Project acceptance and payment

A project is considered accepted when the client approves the proposal, signs the service agreement, pays the required deposit, or otherwise authorizes work to begin.

Unless otherwise stated in the proposal:

• A [30%] deposit is due before work begins.
• The remaining balance is due before delivery of final, production-ready files; or the publishing of a live website if applicable to the project scope.
• Work may be paused if an invoice becomes overdue.
• Any required sales tax, payment-processing fee, stock-asset cost, printing cost, licensing fee, or other third-party expense will be disclosed to the client before being incurred whenever reasonably possible.

2. Scope of services

The project scope, deliverables, timeline, number of concepts, file formats, and included revision rounds will be stated in the applicable proposal or service agreement.

Requests outside the agreed scope—including additional concepts, new deliverables, substantial redesigns, extra pages, additional formats, or changes after approval—may require an additional fee chosen by the designer, BICRV. The additional work will not begin until the client approves the revised estimate or change order.

3. Revisions and approvals

Unless otherwise stated in writing, the project includes three revisions.

A revision consists of one reasonable change to the current agreed upon design direction. New concepts or changes that substantially alter the approved direction may be rejected or treated as additional services with charges. If the nature of the revision is considered unreasonable, at the discretion of BICRV, alternative options will be suggested. However, BICRV reserves the right to cancel any project at any time.

If the afforded three revisions should be expended and additional revisions are requested by the client, each supplementary revision will be charged at a rate of 10% of the
overall project.

The client should provide feedback or a response within five business days of receiving a draft, a question pertinent to the project, or a request for additional assets/elements, or other relevant content that is needed from the client in order for the project to continue. Delayed feedback may extend the project schedule.

A two-week grace period will be afforded at the first infraction of a delayed response passed the five-day window whether it be for an approval, feedback, or in request of assets and or resources needed from the client in order to complete the project. But, if the five-day window of communication should expire a second time, the project will be placed on an indefinite hold.

Should the project need to be paused and resumed at a later time, it must be formally requested via email with written reasoning, as well as an estimated date for the reinstatement of said project in order to allow BICRV to prepare. In clarity, a request to pause the project is not considered the same as a failure to maintain a consistent avenue of communication between BICRV and the client. Therefore, a pause request will never be denied, but will result in a follow-up payment in order for the project to resume and an adjusted schedule of completion.

The following payment in the project’s life cycle will be required in order to resume work. If a project is inactive or on hold for more than thirty days because of missing client feedback or materials in spite of the client maintaining communication, the project may be considered paused or closed, and restarting it will require a new fee and schedule.

Written approval, including approval by email, authorizes the designer to proceed to the next stage. Approvals give at in-person meetings will only be honored once they are additionally given in writing so as to maintain a project’s records. After final approval, changes will be billed separately.

4. Client cancellation

The client may cancel a project by sending written notice to the BICRV email or filling out the cancellation form at www.bicrv.com/cancellation.

If the client cancels before work begins, any payments received beyond the initial deposit of 30% of the overall value of the project will be refunded within thirty days of the cancellation confirmation. Cancellation confirmations will only be carried out during business days, and not on weekends, upon which the client will receive an email confirmation along with follow-up information for returning to the project when they are ready. Only 20% of the initial deposit will also be refunded, and 10% will be kept by BICRV for the loss of the project.

Any payments made by the client in service to the project such as toward stock photography, plugins/software, design elements, and or services needed for a website such as hosting, domain name purchases, etc, will not be refunded nor paid for by BICRV. Should a client refuse to pay for neccesary elements of a project’s needs, the project will be cancelled. BICRV will not make any payments for said services or elements required for a project to reach resolution beyond what tools and or software is already owned/licensed to be used by BICRV prior to the project.

If the client cancels after work has begun:

• The full 30% deposit will be applied to work performed and will be retained to cover reserved time and initial project work.
• The client will pay for all work completed through the cancellation date.
• The client will reimburse approved third-party expenses already incurred, such as stock images, fonts, printing, subcontractors, or specialty services in the rare event that they were initially paid by BICRV.
• Any remaining balance must be paid within ten calendar days of the cancellation invoice is sent via the cancellation confirmation email is sent to the client.
• Unfinished work and unused concepts will not be delivered unless the parties agree otherwise in writing.
• Unfinished work and unused concepts may be developed further by another designer should they be delivered upon cancellation. However, no unfinished work or unused concepts are allowed to be developed further by Ai of any kind, shape or form, to replace, finish or complete the given project or in service of a different project.

5. Refunds

Because graphic design services are custom and work is performed specifically for the client:

• Payments for work completed, reviewed, approved, or delivered are generally nonrefundable.
• Third-party expenses and nonrefundable licenses are not refundable once purchased.
• If BICRV has not delivered work that was paid for, the client may receive a refund for the undelivered portion, subject to the terms of the applicable agreement.
• If BICRV cancels the project without completing the agreed services, BICRV will refund amounts paid for services that were not performed.
• Nothing in this policy limits a client’s rights under applicable law.

Refund requests must be submitted in writing within fourteen days after the relevant service, delivery, approval, or cancellation date. The request should explain the issue and identify the project and payment involved.

6. Designer cancellation

BICRV may cancel or terminate a project if:

• The client fails to pay an invoice;
• The client repeatedly misses deadlines or does not provide necessary materials;
• The client requests unlawful, deceptive, discriminatory, offensive, or infringing material;
• The client engages in abusive or threatening conduct;
• BICRV is incapacitated or falls ill to the point that a medical leave is necessary;
• The client is incapacitated or falls ill to the point that a medical leave is necessary; or
• Circumstances outside BICRV’s reasonable control make completion impractical.

If the designer terminates the project for a reason unrelated to the client’s breach, the designer will refund amounts paid for services not performed. Amounts owed for completed work and approved expenses remain payable.

7. Final files and ownership

Final files and agreed usage rights will be released after full payment has cleared.

Unless the proposal says otherwise:

• The client receives the final agreed deliverables in the file formats listed in the proposal.
• Editable/source files are not included unless specifically identified as deliverables and or requested by the client; which will incur an additional fee.
• Preliminary concepts, unused designs, working files, and internal production materials remain the BICRV’s property.
• Copyright or other agreed usage rights transfer only after full payment.
• The client represents that it has permission to use all logos, photographs, text, fonts, trademarks, and other materials it supplies.
• BICRV may display completed work in a portfolio, website, social-media account, award submission, or promotional materials unless the client requests confidentiality in writing before publication. A confidentiality request will never incur a fee, however a request to deny at a minimum the display of the completed work in a portfolio, website, social-media account, or award submission, will incur a fee. The minimum requirement held by BICRV is that they are credited for the completed work once it is published for its intended use by the client.

8. Service concerns

If the client believes a delivered design does not match the written scope, the client should notify BICRV within five days of delivery. BICRV will first attempt to correct an error or provide any remedy required by the agreement.

A change in personal preference, a decision to use a different design direction after approval, or a change in the client’s business needs does not automatically entitle the client to a refund, but the parties may agree on additional revisions or a new project.

9. Disputes

The parties will first attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute through written communication. If that does not resolve the issue, either party may pursue remedies available under applicable law.

This policy does not waive any nonwaivable consumer rights or legal remedies.

10. Client acknowledgment

By approving a proposal, signing an agreement, paying a deposit, or authorizing work to begin, the client acknowledges that they have read and accepted this policy.