The graphic designer's guide to contracts and invoicing (UK)

Graphic design is unusual among freelance trades in that you're selling two things at once: the creative work itself, and the rights to use it. A logo isn't much use to a client who can't legally put it on their packaging; an illustration you license is a different deal from one you hand over outright. Get the paperwork clear on that — and on how many rounds of changes are included, and when you're paid — and the creative work is free to be the enjoyable part.

This guide covers the contract terms that matter for design work specifically, how to price and take deposits, and how to invoice so you're paid on time.

A quick note first: TrustSolo isn't a law firm or an accountancy, and nothing here is legal advice. Its contract templates are customisable starting points, not solicitor-reviewed documents — for a high-value or unusual engagement, a professional opinion is worth the money.

Why a written agreement matters for designers

Two things make a written agreement especially worth having in design work.

The first is that "done" is subjective. A developer's code either passes its tests or doesn't; a design can always be nudged a little further, and without an agreed limit, "just one more tweak" becomes a dozen. Endless revisions are the designer's version of scope creep, and the cure is simply to agree, in writing, how many rounds are included and what happens after that.

The second is ownership. Design is intellectual property, and who owns the finished work — and when — is a genuine commercial decision, not a formality. A brand-identity client will expect to own their logo outright; on other work you might prefer to license it and keep the copyright. Either is fine, but it needs to be decided and written down, because "I assumed I owned it" is one of the more expensive assumptions in this field.

A clear agreement, sent before the work starts, settles both of these quietly — and makes you look like the professional you are.

The terms worth nailing down

A clean agreement covering the following handles most of what goes wrong in a design engagement:

• Scope and deliverables — exactly what you're producing (formats, sizes, number of concepts), and a line that anything outside it is additional work, agreed and quoted separately.
• Revision rounds — how many rounds of changes the fee includes (two is a common starting point), and your rate for further rounds. This one line prevents most overrun.
• Intellectual property and usage rights — who owns the work and when. A common and sensible arrangement is that rights transfer to the client on full payment — which neatly means the client doesn't own the work until they've paid for it. Alternatively you retain the copyright and grant a licence for agreed uses.
• Source files and fonts — whether editable working files are included or available for a separate fee, and a note that any licensed fonts or stock assets are subject to their own licences, which the client may need to hold in their own name for ongoing use.
• Deposit — a percentage of the fee up front (see below).
• Cancellation — what's due if the client pulls out partway through, so time spent on an abandoned project isn't simply lost.

TrustSolo's graphic-design contract template is built around exactly these — revision rounds, IP transfer or licence, asset and font considerations, and cancellation terms — as a customisable starting point you adjust per project. You can see how it works under contracts.

Pricing and deposits

Most design work is priced either as a fixed project fee (you quote the whole job) or on a day rate (useful for open-ended or evolving work). Fixed pricing rewards you for working efficiently but means you carry the risk if a job overruns — which is exactly why a tight scope and a defined number of revision rounds matter so much. Whatever you choose, price to cover the unbillable hours too: pitching, admin, software and the time between projects. For a sense of the going rate, see what UK graphic designers charge; the free rate calculator then works backwards from the income you need to a sustainable rate.

Taking a deposit up front — very often around half the fee, credited against the total — is standard practice in design, and worth adopting. It funds the early work, and it's a fair filter for how committed a new client really is. The typical shape is a deposit to begin and the balance on delivery; for a larger project, splitting it across milestones keeps your cash flow steady.

Invoicing and getting paid

Your invoice follows the same rules as any freelance invoice — a unique number, your details and the client's, a clear description, the amount and a due date. Our guide to how to invoice as a freelancer covers exactly what to include and how to set payment terms. In practice, most designers invoice the deposit at the start and the balance on delivery, or per milestone on a bigger build.

If a payment does run late and your client is a business, you have the same statutory protections as any freelancer — the right to charge interest of 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, plus a fixed recovery cost. Our guide to late-paying clients walks through the whole escalation ladder. But the stronger position, as always, is prevention: a deposit up front, a clear invoice, and a due date on it.

How TrustSolo helps designers

TrustSolo is built to take the admin off your desk. The graphic-design contract template gives you a customisable starting point that covers revision rounds, IP transfer or licence, deposits and cancellation; the invoicing handles your deposit-and-balance or milestone billing with a payment link attached; and a running estimate of your Income Tax and Class 4 National Insurance keeps your numbers in view as you go. It's there to make the business side quiet and predictable, so your attention stays on the design — with the commercial choices left to you.

The view tailored for graphic designers lives at TrustSolo for graphic designers.

Get the agreement and the invoicing set up once and design becomes mostly what you came here to do. When you'd like the paperwork to look after itself, you can start free — no card required.