Question

Topic: Customer Behavior

Provide Natives And Stock For Client's Use?

Posted by Anonymous on 8/12/2010 at 1:24 PM ET 125 Points
The president of one of my regular client companies moved to a new company. I had already done a couple of small projects with company #2 and was hoping to earn more business from them with this development.

He called me right after his move, said they had a freelance designer they were using for cookie cutter production work but they weren't happy with the more creative pieces. He asked me to develop a concept or two to replace their existing concept and agreed this could lead to a potential relationship. I sent two concepts (designed in Quark and Photoshop, sent PDFs), they chose one they liked and asked me for a quote for printing and for an e-blast (the same concept designed in HTML for email distribution).

They chose to go with only the e-blast, not the printing portion. My fees for setting up an e-blast cover my time to set up the HTML based on the the original concept, not the concept of the original design itself.

My contact is out of town for a week and I have the in-house designer/admin asking me for the stock image I used in the concept so that she can create a poster in-house.

No contract. I know. But this started off as a "let's see what he can do" kind of thing to see if we would be a good match. Now they love the concept but want to do most in-house. I have only ever given over native files once and that was negotiated before we starred and quoted accordingly. I've never turned over stock images - not sure I can legally. And even if I could, not sure I want to.

I've never charged for a concept and then washed my hands of a project. Not sure how to discuss this with them in a way that won't hurt my chances at future business if they decide to outsource.

Appreciate any thoughts.

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RESPONSES

  • Posted by darcy.moen on 8/12/2010 at 7:30 PM Member
    I'd tell the in house person that you were brought into pitch the couple ideas. The markers were set in the ground between you and the guy who is now out of town. Could we please wait until he's back before moving onto the next step?

    Its bad enough to be a guest in someone else's house, let alone have your host leave you in the house alone. Worse yet, the help is starting to mess with you while the boss is away. So, stick to drawn lines. Better to have a reputation for being ultra conservative than being perceived as unpacking your bags and moving right in. I'd with hold the files until your position and work terms are clarified. If you don't, well, the down side could hurt and leave you tossed out in the cold.

    Darcy Moen
    Customer Loyalty Network
  • Posted by shrinivas.ayyar on 8/13/2010 at 6:28 AM Accepted
    You will have to approach the company with a standard rate card and tell them your terms of doing the business. You can offer them a special "cut rate" since you are working through a known contact. Give them a brief backgrounder.

    You can also specify the use of creatives and the stock image and how long they can use the image and the creative. You can also give them the option of buying the whole thing on an outright basis giving them the freedom to use it as many times as they want. The choice is theirs.

    As a designer, it is your right to get paid for the work that you have done. Be gentle but firm. And if they like your work, they will pay you the reasonable market operative pricing. And if the concept works for them, they will surely come back for more.

    Do not hesitate to state the commercials in no uncertain way. It is the best and most sensible way of creating a win-win. All the best.
  • Posted on 8/13/2010 at 9:17 AM Author
    He contacted me last night and I explained to him the issue with sharing native files and that the concept was presented to them for review, but it still belongs to us. I asked if he could find out how the team planned on using the concept. But I haven't had much experience selling native files or concepts. I sold native Flash files for a web site, but they paid me for the design of the site and once done, they asked me to sell them the natives so they could make future updates.

    This is a little different in that they are just purchasing the concept. They want the stock images, the textures to create their own campaign. How do I price that? Does this boil down to they're going to use the concept with or without me, and the price I give them will determine whether they purchase it or find similar images on their own and recreate the design I gave them?
  • Posted by mgoodman on 8/13/2010 at 11:26 AM Accepted
    You probably need to separate the issues of the creative concept and the images. If they're going to use your concept, you should be paid for it. Once they've paid you, they are free to use the concepts however they want.

    As for images/native files, those have value separate from the concept. They can buy them from you, or they can buy them elsewhere. It's up to them. And it's up to you how you want to price them before just giving them anything.
  • Posted by darcy.moen on 8/14/2010 at 3:11 AM Member
    I agree with mgoodman, separate one price for development of the concept, and another price for curating the images. The client then has a choice of licensing the images from copyright holders direct, or there could be an opportunity for you to earn a small profit for curating the images on behalf of the client.

    Either way, it looks like you have opened the door to lock down compensation for your work.
  • Posted on 8/16/2010 at 11:28 PM Author
    Thanks All. I appreciate your time and help!
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