INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT

NOX Creative, LLC is an independent design studio managed by Payton Bridges and is not an employee, partner, or affiliated with any company of you, the Clients. NOX Creative, LLC provides brand identity design, graphic design, and web design services in collaboration with you, the Client following a successful process for each service; however, NOX Creative retains the right to decide the manner and means that the services are accomplished. NOX Creative, LLC may also be referred to as “NOX” or “NOX Creative”.

HOURS OF OPERATION

Monday thru Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm CST. NOX Creative, LLC is closed on Saturday, Sunday & Holidays. Design work done outside of my business hours is ONLY done at NOX Creative’s discretion unless a premium* is being paid for RUSH or after business hours services. *Premiums depend on the project scope.

NOX will respond to requests within 24-48 hours* of received emails or voicemails during regular office hours. *Depending on holidays and vacation periods.

PROPOSAL

The email received after your initial inquiry will have a Proposal attached and will serve as what I note as your “Proposal” throughout the entire process. The proposal itself will be effective only for 30 days from the date found on the Proposal itself. If an email is received to start a project after the 30-day expiration date has expired, another proposal may be drafted and emailed to you for approval, and the start date may be adjusted as well. Once signed, NOX Creative’s Proposal Acceptance Agreement will serve as a binding contract between you, the Client, and NOX Creative in conjunction with the Proposal itself, alongside the Terms of Service Agreement. The pricing and terms of each Proposal are subject to change anytime after the validity date has expired.

DESIGN CONCEPTS & REVISIONS

Clients are provided up to 4-6 design concepts for each project as described in your Proposal. Web projects may or may not include 3 design concepts, please refer to your Proposal to see if your package includes multiple concepts. Out of the concepts presented to you, only 1 may be chosen to develop further. Once a concept is chosen to develop further you may receive up to 3 **revisions for each project as included in your quote. Once the amount of maximum revisions has been reached no further revisions can take place unless you pay an additional fee for each additional revision(s).

Additional revisions may extend or delay the completion date or deadline at no fault of NOX Creative. *Clients receive 3 design concepts for any header, logo, and/or print design project. Concepts do not apply to any web-based services such as theme purchases, installation, customization, and/or website design; however, revision policies do apply with these services.

**Limited or no revisions apply to all pre-made designs and/or theme purchases; please read the revision policy with each pre-made completely before making your purchase.

CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES

E-mail, Skype, or Telephone is used for all project communication once a project start date has been agreed upon. In-person meet-ups are available upon request and may be required before the start of a project. Additional costs may be applied to the final proposal if travel is required. All feedback and discussion comments about current or past projects are to be made via email. Any feedback or discussion made via social media for revision purposes and/or in a negative format for current or past projects is a strict violation of the terms of this agreement, and you, the Client will be responsible for any and all legal fees necessitated to resolve any dispute or defamation of character that may arise due to feedback or discussion made via social media is at no fault of NOX Creative. Experience reflections and testimonials are welcome via email and/or via our Facebook page.

a) It is imperative that you return all emails or messages with detailed, constructive feedback within 5 business days via email to keep all projects moving forward smoothly. In the event, there is no response within 15 business days, NOX Creative reserves the right to terminate the Proposal Acceptance Agreement and bill any unpaid balances and/or additional fees incurred, if any, at that point. Payments made towards the project(s) as described in the Proposal will be used as a kill fee in order to compensate my time and expenses in the event the Agreement has been terminated. NOX Creative reserves the right to additionally bill you, the Client, to complete a project from the stopping point in the event the Client does not continue the project within a reasonable time frame as set by these terms, the proposal, correspondence, or by NOX Creative.

b) Once a project has begun and you have acknowledged either by digital signature or by visiting www.noxcreative.com and agreed to this Terms of Service Agreement; you, the Client, will be held to all standards set in the Agreement, as well as any and all legal fees necessitated to resolve any dispute that may arise at no fault of NOX Creative.

c) The Client is solely responsible for adding, editing, migrating, or hiring additional professionals to create or format any type of content in the form of text, imagery, or otherwise for your website, blog, brand identity, and/or printed materials. NOX Creative is in no way responsible for writing, photographing, editing, or hiring additional professionals to complete these tasks unless specific services have been agreed upon by NOX Creative.

d) The Client is solely responsible for the update(s), addition, and/or removal of plugins, frameworks, platforms, or otherwise. NOX Creative is in no way responsible for completing these tasks before, during, or after a project has been started or completed. Special notice: Updates to customized child themes may result in the complete deletion of any customization performed by NOX Creative. Do NOT update your WordPress theme. Please create a backup of any and all files before updating any and all plugins, frameworks, platforms, etc.

E) The Client is solely responsible for updating C.C. payment information within the NOX CMS platform. Client website login will be provided by NOX upon completion of the website project on the NOX CMS platform. Request login info from NOX by emailing info@noxcreative.com or following the instructions within the login page.

PROJECT COMPLETION

NOX Creative’s project completion dates vary based on response times to emails and the type of project being worked on. NOX Creative prioritizes and plans out a design schedule for each day, week, and month depending on the current amount of clients and/or work that needs to be completed. All design briefs must be returned before any work will begin on a project. In general, the initial design process is the most lengthy potentially taking up to 10 business days for initial concepts to be delivered. Please allow up to 5 to 7 business days for revisions to be made and returned to you. For all rush/weekend/holiday services please inform me of the extent of the project, as well as the rush completion date, and expect to pay a premium for all rush services. Not all requests for rush/weekend/holiday services will be acknowledged and/or doable based upon NOX Creative’s current schedule.

You also agree that once final(s) have been released, distributed, reviewed, and signed off, by you that NOX Creative no longer holds any responsibility for any/all errors and will not be held responsible for any errors once a project has been sent to print, been published, distributed, displayed, etc. in any way. You, the Client, also acknowledge that you will incur any/all costs to remedy the error in any manner at no fault of NOX Creative.

TESTING & ACCEPTANCE

NOX Creative uses and tests web designs in the latest versions of these browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari on a Mac. I highly suggest you download the most updated version of your browser and view all revisions or test sites on a computer monitor, not a mobile device. Please note: Not all designs are considered mobile responsive. Not all web designs will operate as normal in browsers that are not kept up-to-date with the latest web standards.

a) Once you have signed off on a project, I consider the project to be in full working order and complete. In addition, if you do not respond or complete the sign-off agreement within 10 business days of the request or last communication with said Client, NOX Creative will consider the project to be in full working order and complete, at no fault of NOX Creative.

b) Any changes or revisions requested and made after project completion and sign-off will be billed at NOX Creative’s current hourly rate.

c) All digital signatures made to online agreements signed by you, the Client, are considered legally binding.

PAYMENT

NOX Creative accepts credit card payments made via Freshbooks and SQUARE, our invoicing and credit card processing system.

a) Checks are accepted; all payments must clear before work can begin. A $100 fee will be charged for all returned checks.

b) A 50% deposit is required to hold your place in the design queue and before any work on the Client’s project can begin. Deposits are considered non-refundable. If a deposit is not received 7-10 days after the invoice sent date, projects will be considered canceled and will need to be rescheduled as stated in section “d” below.

c) Once work has begun, any amount paid will be used as a kill fee to cover the time and work that has been put into a project in the event the Client (or designer) wishes to stop working with NOX Creative (or said Client), at no fault of NOX Creative.

d) If the deposit payment is not received within 7-10 business days of the initial invoice being sent, you will lose your place in the design queue and the project will need to be rescheduled based on the current design schedule. In addition, final files will only be sent after full payment has been received and has cleared. NOX Creative reserves the right to put a hold on all projects and/or files until payment has cleared.

e) In the event, NOX Creative is working at an hourly rate, a 1-hour minimum is required with the current rate to be billed in 30-minute increments after the initial 1-hour minimum and be described as such on the invoice. All hourly work is tracked by an online time tracking tool and must be paid in full before final files will be released in any capacity to you.

f) In the event, a PayPal or other dispute is filed against NOX Creative, LLC or payment is overdue, NOX Creative reserves the right to revoke all Client rights to the deliverables discussed in the Proposal and they will remain the property of NOX Creative until the dispute is resolved. In addition, NOX Creative reserves the right to hold all deliverables until full payment is received.

g) All invoices for final payment are due within 30-60 days of receipt. If payment has NOT been received after 60 days, a $75 late fee will be applied to the total invoice amount and the $75 fee will be added for each additional 30 days after until the invoice is paid in full.

h) All payment information given to NOX Creative in any form is kept confidential at all times.

ADDITIONAL COSTS

Additional costs include, but are not limited to: additional revisions above and beyond what was included in the Proposal; hosting fees; domain name registration; fonts; photographers; custom illustrations; digital scrapbook kits; stock photos; and/or any other graphic or item not specifically listed in the Proposal.

PRIVACY POLICY

NOX Creative respects the privacy of your personal & confidential information at all times.

a) NOX Creative takes extreme caution to keep the information shared with us for billing & project set-up/installation purposes private & secure. Any payment information sent via Stripe or Freshbooks to process payments is not received by NOX Creative, LLC, but the company processing the payment.

b) At no time will any information from past or present clients given to NOX Creative for billing & project set-up/installation, by the Client, be shared or sold for any reason.

c) In the event, any of my accounts or personal property is hacked or stolen, you will be notified immediately. In addition, any dispute filed against NOX Creative by the Client as a result of a privacy issue will be held to all standards set in the Agreement, as well as any and all legal fees necessitated to resolve any dispute that may arise at no fault of NOX Creative.

d) Email subscription lists will not be shared or sold for any reason.

PROMOTIONS/COPYRIGHT

NOX Creative retains the Copyright to any and all work completed by NOX Creative in the event a project is terminated at no fault of NOX Creative or until full payment is made on all fees including: quote, additional fees, etc. incurred for the project. NOX Creative will retain the right to reproduce, publish and display all work created for the Client in NOX Creative’s portfolios, websites, galleries, periodicals, exhibits, etc. for the purposes of recognition of creative excellence or professional advancement. Copyright violation is strictly prohibited and protected by law.

Special notice: Any design not specifically copyright & purchased as a “logo design” may not under any circumstances be utilized for branding purposes other than what the design was initially designed for, unless licensing is purchased which will allow you the rights to use the design as a “logo” on all types of marketing materials for branding purposes. A header design for a website/blog may not be used as a logo for business cards, social media exposure, or any other type(s) of marketing materials such as postcards, letterhead, etc., etc. unless express copyright has been purchased from NOX Creative and released to you.

SUPPORT

NOX Creative provides limited support via email after the project completion date for a period of 60 – 90 days dependent upon the type of service provided. Support applies only to the functionality of a blog or website design and DOES NOT include or apply to: a complete site revamp; additional graphic(s) or a change to any graphic(s); content changes or additions; WordPress and/or WordPress/Theme training; etc.

WordPress maintenance (Core file updates, plugin updates, and security updates) is billed at an hourly rate of $90 unless a maintenance agreement has been put in place.

WEBSITE HOSTING

I recommend my affiliates NOX CMS, Flywheel, Siteground, or WP Engine for all web hosting purposes; however, if you have secured another hosting company please contact NOX Creative first to see if your host of choice is an approved WordPress hosting company.

Not all hosting companies are created equally, if at any time NOX Creative determines your host isn’t compatible with the work NOX Creative is performing for you, you may be asked to switch hosts.

NOX Creative will require all administration login credentials for your host provider in order to provide assistance with website changes etc. NOX does not handle support on issues related to hosting services. NOX can assist in troubleshooting website issues by communicating with your host provider. Website troubleshooting services will be billed at an hourly rate of $90.

PRINTING

NOX Creative does not include printed pieces in any of the design packages offered. None of the quotes provided by NOX Creative include fees that may be incurred to have your project printed after final file delivery. NOX Creative highly recommends choosing a local or online print source depending on project requirements. (Sources provided upon request) Please get a printed or PDF proof before confirming and sending your order to print with any company and/or service.

Terms of Service Agreement subject to change at any time, at NOX Creative’s discretion.