Professional Design: typography, client process and files

The client process, from enquiry to agreement

In simple words

Before a builder starts a house, the owner and the builder agree on the plan, the price, the date and how many changes are included. Then nobody argues later. A design job works the same way: agree first, design second.

Before this course: Design Projects: brand kits and layouts (course 11.1.2). You already write a design brief, build a brand kit, set type and colour rules, lay out pages on a grid, export PDF Print files and run a critique checklist. This course adds what professionals do around the design: the client process, deeper typography, accessibility, revisions and final files.

Key facts

The stages of a typical client job (common professional practice, not a law): enquiry, discovery questions, written brief, proposal and quote, written agreement, concepts, revisions, final files, handoff.
Discovery questions fill in the brief from course 11.1.2: goal, audience, deliverables, sizes, deadline, must-haves, plus budget, who approves, where the work will be used (print, web, social), and any existing brand rules.
A written agreement should cover: the scope (what you will make), deliverables and file types, the number of revision rounds included, what counts as a change request (new work outside the scope), the timeline, the fee and payment terms, and who owns the work and how the client may use it.
Revisions vs changes: a revision adjusts the agreed design (colour, wording, size). A change request adds or replaces something outside the brief (a new piece, a new direction). Agree in writing how change requests are priced and scheduled.
One decision-maker: ask the client to name one person who collects feedback and gives final approval.
Ownership: in all six countries in the box below, the person who creates a commissioned design is normally the first owner of the copyright unless a contract says otherwise. Several countries require a transfer of copyright to be in writing. So the agreement should say clearly whether the client gets a licence (permission to use) or an assignment (transfer of ownership), and what you may show in your portfolio.

Agreement item	Example (pretend client: a neighbourhood bakery)
Scope	Logo refresh, menu board, 3 social post templates
Deliverables	Logo (SVG, PNG, PDF), menu (PDF Print), posts (PNG)
Revision rounds	2 rounds per piece
Change requests	Quoted separately before starting
Timeline	Concepts in 1 week, finals in 3 weeks
Ownership and use	Written transfer of the final logo after payment; designer may show the work in a portfolio

In your country

The author is generally the first owner. A freelancer (not an employee) normally owns commissioned work unless the contract assigns it. An assignment or licence is valid only if it is in writing and signed by the owner. Moral rights can't be assigned but can be waived.
Source: Copyright Act s. 13: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-42/section-13.html
Source: Copyright Act s. 14.1: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-42/section-14.1.html

A freelancer usually owns the work. Commissioned work is a "work made for hire" only in nine listed categories and with a signed written agreement; otherwise the client needs a written assignment. A transfer of ownership must be in writing and signed.
Source: US Copyright Office, Title 17 chapter 1: www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html
Source: US Copyright Office, Title 17 chapter 2: www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap2.html

For commissioned work, the person who paid owns the work itself, but the copyright stays with the creator unless there is a written stipulation to the contrary. Moral rights stay with the author.
Source: RA 8293 text: www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1997/ra_8293_1997.html

For commissioned work, the client and the creator settle ownership by contract. With no clear term or no contract, the creator owns the copyright. Transferring economic rights needs a written contract.
Source: Copyright Law text (National Copyright Administration): www.ncac.gov.cn/xxfb/flfg/flfg_532/202103/t20210309_50530.html

No special rule makes the client the owner of commissioned work; the creator holds the copyright unless it is transferred. Rights to adapt the work are presumed to stay with the creator unless the contract names them. Moral rights can't be transferred.
Source: Copyright Act (English), Japanese Law Translation: www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3379/en

The author is the person who creates the work. Economic rights can be transferred in whole or in part, but a full transfer does not include the right to make derivative works unless stated. Put any transfer in a written contract.
Source: Copyright Act, English text (KLRI): elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_service/lawViewContent.do?hseq=62935

Step by step

Pick a real or pretend client (a shop, a club, an event).
Write ten discovery questions, using the list in Key facts.
Answer them (or interview a friend playing the client) and update your brief.
Write a one-page agreement with every row from the table above.
Decide: will the client get a licence or a written transfer? Write it in plain words.
Add one line on portfolio use.
Ask the "client" to read it and confirm in writing (an email reply is fine for practice).
Check: a stranger could read the agreement and say what is included, how many revision rounds there are, and who owns what.

Watch on YouTube

How to write a powerful creative briefHubSpot Marketing · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01The client process, from enquiry to agreement

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:15

Voice

Read the video script

[Host at a desk with a printed agreement] "The best designers agree on the job before they design anything."
[Text on screen: Scope. Deliverables. Revisions. Timeline. Fee. Ownership.] "Six things in writing: scope, deliverables, revision rounds, timeline, fee and ownership."
[Screen: two columns, Revision and Change request] "A revision adjusts the design. A change request is new work. Price it before you start it."
[Text on screen: Who owns the design?] "In many countries the creator owns the copyright unless a written contract says otherwise. Check your country's box."
[Host] "Clear agreement now means fewer arguments later."

Try it now

Write a discovery question list and a one-page agreement for a pretend client. Include the number of revision rounds, how change requests work, and whether the client gets a licence or a transfer.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Professional Design: typography, client process and files" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "The client process, from enquiry to agreement".

What the lesson teaches:
- The stages of a typical client job (common professional practice, not a law): enquiry, discovery questions, written brief, proposal and quote, written agreement, concepts, revisions, final files, handoff.
- Discovery questions fill in the brief from course 11.1.2: goal, audience, deliverables, sizes, deadline, must-haves, plus budget, who approves, where the work will be used (print, web, social), and any existing brand rules.
- A written agreement should cover: the scope (what you will make), deliverables and file types, the number of revision rounds included, what counts as a change request (new work outside the scope), the timeline, the fee and payment terms, and who owns the work and how the client may use it.
- Revisions vs changes: a revision adjusts the agreed design (colour, wording, size). A change request adds or replaces something outside the brief (a new piece, a new direction). Agree in writing how change requests are priced and scheduled.
- One decision-maker: ask the client to name one person who collects feedback and gives final approval.
- Ownership: in all six countries in the box below, the person who creates a commissioned design is normally the first owner of the copyright unless a contract says otherwise. Several countries require a transfer of copyright to be in writing. So the agreement should say clearly whether the client gets a licence (permission to use) or an assignment (transfer of ownership), and what you may show in your portfolio.
- Agreement item - Example (pretend client: a neighbourhood bakery)

The exercise I'm working on:
Write a discovery question list and a one-page agreement for a pretend client. Include the number of revision rounds, how change requests work, and whether the client gets a licence or a transfer.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "The client process, from enquiry to agreement" from the course "Professional Design: typography, client process and files".

Here's what the lesson says:
Before a builder starts a house, the owner and the builder agree on the plan, the price, the date and how many changes are included. Then nobody argues later. A design job works the same way: agree first, design second.

The activity:
Write a discovery question list and a one-page agreement for a pretend client. Include the number of revision rounds, how change requests work, and whether the client gets a licence or a transfer.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.

Open Claude

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