Hey! I’ll work hard for you! I’ll be on this worksite sweating in the heat for weeks. Building creativity is hard work and I want to make sure I’m safe and that I am compensated fairly.

Yes ma’am. I’m here to do the best job I can but I’ve had a couple of miscommunications with clients in the past and I don’t want to have that happen again. Do you mind if I put on my hardhat contract for protection? It actually protects both of us from hazardous misunderstandings.

(Thought to self: she better not mind. The only clients I’ve ever had problems with were those who didn’t want to sign a contract. Some of them made it sound OK by saying, “We don’t need a contract. I always work with a handshake. Trust me.” Boy did I learn the hard way. If they don’t want our agreement in writing, I don’t want them as clients.)

We’ll start with the blueprints of the job, ma’am. These blueprints are a list of assumptions on the contract of what you and I both expect on this job. Let’s make sure we both know what you will be supplying, what I will supply, when the inspections should happen and how I’m delivering the finished work. With these mutually agreed upon assumptions, I will hit the nail on the head with each job.

Mark Simon, Creative Contractor.

Have you ever heard that joke about what happens when you assume? No? It makes an “ass” out of “u” and “me.” Get it? ‘Ass” “u” “me?” No ma’am. I don’t find it very funny either.

Ma’am? Yes, drafting a contract like this will take a few extra minutes now, but it will probably save us a lot of time later during creative construction. I’ve found that it can also save a professional relationship, so I thank you for your patience. Contracts are like these work boots, they keep me from stepping into deep sh… No ma’am, I don’t find that kind of language funny either.

Where did I get this contract? A couple of places actually. A good friend of mine who runs an art studio gave me a copy of his contract. I also grabbed some pieces that I liked from my clients contracts. And I found some really good sample contracts in the books, The Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market, Selling Your Graphic Design & Illustration and the Graphic Artist’s Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, which you can find by visiting the Graphic Artists Guild website.

I’ve improved this contract over the years. Each time I get a splinter, I try to sand down the lumber a little smoother to make the construction of my contracts better. As I work I learn more and run into different situations that require me to update my base contract and even make a couple of different contracts. I have one contract for animation work and another for illustration work. I save each change and my contracts get better all the time.

Can we finish the assumptions? Great.

Let’s see. We need to agree to who owns the walls and ceilings when I’m done. This answer usually is dependent on a lot of factors, but we need to be clear on it now and put it in writing before I start knocking things down.

I’ll bring all my tools, but what about matting materials? Scripts? Voice talent? Do you want me to bring in my own tunes? No? OK, great. You bring the music.

Excuse me? Why do we need to go over all this before I get started? The assumptions provide the foundation for this project. I cherish our professional relationship and I don’t want any misunderstandings at the end of this project. I would like you to want to work with me again.

(Actually, it’s also because if I wait until the project is over, I have a bad position to negotiate from.)