I was chatting with a fellow IT guy and he was telling how he's big into graphics, making Logos and things.

Somehow our conversation got into giving clients raw source files (.eps and .psd) of a finished logo for free so clients can scale or modify a logo if they choose. I've always thought that source files were included, bc in my lifetime I've only ordered one logo, and it came with eps, psd, and pngs and jpgs of various sizes and color variations and it was included with the price of the logo. This guy blew me away, he believes in only giving clients png or jpgs of various sizes for free, if clients want source files he bills them extra.




Who builds a house for a client but charges them extra for the blueprints of their own home?

Hi, u refer to ur self as an IT guy so I am a bit surprised at how strongly worded the thread title is.

That aside, u also state that ur experience with graphic artists is limited to ONE transaction, and in that transaction u obtained ALL u required, and u were satisfied.
U have a CHAT with ONE artist, and based on that u mass insult graphic artists in general?! I may be wrong, but i think the statement unfair. And would argue that u have not had enough experience with varied artists to form an opinion of their general conduct and practices

Personally I don't think there is a strict format to follow, but I do think that all terms and conditions must be clearly stated AT THE BEGINNING of the transaction BEFORE ANY PAYMENTS or commissions. Several artists do this, and u find that the more skilled d artist is, the more stringent the terms are.
It is free enterprise and there is an artist for every budget and work style, one just needs to find his artist and not generally condemn all of them.

I would also suggest adjusting the thread topic to something less offensive, if u want meaningful entries, unless it was deliberately meant to incite.

Cheers.

OKX:
Hi, u refer to ur self as an IT guy so I am a bit surprised at how strongly worded the thread title is.

That aside, u also state that ur experience with graphic artists is limited to ONE transaction, and in that transaction u obtained ALL u required, and u were satisfied.
U have a CHAT with ONE artist, and based on that u mass insult graphic artists in general?! I may be wrong, but i think the statement unfair. And would argue that u have not had enough experience with varied artists to form an opinion of their general conduct and practices

Personally I don't think there is a strict format to follow, but I do think that all terms and conditions must be clearly stated AT THE BEGINNING of the transaction BEFORE ANY PAYMENTS or commissions. Several artists do this, and u find that the more skilled d artist is, the more stringent the terms are.
It is free enterprise and there is an artist for every budget and work style, one just needs to find his artist and not generally condemn all of them.

I would also suggest adjusting the thread topic to something less offensive, if u want meaningful entries, unless it was deliberately meant to incite.

Cheers.

Yea. I maybe miscalculated the thickness of the NL's Tech crowd's skin.

Enough about my deliberately crass headline, but let's instead focus on and agree that it'a jerk move to stiff a client of their source files. We know that purchasers will at some point need to alter their logo in some fashion and risk losing fidelity by resizing bitmaps. The logo farm i purchased my sole logo followed what most would consider a norm, bc it's conventional wisdom that the client may decide to alter in some way or resize their logo.

You're worried about my edge but we can agree that there should be some form of Jungle justice for IT ppl like that what does the artist have to gain by not giving the client the source file, if only for a fee? The more you think about it, the more fitting the title of this post is.

I don't know, I don't necessarily refer to Computer Graphics designers as I.T. people. To me, they are just computer artists.

Well to each his opinion, but like I said earlier, I only forsee an issue when terms are not spelt out before money changes hands.

My policy is 3 revisions per job, 80% payment upfront and a total fee that I am comfortable with, so releasing source files is not a problem for me.

Others may charge less, and therefore see the revenue gained from future alterations as a possible justification for taking a slightly lower initial fee. That arrangement also works for some clients, especially the non tech savvy ones.

So again, like I earlier said, the choice of an artist is one of free will....for every one artist who bills for source files are a bunch who don't. One should just find what works for them, that's capitalism for u, lol.

For minor alterations, u really don't need the source files, but when we build d habit of allowing synergy in our projects, I think we will all b the better for it.

I have also had issue with programmers hoarding back end codes for sites, rather requiring a fee for management....photo studios refusing to release ur images after printing the hard copy....i make sure I determine every firms policy before engaging.

Cheers

Fulaman198:
I don't know, I don't necessarily refer to Computer Graphics designers as I.T. people. To me, they are just computer artists.

Very interesting.

I tend to conjoin computer graphics with content creating genres of IT; Front end, Adobe Suite, AutoDesk, and Unity/Unreal/Blendr people. Seun agrees, he put this subcategory under Science/Technology

OKX:
Well to each his opinion, but like I said earlier, I only forsee an issue when terms are not spelt out before money changes hands.

My policy is 3 revisions per job, 80% payment upfront and a total fee that I am comfortable with, so releasing source files is not a problem for me.

Others may charge less, and therefore see the revenue gained from future alterations as a possible justification for taking a slightly lower initial fee. That arrangement also works for some clients, especially the non tech savvy ones.

So again, like I earlier said, the choice of an artist is one of free will....for every one artist who bills for source files are a bunch who don't. One should just find what works for them, that's capitalism for u, lol.

For minor alterations, u really don't need the source files, but when we build d habit of allowing synergy in our projects, I think we will all b the better for it.

I have also had issue with programmers hoarding back end codes for sites, rather requiring a fee for management....photo studios refusing to release ur images after printing the hard copy....i make sure I determine every firms policy before engaging.

Cheers

Yea, maybe this guy decided that holding someone's source files is a revenue stream, which may generate more revenue from future revisions. I've heard of designers limiting the amount of revisions and if necessary charging for more revisions, which is understandable. In a capitalistic world, everyone's free to do what they please everyone needs their hustle, but I think it's snide to not offer source files as part of rendered services, at the very least it should be conventional to offer a scalable representation (.svg) of clients' complete purchases. Clients may want to put their new logo in a 4K video or plaster their logo on billboard or plane or any large surface, and we're all aware what happens when one tries to extend bitmaps to much larger (or even smaller) surfaces.

And Best of Luck with your business.

AAinEqGuinea:
I was chatting with a fellow IT guy and he was telling how he's big into graphics, making Logos and things.

Somehow our conversation got into giving clients raw source files (.eps and .psd) of a finished logo for free so clients can scale or modify a logo if they choose. I've always thought that source files were included, bc in my lifetime I've only ordered one logo, and it came with eps, psd, and pngs and jpgs of various sizes and color variations and it was included with the price of the logo. This guy blew me away, he believes in only giving clients png or jpgs of various sizes for free, if clients want source files he bills them extra.




Who builds a house for a client but charges them extra for the blueprints of their own home?

This has to be the worst case of generalization ever, because of one experience with a person you labelled an entire industry, despite having a good experience before, which seems to have been neglected considering your conclusion.

anyway, I do provide source files for all my clients.,I am sure many do the same. the person in question is wrong only if he's fails to clearly explain to his client what is and is not included in their agreement. because its a contract for reasons best known to them a client may or may not choose to forgo certain elements as they see fit.

meaning his packages are flexible, perhaps aimed at clients with limited funds. the bottom line I think is that the client must be made aware of what he is going to get at the end as well as what he isn't.

cheers

kilojoDesigns:


This has to be the worst case of generalization ever, because of one experience with a person you labelled an entire industry, despite having a good experience before, which seems to have been neglected considering your conclusion.

anyway, I do provide source files for all my clients.,I am sure many do the same. the person in question is wrong only if he's fails to clearly explain to his client what is and is not included in their agreement. because its a contract for reasons best known to them a client may or may not choose to forgo certain elements as they see fit.

meaning his packages are flexible, perhaps aimed at clients with limited funds. the bottom line I think is that the client must be made aware of what he is going to get at the end as well as what he isn't.

cheers

Thanks for being a great designer. @hold should be a standard in the industry, more ppl should include source files in their client agreements than not.


Best of luck with your business.

Lol

My policy is simply: If you need the source file of your job you pay for it. I have every right to retain the source files.

This are issues we might settled on before I even commence your job