Someone stole my design

[ThinkRight]

Here is my file and their window now.
What do you guys do when you send a proof can i see examples of your disclaimer, and do you have a contract with the deposit?

Oh yeah .
Find out the hack who did the work and sue him / her also !
You can make a hobby of being their pain in the rear .

 

[qmr55]

First weigh your options. Is seeking 'revenge' on them even worth it? Will the time it takes to get reimbursed be worth it or should you just chalk it up as a lesson and move on to your next PAYING customer? Send them an invoice in the mail and hope they pay it. Don't waste too much time with this. From now on, take deposits before you do any design work!

 

[HDvinyl]

Wait, 2 hours to design that??

 

[HulkSmash]

you made the mistake of designing without a deposit. You're going to spend hrs to get your money back, if you even do. Weight the options. take this as a lessons learned.. move on

 

[Dakotagrafx]

Wait, 2 hours to design that??

good point LOL

 

[Rick]

Wait, 2 hours to design that??

Thats probably half hour max. Probably take longer to look up the code and/or get the sign program than it would be to lay it out. Not sure I would ask for a deposit on that quickie stuff but I generally do ask for deposits.

I try to qualify a client before doing anything. On a simple window graphic I would have priced it out without laying it out. If I was within his budget or he did not wince, then lay it out for the guy. Simple window vinyl is pretty easy to price out.

 

[weaselboogie]

You should be able to win this in small claims court. Getting the letter in the mail might be enough to scare them into just paying you. Did you have any disclaimer on your quote?

 

[Marlene]

is the photo with the copy on it what you showed the customer? if so, that is a really bad idea on so many levels. first off, what you need to do is to have an approval sheet set up that you drop your design onto. on the sheet are the instructions, "no one outside your business is to view design, no part to be copied, ownership of the design belongs to ya da ya signs" put it all in writting, have what you paln to do if they do anything that isn't allowed such as "you will be billed $500" etc, have place to sign and date like a contract. watermark over the design property of ya da ya signs. never give this to them untill a depoist is received. if you want to show them what you can do without that, that's up to you but show them the print out and make them sign off on it and no they don't et to keep it until it is paid for, they only get to see it. what you provided doesn't say it belongs to you. it not only doesn't say that it is just a photo with a layout that could be belong to anyone. you are in business and in business, nothing is left up to the imagination, it is all spelled out in contract form. treat designs the same as any other product.

 

[Sign Up Graphics]

Sign Up Graphics

No deposit No design ...move on

 

[fresh]

Wait, 2 hours to design that??

Just because something is simple doesn't mean that thought wasn't put into it. The time spent taking measurements, setting up the files, etc I'm sure equaled more than 30 minutes.

Who know what their logo looked like before? I think 2 hours is completely reasonable.

 

[Pat Whatley]

How much change did you make to their logo?

 

[Bly]

No deposit No design ...move on

He didn't steal it. You gave it to him.

And you learnt a valuable lesson.

 

[Jillbeans]

No deposit no design again...maybe if people hear it enough they will start listening and practicing this policy.
If you give something away for free, it's instantly devalued in the customer's eyes.
Maybe small claims court but they will probably argue that you merely altered their logo.
It's still worth a try.
Love....jill

 

[klingsdesigns]

thanks for the input guys.. he agreed to an hour of design after i emailed him an invoice. I did spend a lot of time changing things here and there like colors and layout. I was saying overall time spent of my time was 2 hours.

Do you guys have samples you can email me to what you send your customers when you send a proof? klings@charter.net

 

[mark galoob]

K it's a mustach on a window w some lines. Sorry but I have said this many times. Layout and design...true design are 2 totally different things. I don't ever charge for simple layout like what I'm seeing on this window. I don't think it can be even be copyrighted.

I also agree w others here no pay no work. Take the hit and move on and learn ur lesson from this

Mark galoob

 

[visual800]

Just send the a bill for art and specify you will seek legal advice IF they do not pay. If they do not pay screw it! Small claims and an attorney is a waste of time. The city I live in half stole my layout of police cars. I contacted my attorney and sent him all info he called back and said, and I quote " how much money and time do you want to **** away on this?"

 

[fmg]

Funny how the sign guys and gals always get f****d over with design. Bet ya none of these top notch graphic houses ever part with their designs unless payment is in full.

 

[Techman]

Funny how the sign guys and gals always get f****d over with design

Because so many are inexperienced and unqualified they will do anything to speculate on getting some work by working up a beautiful layout and then letting the speculative client take the art home to show their partner.

 

[Salmoneye]

Sometimes it can take 2 hours to pick out a font (or 10 times that for that matter) How many ideas did he come up with and abandon for one reason or another? We don't know what criteria he was working with. 2 hours can come pretty quick.

 

[HDvinyl]

I did spend a lot of time changing things here and there like colors and layout.

Customers shouldn't have to pay for your practice or inexperience.

That's a 3 minute layout.

Now if the guy came back at you with revisions and STILL stole your design, make the donkey pay the full 2 hours.