Email Project Correspondence & Project Management
We are a smaller creative agency and refuse to have sales reps. In the last ten years of being in business, we feel no one can give the same level of service, attention to detail, and quality that only the owners of our company can. That is why both owners handle all client interactions of nearly thirty clients whom all have deadlines on ads, various design needs, along with communicating with our design team. That means staying on top of it all can be a daunting task for us.

That is why all correspondence is handled through Email. If you it will most likely fall through the cracks since we only ensure each item in a client’s email is taken care of first and receives top priority. \

DISCOVERY
Before any branding/marketing project begins, we require our clients to perform a “Discovery” with us which lays the foundation for the services we provide to you.

Agreements
Before any branding/marketing project begins, a signed Agreement along with a 50% deposit is required before work begins. It also explains what is expected out of each party. Along with the Grant of Rights to the “Final Deliverables.” If no signed agreement exists, that means anything we create for you as stated by the United States Copyright Law is owned exclusively by Morning Sock Studios no matter if you paid for it or not. If you have not already signed a yearly General/Miscellaneous Graphic Design Agreement for the year, please let us know and we will retroactively make sure all past projects we created for you licensed to you.

General/Miscellaneous Graphic Design Under $1,000 will be covered under our yearly blanket Agreement. This is to help save time, so we do not have to have a contract for every project we do for you. Your grant of rights to the Final Deliverables will be covered in your Agreement.

Invoices
All invoices are payable upon receipt. A monthly service charge of 1.5 percent is payable on all overdue balances. Payments will be credited first to late payment charges and next to the unpaid balance. Client shall be responsible for all collection or legal fees necessitated by lateness or default in payment. Morning Sock Studios reserves the right to withhold delivery, and any transfer of ownership of any current work if accounts are not current or overdue invoices are not paid in full. All grants of any license to use or transfer of ownership of any intellectual property rights under this Agreement are conditioned upon receipt of payment in full which shall be inclusive of any and all outstanding Additional Costs, Taxes, Expenses, and Fees, Charges, or the costs of Changes.

PLEASE READ THE PROVISIONS OF YOUR CONTRACT!!!! THIS IS A LIST OF THE MOST COMMON PROBLEMS ON THE CLIENTS END THAT WILL COST ADDITIONAL MONIES.

PROJECT STALLED
If the project is delayed due to the client, a “project restart fee” will be assessed. We carve out a specific amount of time for each project and can only handle so many projects per month. If your project is stalled due not providing timely approvals or Client Content, your project will get pushed off until all other scheduled projects are caught up regardless of agreed upon deadlines at no fault of Morning Sock Studios.

FILES/FINAL DELIVERABLES
Treat the Files/Deliverables we give you like gold and store in a safe and secure space since we are not required to keep files once a project is finished. Due to the size of files, we archive all projects once finished then delete them after three months. If we need to re-supply your art files, we must bill our time to retrieve or recreate them.

WHAT YOU ARE PAYING FOR
When it comes to design, what you are paying for is the “Final Deliverables” unless otherwise expressively granted to you in writing. You are not paying for our process of how we came to the “Final Deliverables” which is proprietary. If you wish to purchase the layered files which show the process, please contact us to negotiate fees. Bear in mind, almost all of our contracts provide you with a non-exclusive license with modification rights. That means if you decide to part ways with us, the next creative agency that takes over will be able to make modifications and derivatives to the “Final Deliverables” but they will have to use their exclusive means for editing “Final Deliverables.” We retain the right to display what we created for you in our portfolio and enter it into design competitions for industry accolades.

WHEN RIGHTS ARE TRANSFERRED
Grant oF Rights can only be transferred in writing as stated by United States Copyright Law. This is why we have you sign a yearly contract covering all Finial Deliverables under $1,000. Any Project over $1,000 requires a separate Agreement. This would be for logo design, websites, annual reports, or major ad campaigns to give examples. NO RIGHTS WHAT SO EVER ARE TRANSFERRED UNTIL FINAL PAYMENT IS RECEIVED.

ART APPROVALS
ALL ART APPROVALS MUST BE GIVEN WITHIN THREE (3) BUSINESS DAYS!!! We cannot stress this enough. We allot so much time per project and have projects scheduled three months out most times. To give your project 100%, we must stick to the schedule we set for your project. If your project gets behind due to failure to provide approvals or supply “Client Content”, it must be put on hold until all our other client’s scheduled projects are caught up. At that point, we will reschedule your project, and you will be assessed a project restart fee.

ART PROOFS
Signed or initialed approval of proof must be given before going to the next step in the creative process, superseding any specified deadline dates if proof approval is not given.

CHANGE TO SCOPE OF WORK
Any changes to the scope of work other than expressly outlined in the Agreements will require an addendum to contract that must be signed before additional work can be performed.

HOURS OF OPERATION
Our work week is Monday-Friday (with the exception of being closed all major holidays) 9-5p. Any work outside of our hours of operation will be considered a client emergency and will be billed at an increase of 150%/hr of our regular rates and $250%/hr on holidays. That being said any mission-critical after-hours work such as emails or websites that go down will be billed at our standard rates as long as you have a signed maintenance contract with us and your monthly maintenance dues are in good standing.

AD CHANGE DEADLINES
Ads to be created by us must have client content supplied to us fifteen (15) BUSINESS days before the publication submission deadline to avoid rush fees by us. This is a must since we handle nearly thirty other clients ad accounts. We need the following included:
• Publication Name
• Publication Rep Name, Phone Number, Email Address
• Exact Ad Sizing Specs, With Bleeds & Safe Zones
• Ad Deadline Cutoff

EMAIL BLASTS DEADLINES
Email blasts content must be supplied fifteen (15) BUSINESS days before they are released to avoid rush fees.

RETURNS & REFUNDS
Morning Sock Studios stands behind all the products we offer that they will be free from manufacturer defects. That being said; defects do occasionally happen.

Because all orders we place for our clients are typically custom, i.e. contain text, artwork or logos on them including but not limited to embroidery, print, foil stamping, dye sub, screen-printing, laser engraving or any other type of manufacturing process, we do not offer refunds. We do offer replacements at no extra cost to the client only if the order comes in defectively at the discretion of Morning Sock Studios and product manufacturer.

PROOFS
Typographical errors are the responsibility of the client which is why you must look at your proof carefully. Re-orders will be the exact order that was ordered prior as long as that same item is still produced, at which time the client will be made aware of alternatives if originals are no longer available anymore.

PAYMENTS
Morning Socks invoices reflect a 3% cash discount paid by check or cash. We do accept payments from our website through Pay-Pal, which you must add 3% to your total invoice for a convenience fee. It will show on your credit card statement as the parent company who owns Morning Sock Studios “Island Life Business Group, INC.” Payments are due upon receipt unless prior written arrangements are made. Custom orders must be paid for 100% in advance. Invoicing is typically done around the 1st and 15th of the month.

IF YOU GET BEHIND ON INVOICES
Unless otherwise stated in your Agreement, when your invoice reaches $1,500 and has not been paid, we will put a stop hold to all work until the invoice is paid regardless of when deadlines are due. We have to pay our employees and “Designer Agents” along with our operating expenses. We are easy to work with people, and we understand if you are having a lean month and will work with you on payment arrangements, but the burden is on the client to communicate with us.

RUSH COSTS/ADDITIONAL COSTS
Prices are based on the particular work detailed in your “Agreement.” Additional materials or revisions, or changes to the scope of the assignment, will result in additional costs that will be billed separately per hour and will require a signed Addendum to Agreement. Any requests made for delivery of materials faster than the time frames outlined in your Agreement will be subject to a Project Rush Fees. Rush Fees will be 150% of the total project cost or $225 per hour, whichever is greater on regular workdays and weekends or 250% increase on major holidays.

Thank you for your understanding, and we appreciate your business.