Exclusivity · Design
Exclusivity in design: what is normal
Exclusivity is rare in project design work; if a client wants it, it should be narrow, time-boxed, and paid for.
Typical range
No exclusivity on standard project work. Where a client needs it (a retainer, or a direct competitor concern), a narrow scope for a defined term (often 3-6 months) with a retainer or premium attached.
Off-market
A broad clause barring the designer from working with any company "in a similar industry" for a year, with no added fee. That quietly removes a chunk of the designer's market for free.
One-line fix
"Designer will not take work from [named direct competitors] for [3 months] after delivery. This exclusivity is compensated by [retainer/premium]."
What we see
Most project-based design work carries no exclusivity at all, and it should not. A designer's livelihood depends on serving many clients, often within the same broad industry, and a client who buys a logo has not bought the right to freeze the designer out of that market.
When exclusivity is genuinely warranted, usually a retainer relationship or a real direct-competitor sensitivity, the healthy version is narrow on all three axes: which companies (named competitors, not a whole industry), how long (a defined short term), and paid (a retainer or premium reflecting the work the designer is turning away).
The clause to push back on is the broad, unpaid, long exclusivity buried in a one-off project contract. "No work with similar companies for 12 months" attached to a single logo project is taking a year of market access in exchange for one fee. Either narrow it drastically or price it as the ongoing commitment it actually is.
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