Non-compete · Design
Non-compete in design: what is normal
Broad non-competes are inappropriate for freelance designers and often unenforceable; a narrow confidentiality clause is the healthy substitute.
Typical range
No general non-compete. A confidentiality/NDA covering the client's specific confidential materials, and at most a narrow, short bar on serving a named direct competitor, is the appropriate scope.
Off-market
A clause barring the designer from working in the client's whole industry, or for any competitor, for a year or more after the project, with no compensation.
One-line fix
"Designer will keep Client's confidential materials confidential. Designer is free to work with other clients, including in the same industry. Any competitor restriction is limited to [named companies] for [3 months]."
What we see
A non-compete asks a freelancer to give up future work, which is the freelancer's entire livelihood, and for an independent contractor that is almost never a reasonable trade for a single project fee. Broad post-engagement non-competes on freelancers are also increasingly disfavored or unenforceable in many jurisdictions.
What the client usually actually needs is confidentiality, not non-competition: they want their private materials and plans kept private, not to prevent the designer from ever working in their field again. An NDA scoped to the client's specific confidential information does that job without touching the designer's ability to earn.
If there is a genuine direct-competitor sensitivity, the healthy version is narrow and short: named companies, a brief window, ideally with compensation. The clause to refuse outright is the sweeping "no work in this industry for a year" language, which takes far more than the engagement gave and may not hold up anyway.
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