A good contract establishes expectations for both sides, thus minimizing disputes in the future.
It will be up to the designer to provide a contract. They will probably cut-and-paste parts of your RFP into the contract. Don't just sign it! Read the entire contract and make sure you'll get what you need. Even minor issues should go into the contract to avoid problems with spotty memories.
A good contract will address:
- Deadlines and Milestones. It's better to have a few milestones with concrete dates than one final delivery deadline.
- Deliverables. Be very specific about deliverables. Examples of good specific deliverables are "Site works in top 5 browsers -- IE6, IE7, Firefox 1.5, Firefox 2, Safari" and "All code, graphics, mockups and other work product emailed in one zipfile before final payment will be issued." Spell out exactly what you expect to be delivered before the designer will be paid.
- Concepts. Also called "mockups" or "comps." The design process will start with the designer showing you concepts of what your homepage might look like. You'll work with the designer to take what you like from each concept until you agree on one look. In order to have enough choices in layouts, colors, and other variables, you'll want to have enough concepts to work with. Three concepts is a good number of choices that won't break the budget.
- Revisions. These are the rounds of notes and thoughts you give the designer to narrow down the 3 concepts to 1. Three rounds of revisions is a good number that will give you enough time to get a design you love without breaking the budget.
- Payment. Paying 50 percent before work starts is a commonly accepted practice. Never pay the full amount up front.
- Intellectual Property. You need to own all the rights to the design, including mockups, code and other work product.