Design Policies

Last Update: March 2nd, 2023

MyRec.com provides design services for the following:

  • Public Design: Consists of a custom banner, receipt/email banner, and background image, all professionally designed using the department’s specifications/requests; and a matching color set to display on the public site. Any reference to Public Design in this document refers to this collection of design elements.
  • Membership Cards: Includes one professionally designed membership card, tag, or card/tag combo. MyRec.com will manage production and shipping through our print vendor, and invoice the department for the cost.

Design services must be requested by submitting the MyRec.com Design Request Form. Design materials (photos, logos, etc) sent via email will not be accepted. By submitting the form, you agree to the terms outlined in this document. 

Public Design

Any department may customize the public design of their MyRec.com site. Newly signed clients receive a free public design, professionally developed by the Design Specialist, at no cost. Once this initial design is completed, the department may request a new professional design for free every three years. Please refer to the Fees section for more information about timelines.

Design Management

Public designs can be implemented in one of the following ways:

Designed & Managed by MyRec.com

The department will have the MyRec.com Design Specialist at their disposal to collaborate on a customized design that effectively communicates the department’s mission, vision, and personality. All graphical elements will be professionally designed by the Design Specialist, ensuring they are aesthetically pleasing and WCAG 2.0 compliant. The Design Specialist will manage uploading and applying all custom pieces. The department will not have access to this area, but may reach out to the Design Specialist to discuss revisions. This option is recommended.

Designed by Client & Managed by MyRec.com

The department or organization may design their own graphical elements, either with a professional designer or on their own. The MyRec.com Design Specialist will provide appropriate design specifications and answer questions about those specifications. The department may upload or modify their banner at any time, at no additional cost. The department will not have access to change site colors, but may reach out to the Design Specialist to discuss modifications.

Designed & Managed by Client

The client will have full control over their site’s design. They may design their own graphics, either with a professional designer or on their own. They will also have access to modify all site colors at any time, as many times as they choose. This option requires a signature on the MyRec.com Accessibility Waiver to ensure the client is aware of WCAG guidelines and accepts responsibility for implementing them according to law. Upon receipt of the signed document, the Design Specialist will apply the appropriate permissions and alert the department that those changes have been completed. From that point onward, the client is responsible for managing their own design; MyRec.com staff will be entirely hands-off.

If you are interested in designing and managing your own design, please contact Design Specialist Hannah Bearup at hannah@myrec.com to discuss the Accessibility Waiver information and receive the agreement form.

Pricing

As stated above, every new MyRec.com site includes a free design consultation and professional public design, created by the Design Specialist. The department may request a new professional public design at any time, with costs incurring as follows:

  • No previous custom public design: Included. *
  • Current custom public design is three years old or more: Included. *
  • Current custom public design is less than three years old: Department will be invoiced for a $100 redesign fee upon final design approval.

* Additional charges may be added during the design process. Please refer to the Revisions section below. Clients will be notified in writing before any work is done that results in added fees.

Revisions

MyRec.com reserves the right to determine what constitutes a minor or major revision. The general guidelines for differentiating follows.

Minor Revisions

Small revisions to a custom-designed banner are always included at no cost, as they are a natural part of the design process. These may include, but are not limited to:

  • Swapping a photo/logo for another
  • Font changes
  • Color changes
  • Copy edits
  • Moving the location of a photo, logo, or text

Major Revisions

Major edits constitute anything that requires the designer to overhaul the majority of an existing design. We understand that projects can evolve, so up to 3 major revisions are included in a public design project. MyRec.com reserves the right to bill the client for an additional hourly fee if the project faces four or more major edits. The designer will communicate with the client if their project is approaching this threshold.

Ongoing Revisions

If the client requests a minor change to their public design after it has been finalized, MyRec.com’s Design Specialist will be happy to make those adjustments at no cost. These may include:

  • Swapping old logo/marketing material for a new version
  • Changing text
  • Updating site color scheme

Requests that go beyond what constitutes a minor change will be considered a redesign, and the client will be billed accordingly.

Photos & Artwork

The client is expected to submit photos and images they own the rights to use. This does NOT include artwork from Google Images, paid stock websites, or independent photographers; these images are often copyrighted and not available for free use. MyRec.com will not be held responsible for any litigation brought forward due to copyright infringement or intellectual property theft.

Fonts

At this time, MyRec.com does not accept custom font files for use outside of the custom banner. This is due to potential issues related to licensing and file management. If a department has strict branding rules, an exception may be made if the requested font is open source and part of the Google Fonts library. The Design Specialist reserves the right to grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis, and if an exception is allowed, the department will be limited to one font change – MyRec.com's development team will not swap out different fonts unless the department wishes to return to the default font (Open Sans). The public side formatting (size, spacing, color, etc) will not be modified to accommodate custom fonts. For proofing purposes, the Design Specialist can provide mock-ups showing up to three different fonts if requested.

WCAG / ADA Compliance

The public side of the MyRec.com software is WCAG 2.0 compliant. When a department chooses to have their design managed by MyRec.com, the colors and graphical elements will always be WCAG 2.0 compliant in regards to contrast. Any department that chooses to manage their own color palette must agree to and sign the MyRec.com Accessibility Waiver to accept responsibility for litigation brought forward due to non-compliant color contrast levels. 

All departments, regardless of how their public design is managed, do have the ability to modify text colors and sizes within many areas of the public side using an included text editor. These areas include program descriptions, home page message, home page photos, and others. The department is responsible for maintaining WCAG standards for font styles, sizes, and colors in these editable areas. MyRec.com is not responsible for litigation brought forward based on ADA or WCAG violations that rise from text editor modifications made by the department.

The department is expected to accurately caption or tag all images, especially images that display text. Every area in the software that allows image uploads will require a caption, and the department is responsible for filling those captions with any text that may be visible in an image, or to provide context for the image's contents. MyRec.com is not responsible for litigation brought forward based on ADA or WCAG violations related to improper captioning or tagging. For instructions on how to properly caption images, please view our How to Caption an Image article.

Please refer to the Terms of Use for more information.

Membership Card Design

Distributing plastic barcoded cards is an excellent way to manage a department’s memberships and members, and the MyRec.com software makes the process especially simple! Individuals only need one card, regardless of how many memberships they have, and when those memberships expire.

While the system can generate digital membership cards for users, any department is welcome to use physical plastic cards, either exclusively or in tandem with digital cards.

MyRec.com provides professional design services to create a membership card that embodies the department’s mission, values, and personality; as well as facilitating the printing and ordering process. Upon design approval, the MyRec.com team formats the artwork and submits all necessary information to our print vendor to ship the order directly to the client.

Fees, Quotes, & Approval

Fees are determined based on the card style selected by the client (wallet-size card, key tag, or card/tag combo) and the number of cards. Larger orders will have higher shipping fees due to the additional weight. Every new card design will be charged a one-time $50 setup fee; the setup fee will not be applied for re-orders of the exact card type and artwork.

The department may be charged the setup fee again if they wish to have a card with the same artwork, but a different format (ex: order #1 was a wallet-sized card, and the client requests a card/tag combo with the same artwork for order #2) because this does count as new artwork. Please review the MyRec.com Membership Card Fees document for additional details.

If the department decides to not move forward with an order after the design has been completed, they will be invoiced for the $50 setup fee, as work has already been completed. Please reference the MyRec.com Membership Card Fees sheet for pricing information before submitting an order.

Before a design is submitted for print, the department will receive a quote that outlines the fees related to the project. This email will be sent to the email address provided on the Design Request Form. MyRec.com is not responsible for delayed orders due to incorrect contact information.

The Design Specialist will not submit an order for production until the design and quote are approved in writing. Quotes are valid for 30 days.

Project Timeline

Once the Design Request Form is submitted, the client will receive an email with an estimated turnaround time for their first design proof. This timeframe is the Design Specialist’s best guess and is subject to change. The Design Specialist will communicate with the client to alert them to any potential delays.

The first design proof will be sent to the contact on the Design Request Form. It is that person’s responsibility to review the design with their team, and reply to the Design Specialist with approval or requested revisions to the design.

Upon design approval, the card artwork is submitted to our print vendor. Standard production and shipping takes 1-2 weeks, depending on the department's location and the time of year. This timeframe does not include the design process.

If the client needs their order quickly, it is the client’s responsibility to provide all necessary details when submitting the Design Request Form. The client is also responsible for being attentive and concise when providing revisions or approving the design. MyRec.com is not responsible for delayed orders due to lack of communication and/or a significant number of edits.

MyRec.com will not submit an order for production until the design and quote are approved in writing.

Copy

MyRec.com is not responsible for checking grammar, spelling, website URLs, phone numbers, etc. to confirm they are correct. The copy that is submitted via the Design Request Form is what will be used, and will not change unless requested as a revision. The client is responsible for copy editing their proof before approving the design, as the design can’t be changed once submitted to the print vendor.

Ownership

Membership cards/tags designed by MyRec.com are to be printed exclusively through MyRec.com's internal process. Proofs sent to a department must not be taken to a third party vendor to be printed. All proofs provided will be watermarked accordingly to prevent design theft.

If a department wishes to design their own cards and/or order through another third-party print vendor, they are welcome to do so. MyRec.com is not responsible for any compatibility issues resulting from third-party products.

Conclusion

For additional information and clarification, don't hesitate to contact us. Please contact Hannah Bearup, MyRec.com Design Specialist at hannah@myrec.com with any questions or concerns about these policies.