This resources contains examples of approaches to communications and visual design that can create better contracts

Contracts at their core underpin a mutual understanding. However, when the communication of that understanding is unclear, it can create tension in the relationship, including exacerbating unequal power dynamics. These examples showcase approaches in which visual and communications design have been used in a contractual context to overcome some of these issues. It is worth reflecting on the ethical, legal, design, and operational considerations, before incorporating these approaches in your own contracting practices.

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<aside> <img src="/icons/error_red.svg" alt="/icons/error_red.svg" width="40px" /> Disclaimer: The materials in our portal are not intended to be legal or other professional advice. These considerations are a general overview, and are provided on a no reliance basis. Please read the full disclaimer here.

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Considerations

🧠 Ethical considerations

Should a person be bound to terms in a contract that they do not understand?

If not, what obligation does this put on a contract’s design to ensure that it is fully understood by those who sign it?

Communications and visual design can play a significant role in bringing terms to life, improving clarity and legibility. Rather than protecting the risk of the issuer of the contract, it balances the responsibility of the issuer to ensure that they are not putting disproportionate risk on the receiver, particularly when there is an imbalance in power in the relationship, e.g. employer vs employee.

⚖ Legal considerations

Use of visual contracts has been less tested in the English courts, so there is a risk of uncertainty on how this will be viewed in a tribunal situation.

From a user perspective (rather than legal) there is actually also the risk that a visual will not communicate what needs to be communicated on its own, so one approach is to is to use visuals to enhance text rather than to replace it. Lawyers will often include some language to state that visuals are for reference only (so that text will always take precedent).

🎨 Design considerations

When visuals are used, this can sometimes lead to different interpretations depending on cultural background and other factors.

The use of visuals may be considered as part of the more important, broader strategy of information design, which may include getting the copy right alongside.

💼 Operational considerations

Contracts may need to evolve as the organisations evolve too - iterating and editing visual contracts may require additional investment compared to those that are text only; this may involve requiring more commissioning graphic design or illustration work, or require staff to have skills in using design software.

The upsides can make this investment worthwhile, and the design can intentionally enable ongoing evolutions.

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_lightgray.svg" alt="/icons/book_lightgray.svg" width="40px" /> See this article co-authored by Helena Haapio, Vesa Annola and Merja Koskela for more on visuals in contracts: Ten ways to make the interpretation of images more predictable

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Examples

Contract formats and design examples

We would like to thank the creators of the examples above for allowing us to share examples of their work on this portal.

Lieke Beelen

Stefania Passera

Helena Haapio

Prof. Camilla Anderson

Linka Maritz

Lou Byng

Robert Waller