AI use policy for a design agency

A design studio sells originality, and generative tools produce imagery, layouts, type and video that look original and may not be: the model reproduces what it was trained on, the style belongs to a living illustrator, the logo it produces cannot be registered, and the client who commissioned a brand identity expects to own something no one else has. The policy sets how the studio uses generative tools (for exploration, for reference, for production), what it checks before generated work goes to a client, what it will not generate, what client material enters which tools and what it tells clients, and the client agreement carries the ownership and warranty position. A fixed £995 covers the AI use policy and the accompanying contract provisions, drafted for the business and delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Design studios, branding agencies, illustration and animation studios, packaging and product designers, and creative teams in England and Wales using generative tools in their work.

What matters in a design agency's AI use policy

Generated imagery and the originality a client is paying for

A client commissioning a brand identity, a campaign visual or a product design is paying for work that is original to them, and the policy sets the tiers at which generative tools are used: exploration and mood boards (free use, nothing delivered), reference and iteration (generated material as a starting point the designer transforms, with the transformation substantial and recorded), and production (generated elements in a deliverable, only with the checks and the disclosure the policy requires); a studio that delivers a generated image as a finished visual has delivered something the client cannot own with confidence and a competitor could generate tomorrow.

Copyright, style and the artist in the training data

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 protects original works of human authorship and names the person who made the arrangements as the author of a computer-generated work (section 9(3)), so that a generated image with no human creative input has at best uncertain protection and at worst reproduces a protected work from the training data; prompts that name a living artist, illustrator or photographer produce work in their style that invites a claim; the policy prohibits named-artist and named-brand prompts, requires generated material to be checked for recognisable reproduction before use, requires substantial human authorship in anything the client will own, and records the prompts and tools for each project, so that the studio can show what it made; the contract provisions limit the studio's originality warranty for generated elements to what it has checked and disclosed.

Trade marks, logos and the mark that cannot be protected

A logo the client intends to register as a trade mark needs to be distinctive and not in conflict with existing marks, and a generated logo may be neither (the model produces what logos look like, which is what existing logos look like) and may have no clear owner to assign; the policy prohibits delivering generated logos, wordmarks and brand devices as final identity work, permits generative tools in the exploration stage only, requires the studio's usual clearance searches to apply before a mark is proposed, and tells the client in the agreement that registrability is for the client's trade mark adviser to assess, which the studio does not warrant; a brand identity built on a generated logo the client cannot register or defend is the claim the policy prevents.

Clients' assets, briefs and the tools they enter

confidential information, clients' data and trade secrets are kept out of tools whose terms permit retention of inputs or training on them, because both the Trade Secrets (Enforcement, etc.) Regulations 2018 and the business's confidentiality obligations ask what steps were taken to protect them; a client's unreleased product, its campaign strategy, its brand assets and its brief are confidential, and uploading a client's product photographs or logo to a generative tool may breach the client agreement and may feed the client's assets into a model others use; the policy sets which tools may receive client assets (business tiers with training excluded and retention limited), which may not, and which client assets never enter any tool (unreleased products, anything under embargo, anything the client has restricted), and putting personal data into an AI tool is processing under the UK GDPR, so it needs a lawful basis, transparency to the individuals, an Article 28 agreement with the provider and, for uses that affect people, an Article 35 impact assessment, which catches photographs of real people in the client's assets.

Disclosure, credits and the client that wants to know

Clients ask whether work is generated, some prohibit it, some require it to be labelled (and some platforms and jurisdictions require generated imagery to be marked), and awards bodies have rules on disclosure; the policy sets standing disclosure in the client agreement of the tools the studio uses and the tiers at which it uses them, specific disclosure where a deliverable contains generated elements at the production tier, honest credits and award entries, and a prohibition on describing generated work as hand-made or as the work of a named designer who did not make it.

The contract provisions that go with the policy

The contract provisions drafted with the policy go into the client agreement (the studio's permitted use of generative tools by tier, the disclosure, the ownership of deliverables with generated elements distinguished from the studio's own work, the originality and non-infringement warranty limited to what the studio has checked, the client's responsibility for the assets it supplies, the trade mark registrability disclaimer), the freelancer and illustrator agreements (the same tiers and disclosures flowed down, the assignment of rights in their contribution, no undisclosed generated work), the staff contracts and handbook, and the supplier agreements with tool providers (training excluded, output rights confirmed, retention limited).

What it costs

AI use policy, £995. Internal policy plus the accompanying contract provisions. Five working days.

AI provisions in a contract, £595. Review or draft AI-specific terms in a supply or customer agreement. Five working days.

Email me at geoffrey@caesar.co.uk with what you need and any documents, and I will confirm the scope and the fee in writing, usually the same working day.

What you get

• An internal AI use policy your staff will follow, rather than a document that bans everything and is quietly ignored
• Contract provisions covering output ownership, training data, confidentiality and liability
• A defensible position to give customers who ask what your AI governance looks like
• Review of your AI suppliers' terms, including what they reserve the right to change
• Practical guidance on what to permit, what to restrict and what to prohibit outright
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Technical AI assurance, model testing or bias auditing
• Sector-specific regulatory approval
• Advice on non-UK regulatory regimes beyond flagging where they apply
• Ongoing regulatory monitoring

Questions I am often asked

Can we use generative tools for client work at all?

For exploration and reference, yes; for production, only with the checks and disclosure the policy requires and substantial human authorship in anything the client will own. Delivering a generated image as a finished visual is what the policy prevents.

Can we generate a logo for a client?

Not as final identity work: a generated logo may not be distinctive, may conflict with existing marks and may have no clear owner to assign. Generative tools stay in the exploration stage for logos, and registrability is for the client's trade mark adviser.

Can we upload a client's product photos to a tool to make variations?

Only on tools whose terms exclude training and limit retention, and never for unreleased or embargoed products or anything the client has restricted. Photographs of real people also bring data protection into it.

Related guidance and services

• AI contracts and AI use policies, £995, the service this page describes
• Data protection agreements and privacy terms, £795
• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595
• AI use policy for a marketing agency
• AI use policy for freelancers and contractors working for you

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.