Terms of service.

Last updated: 27 October 2026

1. Who we are

Vinculo ("we", "us") runs the website vinculo.art and the service app.vinculo.art (the "Service"). Contact: support@vinculo.art.

By creating an account, applying as a designer, activating a designer invite or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms and confirm that you have read our Privacy policy. If you don't agree, don't use the Service.

2. What Vinculo is

Vinculo is a service for hiring verified designers (motion, branding, UI, illustration, 3D and similar work) for a specific task:

A client posts a brief.
Vinculo suggests matching verified designers. Matching works by fixed rules (type of work, rate, languages, delivery history); it is not AI.
The client sends a hire request to one designer and chooses a backup designer.
The designer accepts, and the project starts.
The designer delivers the work milestone by milestone, and the client approves each milestone.

Vinculo provides the platform. The contract for the creative work is between the client and the designer; Vinculo is not a party to it. Designers work as independent professionals and aren't Vinculo's employees or agents.

3. Accounts

Age. You must be 18 or older to use Vinculo.
Roles. Each account has one role: client, designer or admin.
Clients sign up with an email and password, or with Google. You can log in after you confirm your email.
Designers can't sign up directly. A designer applies with details about themselves and 2–3 examples of their best work. We review every portfolio, usually within 5 business days. If we approve, we email an invite link valid for 7 days; the designer sets a password and the account is created. We may reject an application, and a rejected applicant may apply again.
Google sign-in is for client accounts only. We use Google only to confirm who you are.
Your information must be true. Keep your profile, email and billing details accurate.
Security. You are responsible for your password and for activity in your account. If you think someone else has access, change your password or use "Log out everywhere" in Settings, and write to us.

4. Briefs and matching

A brief has three steps: the project (title, type of work, description, deliverables, scope), references, and details (budget, dates, languages, time zone overlap, milestone amounts). A project is created when you finish all three steps.
We compare your brief with designer profiles and show verified designers with their rate and the reason they matched. Only verified designers who aren't blocked appear in matches.
We don't guarantee that matches include a designer who fits your needs, that a designer accepts your request, or any specific result of the work.
Designers don't see a public list of briefs. A designer sees your brief only when you send them a hire request.

5. Hire requests

A hire request includes a message to the designer, a payment scheme (by milestone, on completion, or upfront; upfront is available only after a completed project with the same designer) and a backup designer from your matches. During the beta, the payment scheme is recorded but doesn't change how amounts move (section 7).
The designer has 24 hours to accept or decline. You can withdraw the request while the window is open.
If the designer declines or doesn't reply within 24 hours, the request passes to your backup designer with the same brief. If the backup also declines or doesn't reply, or there is no backup, the match fails and you can pick another designer.
While a request is open, the budget can't be changed. After a designer accepts, the brief can't be edited.

6. Projects and milestones

Each deliverable in the brief becomes a milestone. A project has 1–10 milestones, and their amounts add up to the budget.
The designer submits a milestone with a link to the result and a short comment. Work files can be uploaded to the project.
After a milestone is submitted, the client has 5 days to approve or reject it. We remind the client by email one day before; reminders can be turned off.
Rejecting requires a reason; the milestone goes back to the designer. If the client does nothing within 5 days, the milestone is approved automatically.
When the last milestone is approved, the project is completed and both sides can leave a review.

7. Beta: no real money yet

Vinculo is in beta and isn't connected to a payment provider. No money is charged or paid out. Topping up your balance is a simulation: no card is charged.

All balances, budgets, escrow amounts, milestone payouts, refunds and invoices in the Service are notional amounts in US dollars. They have no monetary value and can't be withdrawn or exchanged.
There is nothing to withdraw, and designers receive no real payouts through Vinculo during the beta.
The pricing shown on our website (a 3% service fee for clients on each payment, a 5% platform fee from designers, and escrow by milestone) will apply only after we connect a payment provider and update these Terms. We'll tell you by email at least 14 days before that.
Clients add billing details before their first top-up, and the Service generates invoices from them. During the beta, these invoices show notional amounts.

During the beta, we don't prohibit clients and designers from agreeing on payment outside Vinculo. Any such arrangement is between them.

8. Disputes, refunds and cancellations

If the client rejects the same milestone a second time, the project goes into dispute and stops until the dispute is resolved.
Disputes between a client and a designer go through support: write to support@vinculo.art. We look at the brief, the deliveries and the messages, and Vinculo decides how the amounts held for the project are settled: paid to the designer, returned to the client, or split.
Before a designer accepts, the client can withdraw a hire request. After that, write to support to cancel a project.

9. Client obligations

Describe the task honestly and give the designer the materials they need.
Have the rights to everything you upload: references, examples, logos and texts.
Review submitted milestones within the review window and give a clear reason when you reject.
Treat designers with respect.

10. Designer obligations

Give true information in your application and profile, and show only your own work or work you are allowed to show.
Reply to hire requests within 24 hours, or decline.
Deliver work that matches the brief and the agreed milestones, on time.
Use only material you have the right to use.
Keep clients' briefs and files confidential and use them only for the project.

11. Files, content and rights to the work

Your content stays yours. You keep the rights you have to what you upload: briefs, references, portfolio, files, messages and reviews.
Licence to Vinculo. You allow us to store, process and show your content only as needed to run the Service, for example to show your portfolio to clients or your brief to a designer you invite.
Rights to the result. The rights to the work delivered for a milestone pass to the client once the client has approved the milestone and paid for it. The designer may show the work in their portfolio unless the brief says the project is under NDA.
Files. We accept listed file types only, checked by content (no SVG), within size limits: profile photos up to 5 MB, brief files and work samples up to 50 MB, project files up to 500 MB, with daily upload limits. Files are private and available only to people who have access to them.

12. Acceptable use

You must not:

break the law or help others to do so;
upload malware, illegal content or content that infringes anyone's rights;
impersonate anyone or use someone else's email;
harass, threaten or discriminate against other users;
try to access other users' data, accounts or files, or parts of the Service you aren't allowed to use;
overload, scan or attack the Service, bypass its limits or use automated tools on it without our permission;
use Vinculo to send spam.

13. Reviews

After a project is completed, the client and the designer can each leave one review: an outcome (for example, "Delivered on time") and an optional short text. If a side skips the review, the Service records an outcome based on what happened in the project. Reviews must be honest and must not contain personal attacks or personal data. We remove reviews that break the law or these Terms.

14. Your pool

When a project is completed, the designer is added to the client's pool. The client can hide designers from the pool and rehire a designer in one click; the usual hire request rules apply.

15. Notifications and emails

We email you only about your account and your projects: email confirmation, password reset and changes, new hire requests, milestones ready for review, failed matches and decisions on designer applications. Reminders can be turned off in Settings → Notifications. We don't send marketing emails.

16. Blocking and ending your account

We may block an account for breaking these Terms, for fraud or for illegal content. We'll tell you by email why. You can appeal by writing to support@vinculo.art.
A blocked user can't log in, and a blocked designer doesn't appear in matches. Projects and reviews already in progress don't change.
You can delete your account in Settings → Delete account. Deletion isn't possible while you have active projects, open hire requests (designers) or a balance (clients). Deletion erases your personal details; projects, invoices and reviews stay in the other side's history as "Deleted user". It can't be undone.

17. Availability and changes to the Service

Vinculo is in active development. We may add, change or remove features, and the Service may sometimes be unavailable, for example during maintenance. We try to keep it running but don't promise uninterrupted availability. The interface is in English and Spanish; some emails and the admin area are in English only.

18. Liability

During the beta, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available". We verify designers' portfolios, but we don't guarantee the quality, legality or result of any designer's work or any client's conduct.
We aren't liable for indirect or consequential losses, such as lost profits, lost business or lost data.
Our total liability to you for all claims is limited to the greater of the fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim and £100.
Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability that the law doesn't allow us to limit, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

19. Consumers in the UK and EU

If you use Vinculo as a consumer and live in the UK or the EU, you keep the mandatory protection of the law of your country. Nothing in these Terms takes away rights you have as a consumer that can't be waived.

20. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. The date at the top shows the latest version. We'll tell you about important changes by email at least 14 days before they take effect. If you keep using Vinculo after that, the new Terms apply.

21. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction. If you are a consumer, you may also bring a claim in the courts of the country where you live.

22. Contact

Questions about these Terms: support@vinculo.art.