LEGAL

Terms and Conditions

Last updated: 13 August 2026

1. About these terms

These Terms and Conditions govern your access to and use of The Design Index website, directories, client portal, designer and brand portals, project services, boards, inspiration feed, product library, subscriptions, digital products, and related services.

The platform is operated by:

The Design Index
Budapest, Hungary
Email: info@thedesignindex.eu

By creating an account, purchasing a product or subscription, uploading content, submitting a project, applying to a project, or otherwise using the platform, you agree to these Terms.

If you do not agree, do not use the platform.

2. Eligibility and accounts

The Design Index is intended primarily for clients, design professionals, freelancers, studios, architects, brands, and other participants in the design industry.

You must be at least 16 years old to create an account independently. A person under 16 may use the platform only with legally valid authorisation and supervision from a parent or legal guardian.

You must provide accurate and current information. You are responsible for protecting your login information and for activity conducted through your account.

You may not impersonate another person or business, create a misleading profile, or use an account without permission.

3. The role of The Design Index

The Design Index provides an online platform for discovery, professional visibility, project opportunities, inspiration, product research, content saving, and communication.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, The Design Index:

Is not a design studio, architect, contractor, retailer, manufacturer, employment agency, or payment agent for agreements between users
Does not employ designers listed on the platform
Is not a party to agreements made between clients and professionals
Does not guarantee that a client will receive applications
Does not guarantee that a designer will receive work, enquiries, exposure, sales, or a particular search ranking
Does not guarantee the quality, safety, legality, availability, delivery, or suitability of services or products offered by another user or third party
Does not independently verify every qualification, licence, insurance policy, product claim, sustainability claim, price, or portfolio statement

Users are responsible for conducting their own checks before entering into an agreement, making a payment, purchasing a product, or sharing confidential information.

4. Client projects and professional applications

Clients may submit project briefs and supporting information. Clients are responsible for ensuring their submissions are accurate, lawful, and appropriate to share.

Designers, freelancers, studios, and architects may apply to suitable projects. Applicants are responsible for the accuracy of their qualifications, experience, availability, pricing, and portfolio information.

Any contract for design or other professional services is made directly between the client and the selected professional. The parties are responsible for agreeing on scope, fees, payment terms, intellectual property, insurance, deliverables, changes, cancellations, and dispute procedures.

The Design Index is not responsible for the conduct, work, omissions, communications, payments, or disputes of clients or professionals.

We may review, reject, suspend, close, or remove projects and applications that appear misleading, unlawful, unsafe, inappropriate, duplicated, inactive, or inconsistent with these Terms.

5. Professional and brand profiles

Paid or approved users may create public profiles and listings using the available platform features.

You are responsible for keeping your profile accurate and current. Approval or publication does not constitute endorsement, accreditation, verification, or a guarantee by The Design Index.

We may edit formatting, correct obvious errors, select presentation images, categorise content, or request additional information to maintain platform quality. We will not intentionally change the substance of a professional claim without a reasonable basis.

Initial demonstration or editorial listings may be created using publicly available professional information. The relevant person or business may request correction, removal, or an opportunity to claim the listing by contacting info@thedesignindex.eu.

6. Boards and saved content

Users may create boards and save materials, products, designers, brands, inspiration images, notes, and external links.

Private client boards are intended to remain private unless the user chooses to share or attach them to a project. Future public board features may allow professionals to publish curated boards.

Saving an item does not transfer ownership of that item or grant any licence beyond ordinary platform use.

External content may be changed or removed by its original source. We do not guarantee that saved links, images, prices, or product information will remain available or current.

7. Inspiration posts and product uploads

Eligible designers, studios, freelancers, architects, and brands may upload inspiration images, portfolio content, products, titles, descriptions, tags, and destination links.

All tags may be optional unless the form states otherwise. More accurate and descriptive information may improve discovery, but we do not guarantee visibility or ranking.

Uploads may be reviewed before publication. We may approve, reject, recategorise, limit, or remove content to protect quality, safety, rights, and platform relevance.

Product information is provided for discovery and inspiration unless a page expressly states that a product is sold directly by The Design Index.

Prices should normally be displayed in euros. Prices, finishes, dimensions, availability, delivery terms, and product images may change. Users must confirm current information with the relevant brand or retailer before purchasing.

Links to third party product pages do not make The Design Index the seller. Purchases made on another website are governed by that seller's terms and policies.

8. Your uploaded content

You retain ownership of content you own and upload to the platform.

By uploading or submitting content, you grant The Design Index a worldwide, nonexclusive, royalty free licence to host, store, reproduce, resize, crop, format, display, distribute, and promote that content for:

Operating the platform
Displaying your profile, listing, product, project, or inspiration post
Promoting The Design Index and its users through search engines, newsletters, editorial features, presentations, and social media
Creating technical backups and previews

The licence continues while the content is published or reasonably required for platform, legal, archival, or promotional purposes. You may request removal, although previously published marketing, lawful records, cached material, or content already shared may not disappear immediately.

You confirm that:

You own the content or have permission to use and license it
Publication does not violate copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, confidentiality, contractual, or other rights
People shown in the content have provided any permissions required by law
Descriptions, credits, claims, and links are accurate
The content is not unlawful, deceptive, harmful, discriminatory, threatening, obscene, or malicious

You remain responsible for your content and any consequences of publishing it.

9. Community standards

You must not:

Upload content you do not have permission to use
Copy another professional's work or present it as your own
Create false reviews, profiles, applications, products, or project opportunities
Send spam, harassment, threats, discriminatory content, or unwanted promotional messages
Use the platform to facilitate unlawful, fraudulent, exploitative, or unsafe conduct
Attempt to access another user's account or private information
Scrape, harvest, systematically download, or commercially reuse platform data without written permission
Introduce malware, interfere with platform security, or attempt to bypass access controls
Manipulate rankings, applications, engagement, or discovery systems
Use personal information obtained through the platform for unrelated marketing without a lawful basis

We may remove content, restrict features, suspend accounts, or terminate access where we reasonably believe these standards have been violated.

10. Copyright complaints

If you believe content on The Design Index infringes your copyright or another intellectual property right, email info@thedesignindex.eu with:

Your name and contact information
Identification of the protected work
The exact location of the disputed content
An explanation of why you believe the use is unauthorised
A statement confirming that the information provided is accurate
Evidence that you own the right or are authorised to act for the owner

We may temporarily or permanently remove disputed content while reviewing a complaint. We may share the complaint with the user who uploaded the content where appropriate.

A user may respond with evidence of ownership, permission, licence, or another legal basis for use.

Repeated infringement may result in account termination.

11. Subscriptions

Certain professional and brand features require a paid subscription.

Current standard prices are:

Designer membership, €25 per month or €250 per year
Brand membership, €35 per month or €350 per year

The price and features shown at checkout apply to your purchase. Any taxes required by law may be added or included as indicated during checkout.

Subscriptions are processed through Stripe and renew automatically at the selected monthly or annual interval until cancelled.

By starting a subscription, you authorise recurring charges using your selected payment method.

You may cancel at any time. Cancellation prevents the next renewal charge. Unless required otherwise by law or stated during cancellation, access continues until the end of the paid billing period.

Deleting an account does not necessarily cancel an active Stripe subscription. You must cancel the subscription through the available account or billing controls, or contact info@thedesignindex.eu.

We may change subscription prices or features. Changes will not apply retrospectively to an already paid billing period. We will provide appropriate notice before a new price applies to a renewal.

12. Withdrawal rights and refunds

If you are a consumer in the European Union or another jurisdiction with mandatory consumer rights, those rights remain unaffected.

For eligible distance contracts, consumers may have a statutory fourteen day right of withdrawal from the date the contract is concluded.

If you ask for a subscription or digital service to begin during the withdrawal period, you may be required to pay a proportionate amount for the service already provided if you later withdraw, where permitted by law.

In addition to any mandatory legal rights, The Design Index offers a voluntary refund request period of seven days from the initial subscription purchase. This voluntary policy does not shorten any longer statutory right that applies to you.

Renewal payments are generally nonrefundable once a new billing period has started, except where required by law, where an incorrect charge occurred, or where we expressly agree otherwise.

Refund requests must be sent to info@thedesignindex.eu with the account email and transaction details.

13. Digital products

Digital downloads may include templates, documents, resource packs, textures, drawings, guides, or other downloadable content.

Before immediate access or download begins, consumers may be asked to:

Expressly consent to delivery beginning immediately
Acknowledge that beginning delivery causes the statutory withdrawal right to be lost where applicable

After download or access begins with the required consent and acknowledgement, digital products are nonrefundable unless they are defective, materially different from their description, inaccessible due to our fault, or a refund is otherwise required by law.

If the required consent and acknowledgement were not properly obtained, any mandatory withdrawal right remains unaffected.

Digital products are licensed to the purchaser for the uses stated on the product page or accompanying licence. Unless expressly permitted, you may not resell, redistribute, share, sublicense, publish, or make the original files available to others.

14. Payments and failed payments

Payments are processed by Stripe. Stripe's own terms and privacy practices also apply to its processing.

You must provide current and accurate billing information.

If a payment fails, we may retry the payment, ask you to update your payment method, restrict paid features, unpublish paid listings, or suspend the subscription.

You remain responsible for valid charges incurred before cancellation.

15. Platform intellectual property

The Design Index name, branding, website design, original text, databases, organisation, software, graphics, and other platform materials are owned by or licensed to The Design Index.

These Terms do not transfer ownership to users.

You may use the platform for its intended personal or professional purposes. You may not copy, reproduce, sell, reverse engineer, republish, or commercially exploit substantial parts of the platform without written permission.

16. Editorial content and search visibility

We may publish journals, interviews, project stories, social media features, promotional content, curated boards, search pages, and editorial selections.

Editorial coverage, social media promotion, and search engine visibility are subject to availability and editorial judgment unless expressly included as a guaranteed paid deliverable in a separate written agreement.

Search engine results are controlled by third party search engines. We do not guarantee ranking, indexing, traffic, enquiries, or sales.

17. Moderation and account termination

We may investigate suspected misuse and take proportionate action, including requesting information, withholding publication, removing content, restricting features, suspending an account, or terminating access.

We may take immediate action where reasonably necessary to protect users, legal rights, platform security, or the public.

You may stop using the platform at any time. Outstanding payment obligations, content licences already relied upon, intellectual property provisions, liability provisions, and other clauses that logically survive termination will remain effective.

18. Availability and changes

We aim to provide a reliable platform but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error free access.

Features may be changed, tested, paused, replaced, or discontinued. This includes future features described as planned, coming soon, or in development.

We may perform maintenance and may experience outages caused by hosting providers, internet services, security events, or circumstances outside our reasonable control.

19. Disclaimers

Directories, profiles, prices, product information, sustainability statements, delivery estimates, project opportunities, and external links may contain information provided by users or third parties.

We do not guarantee that such information is complete, current, or error free.

Nothing on the platform constitutes legal, financial, architectural, engineering, safety, or other regulated professional advice.

20. Liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including applicable liability for fraud, intentional misconduct, or injury caused by negligence where exclusion is prohibited.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, The Design Index is not responsible for:

Agreements, payments, conduct, work, products, or disputes between users or third parties
Loss caused by relying on unverified listings, profiles, claims, prices, links, or content
Loss of anticipated profits, opportunities, exposure, contracts, data, reputation, or indirect loss
Content uploaded by users
Temporary platform interruption or third party service failure

Where liability may lawfully be limited, the total liability of The Design Index relating to a paid service will not exceed the amount you paid to The Design Index for that service during the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

This limitation does not reduce mandatory consumer rights.

21. Indemnity for business users

If you use the platform for business purposes, you agree to compensate The Design Index for reasonable losses, claims, and expenses arising from your unlawful content, infringement of third party rights, misuse of the platform, or material breach of these Terms.

This provision applies only to the extent permitted by law and does not apply where the loss was caused by The Design Index.

22. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of Hungary, without depriving consumers of mandatory protections available under the laws of their country of residence.

We encourage you to contact info@thedesignindex.eu first so we can attempt to resolve a complaint directly.

Where applicable, disputes may be submitted to the competent Hungarian courts. Consumers may also have the right to bring proceedings in the courts of their country of residence.

23. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms to reflect platform changes, legal requirements, security needs, or business practices.

The updated Terms will be published with a revised date. If a material change affects an active paid subscription, we will provide reasonable notice where required.

24. Contact

Questions, complaints, cancellation requests, refund requests, and copyright notices may be sent to:

The Design Index
Budapest, Hungary
info@thedesignindex.eu