Design License Recipe

Gather brief

Collect the core design brief and clarify project goals. Interview primary stakeholders to produce a concise goals list and capture alignment notes that will guide permitted uses and priorities.

Ensure the brief documents the intended audience, primary deliverables (logo, UI kit, templates, icons), and any constraints (brand color palette, font licensing restrictions).

Choose licensing model

Decide whether a permissive, copyleft, or proprietary model best fits the project. For internal-only design systems, proprietary may suffice; for open-source UI kits, consider permissive licenses (e.g., MIT) or design-specific licenses.

Define rights and restrictions

Draft the scope of rights granted: reproduction, modification, redistribution, commercial use. For each right, note any limitations (e.g., no use of brand marks, no commercial redistribution). Explicitly list required attributions and how brand marks must be displayed.

Set duration and territory

Specify whether the license is perpetual or time-limited and whether it's worldwide or limited to particular jurisdictions. Align this with stakeholder risk tolerance.

Warranties, liability & termination

Add warranty disclaimers (commonly 'provided as-is'), limit liability to a reasonable cap, and state termination conditions (breach, insolvency, misuse). Ensure these clauses match organizational policy or counsel guidance.

Document ownership

Record the copyright owner details and include a clear moral rights statement (whether moral rights are waived or retained).

Inventory assets

Create a list of all included assets (source files, exported assets, fonts, images). For each asset identify whether it is original or third-party. For third-party components, note their licenses and any compatibility constraints.

Decide and document a versioning scheme (semantic or custom) and include instructions for updating the license when new versions or assets are added.

Establish support & fees

Define contact and support procedures (email, ticketing), response SLAs, and any fee/royalty schedule if commercial licensing applies. Include billing and payment terms where relevant.

Create approval workflow

Set up the approval and sign-off workflow: who must approve (design lead, legal, product), how approvals are recorded, and the template for records. Prepare a record-keeping template for executed license agreements.

Legal and stakeholder review

Send the drafted license and supporting documentation for legal review. Incorporate counsel feedback and run stakeholder review rounds (minimum two) to confirm clarity and business alignment.

Finalize license text

Prepare the finalized license text, including a short human-friendly summary up front and the full legal terms below. Ensure every clause maps to previously documented elements (scope, restrictions, attribution, termination).

Prepare distribution package

Assemble the distribution package: license file, README with usage examples and attribution wording, asset bundle, and a changelog. Include the version number and link to support/contact procedure.

Publish and record

Publish the package to the appropriate channels (internal repo, public repo, marketplace). Record the executed license and associated approval artifacts in your record-keeping system.