How are images, icons, videos, logos, etc. budgeted, and who chooses them, the developer or the client?

Question

Are images, icons, videos, logos, etc. included in the final budget or are they charged later when the developer has to buy them?

And also, who chooses them? Are they chosen by the developer, taking into account the design needs of the website? He/she could make a selection of options first and then later the client could choose what he/she wants.

Or are they chosen directly by the client and the developer uses what the client gave to him/her to create the website?

Answer 1

This will vary from client to client and will be based on their wishes, but can really be summed up as follows

Client images

The client will provide their own images for use in the project. They will sometimes want control over various other aspects, including palette and copy. In this case, these images remain property of the client.

Client-specified stock images

The client will select certain stock images to use. You will need to negotiate and define who pays for these as part of your bid/contract.

Suggested images

The client will suggest images, and you will need to find appropriate images that meet their requirements. It is likely that you will need to pay for these and factor the cost into your bid/contract. If none are available from stock photo sites, you might need to hire a photographer/designer to produce them for you.

No preference

The client gives no direction on what images to use. In this case, you will likely be absorbing the cost yourself and will need to factor this in as part of the bid/contract.

Of course, there are many more possibilities, but this covers the common scenarios. You might also expect overlap between them, as well as different levels of control within a single project (eg they specify a main image but leave the rest to you).

With each situation, you will need to negotiate the image costs with the client, and factor them into your bid if they expect you to foot the bill.