These are the terms that govern your use of this website. We kept them short, plain, and free of the usual theatrics · because nobody should need a twelve-page treaty to explain how a homepage works.
This website, nearblack.com, is operated by NearBlack Studio · an independent design practice. When these terms say "we," "us," or "our," they mean NearBlack Studio. When they say "you" or "your," they mean whoever is looking at this site right now.
If you need to get a hold of us for any reason · legal, friendly, or otherwise · the fastest path is hello@nearblack.com. A real human reads everything that arrives there.
Reading this page, clicking around the site, looking at our work, or filling out a contact form all count as using the site. By doing any of those things, you agree to the terms below. If a particular clause rubs you the wrong way, the simplest remedy is to stop browsing · we won't take it personally.
A separate document, our Privacy Policy, explains what we do with the handful of details you share when you contact us. These terms and the Privacy Policy work together · reading one without the other is a bit like reading half a contract.
The law changes. Our business changes. Every so often we'll update this page to keep things honest. When we do, the "Last Updated" line at the top of the page will shift to reflect it. We won't chase you down with a notification · we trust you to check back occasionally if it matters to you.
We are a studio that believes in quiet, continuous improvement. Pages get rewritten. Projects get added. Case studies get retired. We don't guarantee that anything you read here today will still be phrased the same way tomorrow, and we reserve the right to redesign, re-architect, or simply retire any part of the site whenever we feel like it.
The site is free to browse and we intend to keep it that way. But we don't promise that it will always be available, uninterrupted, or error-free. It may go down for maintenance, for a server migration, or because a cable got chewed somewhere between us and you. We won't be liable for any inconvenience that causes.
If the studio is ever sold, merged, or folded into a larger entity · a pleasant thought, though not one we're planning around · these terms may be transferred to the new owners along with everything else. You can't transfer your rights under these terms to anyone else without asking us first.
Everything on nearblack.com · the words, the layouts, the photography, the logo, the project screenshots, the CSS, the case-study writeups · is owned by us or licensed to us. We are reasonable people, so here is what that means in practice:
If you want to use something and you're not sure whether it's okay, the polite thing to do is to ask. The answer is usually yes.
You may not use this site as raw material to train a machine-learning model, a large language model, or any kind of generative system. You may not run automated scrapers, crawlers, or extraction tools against it for the purpose of building a competing service or a dataset. This is not because we dislike the technology · we use it ourselves · but because our words and designs are part of how we earn a living, and we'd like to decide when and how they leave our hands.
When you interact with this site, please don't do any of the following:
Behave here the way you'd behave in a small shop you'd like to come back to. That is the entire rule.
You are welcome to link to any page on nearblack.com, as long as the link is presented in a way that is fair, legal, and doesn't suggest an endorsement or affiliation we haven't given. Please don't frame the site inside another, and please don't link from a page that contains content we'd be embarrassed to be associated with. If in doubt, link to the homepage.
NearBlack, the NearBlack wordmark, and the small visual tics we use around the site · the em-dashes, the midpoints, the "a shade shy of black" · are part of our identity as a studio. You may refer to us by name when talking about us. You may not adopt our name, or anything confusingly close to it, for your own studio, agency, or product.
When you email us, fill out the contact form, or send us a link to a site you'd like refreshed, you're giving us permission to read your message, reply to it, and keep a copy in our records. Don't send us anything confidential, privileged, or sensitive that you wouldn't be comfortable with us reading · a contact form is not a secure channel, and it was never designed to be one.
The pricing on the Pricing page, the case studies, and the manifesto-ish language scattered around the site are written in good faith and reflect what we actually believe. But they are opinions and observations, not professional advice. If you're making a real decision about your own business · legal, financial, or otherwise · please talk to an actual advisor before acting on anything you read here.
We link out to client projects, the occasional tool, and the occasional essay by someone we admire. Those sites have their own owners, their own terms, and their own quirks. A link from us is not an endorsement of everything on the other end, and we can't be held responsible for what happens there.
We take reasonable care to keep nearblack.com clean and safe. But the internet being the internet, we can't guarantee that it will always be free of bugs, viruses, or security issues. Please keep your own machine sensibly protected · we can't do that part for you.
In return, please don't send anything hostile in our direction. Don't upload viruses, don't attempt exploits, don't probe for vulnerabilities without permission. If you spot a genuine security issue and want to report it responsibly, please email hello@nearblack.com · we'll thank you properly.
This site is intended for adults. By using nearblack.com you represent that you are at least eighteen (18) years old and legally capable of entering into a binding agreement in the jurisdiction where you live. If you are not, please don't use the site · and if you happen to reach us despite that, we will not knowingly collect or keep any information you send.
If you send us ideas, suggestions, feedback, design critiques, a link to your current site, reference material, or any other content through this website · collectively, "Submissions" · you agree that your Submissions are non-confidential and non-proprietary. You grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, and display those Submissions for any purpose, including improving our services and producing new work, without owing you any compensation or credit. You represent that you own the rights to anything you send us, or have permission to send it.
THIS SITE AND ALL OF ITS CONTENT ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, NEARBLACK DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, AND UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OPERATION.
We do not warrant that the site, its servers, or any emails sent from us are free of viruses or other harmful components. We do not warrant that the information presented on the site · including pricing, timelines, and case studies · is complete, current, or applicable to your situation. Your use of the site is at your own risk.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL NEARBLACK, ITS OWNERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOST GOODWILL, LOST DATA, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR ANY OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF · OR INABILITY TO USE · THIS SITE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
OUR TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY AND ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF THE SITE SHALL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS ($100.00) IN THE AGGREGATE.
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited · including liability for death, personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or fraudulent misrepresentation. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties or the limitation of liability for certain damages, so some of the limitations above may not apply to you in full.
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless NearBlack and its owners, employees, contractors, and affiliates from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses · including reasonable attorneys' fees · arising out of or in any way connected with: (a) your use of or access to the site; (b) your violation of these terms; (c) your violation of any third-party right, including any intellectual-property or privacy right; or (d) any Submission you send to us. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which case you agree to cooperate with our defense of that claim.
We respect the intellectual property of others and expect you to do the same. If you believe that material on this site infringes a copyright you own or control, please send a written notice to hello@nearblack.com that includes: (i) a physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or authorized agent; (ii) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed; (iii) identification of the material on our site that is claimed to be infringing, in sufficient detail to let us locate it; (iv) your contact information; (v) a statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized; and (vi) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf. We will respond to valid notices in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
These terms, and any dispute or claim arising out of or relating to them or your use of the site, are governed by the laws of the State of New Hampshire, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.
You and NearBlack agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these terms or the site shall first be addressed by good-faith negotiation between the parties. If the matter cannot be resolved within thirty (30) days, it shall be submitted to binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, with the seat of arbitration in New Hampshire and proceedings conducted in English. Judgment on any arbitration award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in the state or federal courts located in New Hampshire to protect its intellectual property or confidential information, and both parties consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of those courts for that purpose.
Class-action waiver. You and NearBlack each agree that any dispute resolution proceedings will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class, consolidated, or representative action. If for any reason a claim proceeds in court rather than in arbitration, you and NearBlack each waive any right to a jury trial.
Any claim you may have arising out of or relating to these terms or the site must be filed within one (1) year after such claim arose; otherwise, the claim is permanently barred.
We are not liable for any failure or delay in performance caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, natural disasters, war, terrorism, civil unrest, labor disputes, government action, power or internet outages, cyberattacks, pandemics, or the failure of third-party service providers.
If any provision of these terms is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect. Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these terms is not a waiver of that right or provision.
These terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any other legal notices we publish on the site, constitute the entire agreement between you and NearBlack regarding your use of nearblack.com, and supersede any prior agreement, communication, or understanding · written or oral · on that subject. Section headings are included for convenience only and have no legal effect.
And if you've read this far: thank you. Very few people do. If you'd like to talk about a project, you know where to find us.