Terms of Service

About these terms

These terms and conditions govern all use of the Designed website (designed.org) and all content, services, and products available at or through it. The website is owned and operated by Designed, Inc. (“Designed”). It is offered subject to your acceptance, without modification, of all of the terms and conditions contained here and of all other operating rules and policies we publish from time to time — including, without limitation, our Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Agreement”).

Please read this Agreement carefully before using the website. By accessing or using any part of it, you agree to be bound by these terms. If you do not agree to all of them, you may not access the website or use any of its services. Designed’s current membership platform is for adults aged 18 and over, and the website is available only to individuals who are at least 18 years old. Our long-term mission includes K–12 design education; that program is not yet available, and any future offering for school-age learners will have its own age-appropriate experience, participation requirements, and safeguards. Our Age Suitability page explains what this means in practice.

1. Your account

If you create an account, you are responsible for keeping it and its contents secure, and for all activity that happens under it. Don’t describe or label your account in a misleading or unlawful way, including in a way meant to trade on someone else’s name or reputation; Designed may change or remove any description we consider inappropriate or unlawful. Notify us promptly of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security. Designed is not liable for any loss caused by your acts or omissions.

2. Your content

If you post material to the website — a comment, a message, a link, an image, a profile, or anything else (“Content”) — you are entirely responsible for it and for any harm it causes. By making Content available, you represent and warrant that:

• its use will not infringe the rights of any third party, including copyright, patent, trademark, trade-secret, privacy, or publicity rights;
• if your employer holds rights to what you create, you have permission from them to post it, or a waiver of those rights;
• it contains no viruses, malware, or other harmful or destructive content;
• it is not spam, is not machine- or randomly-generated, and does not exist to drive traffic to, or boost the rankings of, third-party sites, or to mislead recipients about its source;
• it is not obscene, defamatory, hateful, or otherwise objectionable; and
• it does not impersonate another person or organization — for example, your username is not the name of someone other than you or a company other than your own.

Designed may remove any Content for any reason. Please read our Code of Conduct for what belongs here and how to be a good member of our community. We may also suspend or ban any member or account for any reason.

By uploading Content, you give Designed permission to display and distribute it on designed.org and on our official social media accounts. All Content remains © its respective owner unless they have agreed to donate it to Designed. If you delete Content, we will make reasonable efforts to remove it, though cached copies or references may persist for a time.

3. Community members

Designed cannot review all of the material members post, and is not responsible for its content, use, or effects. Operating the website does not mean we endorse what members post or believe it to be accurate, useful, or harmless. The website may contain material that is inaccurate, objectionable, or that infringes others’ rights; you are responsible for taking sensible precautions to protect yourself and your devices. Designed disclaims responsibility for any harm resulting from members’ use of the website. To learn more about our mission and values, visit designed.org/about.

4. Mentors and mentees

Designed connects mentors and mentees, but it does not vet, employ, or supervise them, and it is not a party to any mentoring relationship. We make no guarantee about any member’s qualifications, conduct, or the outcome of any session. Treat one another with respect and follow the Code of Conduct. Messages and other communications between members are private to those members; do not share them outside the platform without consent. Designed disclaims responsibility for any interaction between members and for anything said or done in the course of it.

5. Content on other websites

We cannot review the material on the websites we link to, or that link to us, and we have no control over them. Linking to a non-Designed site does not mean we endorse it. You are responsible for protecting yourself and your devices when you follow such links, and Designed disclaims responsibility for any harm that results.

6. Copyright infringement (DMCA)

Designed follows the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The address of our Designated Agent for copyright takedown notices is:

Designed, Inc.
Attn: Designated Agent
64 Central St Ste 892
Georgetown, MA 01833
Email: community@designed.org

If you believe Content on the service infringes a copyright, send a notice to the Designated Agent above that includes:

• identification of the work being infringed;
• identification of the infringing material, with enough detail (including its location) for us to find it;
• your name, address, telephone number, and email address;
• a statement that you believe in good faith that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
• a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are authorized to act for the copyright owner; and
• your physical or electronic signature.

We respond to valid DMCA notices within 14 days. If you don’t hear back within 14 days, email community@designed.org again to confirm we received it, in case a spam filter caught the first. Anyone who knowingly misrepresents that material is infringing may be liable for damages. We may publish DMCA notices we receive with personal contact details removed, and we may terminate the account of any member subject to repeated notices.

Counter-notification. If you believe your Content was removed by mistake, you may send a counter-notice to the Designated Agent that includes the URLs of the removed material; your name, address, telephone number, and email address; a statement consenting to the jurisdiction of the federal court for the district in which you live (or, if outside the U.S., the federal courts in Essex County, Massachusetts) and to accept service from the original notifier; the statement, under penalty of perjury, that you believe the material was removed by mistake or misidentification; and your signature. We will forward it to the original notifier, who then has ten days to notify us they have filed a legal action. If they don’t, we may restore the material.

7. Intellectual property

This Agreement transfers no intellectual property from Designed to you, and all right, title, and interest in Designed’s property stays with Designed. The Designed name, logo, and other marks are trademarks of Designed or its licensors; your use of the website grants you no license to use them.

8. Changes

Designed may modify or replace any part of this Agreement at its discretion. It’s your responsibility to check it periodically; continuing to use the website after changes are posted means you accept them. New features and services we add are also subject to these terms.

9. Termination

Designed may end your access to all or part of the website at any time, with or without cause or notice. You may end this Agreement by discontinuing use, and you can delete your account at any time. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination — ownership, warranty disclaimers, indemnity, limitations of liability — do.

10. Disclaimer of warranties

The website is provided “as is.” Designed and its suppliers and licensors disclaim all warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the website will be error-free or that access will be uninterrupted. You use it at your own discretion and risk.

11. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Designed and its suppliers and licensors will not be liable for any special, incidental, or consequential damages; the cost of substitute products or services; interruption of use; or loss or corruption of data. Our total liability will not exceed the amounts you paid Designed in the twelve months before the cause of action. Designed is not liable for any failure or delay beyond its reasonable control.

12. General representation and warranty

You represent and warrant that your use of the website will comply with our Privacy Policy, with this Agreement, and with all applicable laws, and that it will not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Designed, its contractors and licensors, and their directors, officers, employees, and agents from any claims and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, arising out of your use of the website or your violation of this Agreement.

14. Miscellaneous

This Agreement is the entire agreement between Designed and you on its subject matter, and may be modified only by a written amendment signed by an authorized Designed executive or by our posting a revised version. Except where applicable law provides otherwise, this Agreement and any use of the website are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States.