Last November, NPR’s Oxford Style Debate panel Intelligence Squared tackled the proposition, “Does Google Violate its ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Motto?”. This is an interesting listen (available here) and signaled the beginning of my own apprehension regarding the actions of the search engine giant. Much more recently, representatives from Google reached out to some big-time artists, looking for design and illustration work that would be used to allow those using the new Chrome browser to skin it’s appearance based on their preferred aesthetic. The form of payment offered… “An opportunity to have your artwork shown to millions.” I don’t think it’s irrelevant to mention that these conversations came just days after Google reported 1st quarter profits of $1.42 billion. In the coming weeks, illustrators on the community site Drawger.com had worked themselves into a frenzy over the requests, and on April 28th, Gary Taxali wrote a post that united the masses, inspired over 200 comments, and drew the attention of mainstream media including this article from the New York Times.
“So for you, I give a special salute that I hope will keep you away because I don’t need your work,” Mr. Taxali wrote, followed by his own drawing of a hand gesture popular with the kids today. “The idea that you’re going to be on Google and millions of people will potentially see you and therefore that far exceeds anything they can write in the form of a check… that kind of thinking is so destructive, and so disrespectful”
I urge you to read the articles referenced here and the comments over at Drawger, including this great post by Illustrator Robert Hunt to get a real sense of just how polarizing this issue is within the creative community. When it comes to making a name for yourself, each artist has to find a path that feels right for them, and for some that might mean offering up their work in exchange for a little spotlight. That said, there seems to be something more than a little evil about a company with shares trading in the 400′s offering exposure (a natural byproduct of high profile work) as the dangling carrot, by which they obtain “free” artwork. In economic good times or bad, the perceived value of creative work, and in turn how we are best able to manage that perception, is as critical and timely a topic as I can think of, and at the least we’ve got a good dialogue going. I’m not sure that I blame Google for asking, as something for nothing is a pretty sweet deal, but it seems to be in all of our best interests to proudly raise a middle finger, and politely decline such requests.
