Customization is key to many products we use daily, whether it simply be adding our favorite color, or adding a neat image for a background, we tend to enjoy customizing applications in our own way. This adds a level of personalization with the product you are using as well as a sense of “this is mine”. This idea of customizing an application is one of Mozilla Firefox’s claim to fame, and has lead to wild success for them. Google has jumped on the customization train also with products such as iGoogle, Gmail, and Search. A new product will be added to the customization fray in Google’s arsenal of products, and that will be Chrome.
Based on a report from Andrew Newman for the New York Times, Google is searching for artists to “skin” Chrome, more commonly known as a theme. This initiative is not new to Google, previous to this, Google recruited artists to create skins for the iGoogle homepage. These skins became very popular and proved to be a success for iGoogle. Chrome is seemingly hoping for the same result, but Google might not get what they desire this time around.
A spark of controversy has been brought up over these Google Chrome skins, and that is the payment, or lack thereof. Google has decided their form of payment would be the benefit of having an artists artwork exposed to millions. A large group of artists are rebelling against the idea and I must say, I do agree with them. Many of the artists that are rebelling are pretty prominent people in their field and have already done some very high profile work, that has previously exposed their work to millions previous to Google’s offers. I would expect payment for my services too, the grace of Google would simply not be enough if I was of such high stature. What Google should do is target the under dogs of the artistic world, there are plenty of great artists out there but some just haven’t been discovered. Offering them exposure over payment would be a smart idea and would most likely be welcomed (kind of like a big break).
Although I agree with the artists that payment should be made, I have noticed when talking to artists they can be a bit high on their totem pole, especially web designers. It is a strong possibility that details could possibly be a bit over exaggerated and certain terms left out. Artists tend to be an easily offendable group based on my personal experiences. Nonetheless, I am excited for these skins and Google has stated they have plenty of other artists lined up and ready to go who are completely up for the idea. When do you think of this controversy surrounding Chrome? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
