[openbeos] Re: Icon Design Contest submission

  • From: "Joseph Prostko" <joe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 00:11:06 -0400

I agree here, is this an icon contest or an icon discussion?  No, I'm not a
prominent community member, but this is kind of bugging me.  If it is a
contest, there should be ONE winner, if it's a discussion, there should be a
picking and choosing.  I'd prefer a pick and choose for each icon type, but
the fact that there is a contest suggests ONE and ONLY winner.

I'm with Jorge on this.  Decide if it's a contest or a "discussion."

- joe



On 8/13/06, Jorge G. Mare (a.k.a. Koki) <koki@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi Curtis,

It does not matter that this is an open source project; the problem with
being so open is that the line between what is a discussion that leads
to a decision and the decision itself becomes blurred. The result is
that you have lots of bits and pieces of information about a single
topic spread all over the place, some of which may even contradict one
another, and making sense of it all can be difficult and open to
interpretation. What looked like a simple "we are having a contest;
submit your work and everyone will vote to choose the best" message
(that's what I thought it was from reading the announcement) seems to
have turned into something different that few know what exactly is.

Specifically, although I understand everything that has been said, it is
still unclear to me how Haiku plans to come out with a new icon set.
Statements such as "we will discuss" and the like are good generalities,
but do not clearly define how you will come up with the icon set that
Haiku needs, given that no single icon set is chosen from the contest.

So, artists will submit their work, people will vote (or rate) the icon
sets, and then what? Will you mix and match the best rated (don't know
if that is viable)? Will someone (from Haiku?) create an icon set based
based on the submissions and the feedback from the community? What am I
missing?

Expecting people to follow/read all the posts on mailings lists and
forums is not realistic. Which is why, if you think in terms of both
building/growing the community as well as that of presenting the project
to the world with a consistent/clear message, it is much more effective
to have a single unified (official) voice to the outside world. If that
requires the decision-making process to be closed, so be it. In the case
of the icon contest, the people will still have a chance to influence
the outcome of the contest by voting, so although the decision process
may not be open, the contest itself is.

Koki

Curtis Wanner wrote:
> Koki wrote:
>
>> Different people seem to be making different interpretations of the
same
>>
> thing. Haiku announced a contest (headline >quoted from haiku-
>
>> os.org: "Announcing the Haiku Icon Contest"), so that's what it should
be.
>>
> And contests have clear winners; that is the >nature of any contest.
>
> It is a contest in that we are trying to choose the best design
ideas.  You
> have to remember this is an open source project and as such input is
> expected from the community.   This is the main reason for the contest,
to
> allow the public to provide input on the final design.  So discussion is
> going to be a natural part of the process.
>
>
>> This was never stated in the official announcement of the contest,
which is
>>
> what people will go by with.
>
> It is stated :
> "To cut a long story short, we want to have shiny new vector icons and
since
> Haiku is an open project, we're going to vote on the new design."
>
> It does NOT state "we're going to vote on the new icon set".  Although,
I do
> agree it could have perhaps been worded a bit differently.  Some of the
> confusion is the result of the international scope of the project.
>
>
>> If this was not supposed to be a contest, then it would have been
better
>>
> articulated by announcing a "Haiku Icon >Debate", "Haiku Icon Counsel"
or
> the like, clearly stating that submissions would be subject to
discussion by
> the >community, and that the final artwork could be a combination of
various
> submissions.
>
>
>> Leaving things too much open to interpretation is an invitation to
>>
> confusion, and I think this is what is happening here.
>
> It's less about leaving it "open" to interpretation as it is to leave it
> "open" to discussion since "Haiku is an open project".  It has become
> apparent that the response to this event is much greater than we
> anticipated.  So as a result we have to finalize the details to avoid
> further confusion.  This is why we greatly appreciate your comments and
work
> on the wiki page.  I have done updates on the English version.  I still
need
> to add information on the rating process.
>
>
>> (internal) communication leading to the decision-making would be best
done
>>
> off the list before anything is >announced to the outside world. I think
> this would best serve the goal of Haiku, as it would present a unified
> message >that is easier to follow. Perhaps the
>
> Being an open source project, many of the decisions are subject to
> discussion with the community.  While there has been some discussion off
the
> list, we felt it best that the decisions made be transparent and subject
to
> comment on the list.
> Instead of waiting a month until we finalized all the details, it was
felt
> best that we move forward with the submissions in the mean
time.  Perhaps
> that was the mistake on our part.
>
> As for declaring a winner, a "Best Design Idea" award might be
appropriate.
> However, I believe all those who contribute their own original design
ideas
> deserve recognition.  This is all subject to discussion as well.  I
didn't
> wish to shoot down your idea about the certificate.  I just wanted to
state
> the reasons why it could be problematic.  We could have people
submitting
> all sorts of readily available icon sets just to get an award.  This
would
> not contribute to the project.
>
> Curtis
>


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