When Google
representatives recently invited dozens of prominent artists to
contribute work to be featured on its new Web browser, the company
enthusiastically sold the idea as an opportunity to have artwork shown
to millions.
But some, like Gary Taxali,
were not impressed. Mr. Taxali, an illustrator based in Toronto whose
work has appeared in publications like Time, Newsweek
and Fortune, received a call in April from a member of Google’s
marketing department. According to Mr. Taxali, the Google
representative explained that the project will let users customize
Google Chrome pages with artist-designed “skins” in their borders.
“The first question I asked,” Mr. Taxali said in a recent interview, “is ‘What’s the fee?’”
Mr. Taxali said that when he was told Google would pay nothing, he declined.
In
the ensuing weeks, a tide of indignation toward Google swelled among
illustrators, who stay connected through Drawger, a Web site.
In
a posting to Drawger on April 28, Mr. Taxali bemoaned the Google
request — and that some struggling publications were reducing fees to
illustrators by nearly half.
“So for you, I give you 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 impatient motorists.
The posting drew more than 200
responses, many from other illustrators who also had rejected Google’s
offer, including Joe Ciardiello, of New Jersey, whose pen drawings of
authors appear frequently on the cover of The New York Times Book
Review.
“You’d think that if anyone can afford to pay artists and
designers it would be a company that is making millions of dollars,”
Mr. Ciardiello said in an interview.
In the first quarter of this
year alone, Google reported profits of $1.42 billion, an increase of 8
percent over the same period last year.
In a statement responding
to questions, Google said that the project was modeled after a similar
one last year for iGoogle, a personalized home page, where artists and
companies (including Jeff Koons, Bob Dylan and Gucci) contributed images to be used as skins.
“While
we don’t typically offer monetary compensation for these projects,” the
statement said, “through the positive feedback that we have heard thus
far we believe these projects provide a unique and exciting opportunity
for artists to display their work in front of millions of people.”
But exposure often is a given for illustrators, who are rankled that Google is asking them to work for exposure alone.
“I
have done gift cards for Target that are in stores nationwide and
animations for Nickelodeon that run 24 hours a day worldwide on cable
TV,” Melinda Beck, an illustrator who is based in Brooklyn, wrote in an
e-mail message to Google rejecting its offer. “Both of these jobs were
high-profile and gave my work great exposure but both clients still
paid me.”
In an interview, Ms. Beck estimated it would take her a
week to create original artwork to Google’s specifications. (A Google
spokesman countered that the company was amenable to reusing work from
artists’ portfolios.)
While some online publications, like Salon
and Slate, hire illustrators, many rely on free or cheap stock
illustrations, so illustrators are on tenterhooks about making a living
online.
The fact that print publications are shrinking or folding also troubles illustrators.
“There’s
a lot of concern that newspapers and all of print is becoming a bit of
an endangered species,” said Brian Stauffer, an illustrator based in
Miami whose work has appeared in publications including Rolling Stone,
Esquire and Entertainment Weekly, and who also rejected Google’s offer.
“When a company like Google comes out very publicly and expects that
the market would just give them free artwork, it sets a very dangerous
precedent.”
Google, though rebuffed by more than a dozen illustrators, said in its statement that it had plenty of takers.
“We
don’t feel comfortable releasing the names of artists who are
participating in the project before it launches,” stated the company,
which also declined to give a date when artwork from the program would
appear on Google Chrome. “However, we are currently working with dozens
of artists who are excited about the opportunity to be involved in this
project.”
