There’s been a lot of hype at the moment because Google is contacting artists asking them to work on skinning and theming Google Chrome. The reason for the hype? Google wants them to work for free and there appears to be a pretty big backlash. I can see both sides of the argument here. Google is a massive (MASSIVE) company – they can afford to pay these designers ten times over, economic climate or no economic climate. With that in mind maybe they should, too. It’s tough to find work at the moment, especially if you freelance. That new website design that a company was considering 6 months ago is suddenly on the back burner.

But the other side of the coin? The open source movement. Some of the online community’s best work has been created by open source developers for no cost. It’s done for the enjoyment of doing what you do and to contribute to the community. From this point of view, can you blame Google for following what has become almost a culture in some online spheres?

Is there more to it than monetary gain? If you’re looking to land a job and you’ve got that you skinned Google Chrome on your resume, you’re looking pretty good. Is your potential employer going to ask you how much you earned for this job (or any other job) on your resume? Unlikely. I’ve never been asked how much I earned for any contract I did. And speaking of freelancing, some of the best contracts I’ve picked up have been through word of mouth, originating from a website or design that I did for someone for free.

So, would I work for Google for free? Damn right I would.