[Sidepot]

It's looking like there are going to be 30 to 40 submissions in the inlay design portion of the Protege contest. Many people who who indicated an interest in putting together a design mentioned they would submit "if they could come up with something". So my question here is "Should we have an open discussion of inlay design concepts that people would like to see?"

Pros:

• Tap the power of the CT community (many of whom are not "designers") for ideas.
• Contestants (if they choose) could bounce their concept off the board for initial feedback and input. Of course, this is entirely optional - some contestants will want to keep a lid on their idea until game time.

Cons:

• If one had what they felt was a "unique" idea, there might be a perceived risk of someone else letting the cat out of the bag to the rest of the CT community, and thus potentially leading to competitive and similar designs being submitted.

These are just a few "pros" and "cons" that I came up with, but I'd like to hear comments from anyone who has one.

[Sidepot]

In addition to voting above, please feel free to explain your logic in writing in this thread.

[pankwindu]

I say yes, for the simple reason that the more discussion we have, the better chip you (we) are going to end up with. Yes, there are contest issues to think about, but in the end the best actual design is going to win, regardless of where the idea came from. If several designers end up running with a popular initial idea, then so much the better for the final product!

(In other words, your "con" is not actually a con with respect to the actual product, it's a "pro" - competition drives quality!)

[hachkc]

Originally Posted by pankwindu

If several designers end up running with a popular initial idea, then so much the better for the final product!

From Sidepot's perspective, a public forum is probably best.

From a contestant perspective, who wins if someone has a great idea but someone else makes a couple minor tweaks that works out better? The originator of the idea or the person with the last minor tweak to it?

[Trav]

I voted "yes" because I agree that this would likely lead to a better design. However, I'm not sure how you would work out the "complications" that are sure to arise with what would turn out to be a collaborative effort!?!?!?

[JT-Bird]

You could split the prize between the original concept and the artist.

If an artist comes up with a design and concept, they win both, otherwise an artist might take a good concept and give it great execution and you'd have a split.

e.g. - I really like Joe Blows concept but lousy graphical execution, with a pro's execution it would be great. Joe Blow and Artist split the prize.

[hachkc]

Originally Posted by JT-Bird

You could split the prize between the original concept and the artist.

If an artist comes up with a design and concept, they win both, otherwise an artist might take a good concept and give it great execution and you'd have a split.

e.g. - I really like Joe Blows concept but lousy graphical execution, with a pro's execution it would be great. Joe Blow and Artist split the prize.

If it were only 2 people, sure. As we've seen on this board though, several folks might take the idea and run with it; do you split the prize 3 or 4 ways now. Maybe you need to require someone to ask permission before adapting their design. You may need to have a judge determine if someone's subsequent idea is an original work or just adaptation of someone's else's work.

I believe someone here has a background in intellectual property rights, wanna volunteer.

I'm sure this sounds nit picky but better to discuss it now before the issue happens then after the fact.

[Magus 23]

I've got a design background, and I can see how there would be some concern about someone co-opting someone else's idea. But still, I think the benefits of group discussion could really help flesh out various concepts. For example, I might critique a particular design, and the designer might have a chance to go back and tweak it. In that instance, I certainly wouldn't have any claim to the design just because I offered a suggestion.

There are some ethical lines to be drawn, of course, but I think in a relatively civil community (of which I've only recently become a member, so perhaps I'm not the best judge) we should be able to tell where those lines are drawn. If someone -- without the permission of the original designer -- goes and copies the design outright and just makes a few minor changes, I think that would be going over the line (at least if it were done in anything more than a "Hey, have you tried this?" manner). But I participated in a major redesign of a big magazine a few years back, and some of my proposals ended up having elements or basic concepts that were incorporated into someone else's design. Them's the breaks.

From an intellectual property standpoint, one of the deciding factors is how transformational the resulting product is. Have you, as an artist, dramatically changed the original concept so that it's no longer what it was? If so, you can probably be considered to have a distinct concept of your own. (I'm not a lawyer, though -- feel free to correct me.)

In the end, it'll be up to the competition judges (i.e., Sidepot) to decide. And as much as I'm drooling over the prospect of winning those chips, I'm neither counting on it nor likely to make a stink unless someone wins with a pretty flagrant copying of my concept. The stakes aren't worth that much hassle. (Not to mention that since we'll all have seen what's going on from the start, it'd be pretty easy to spot.)

And certainly, nobody is being forced to submit their ideas to public scrutiny. I think it's probably a good idea, but others may want to keep things under wraps.

Sorry this was so long-winded. Once I get going, it's hard to stop me...

[VegasMike]

I voted no, but that's only because I've finalized my theme and design to the 95% complete level. I suppose I could end up submitting that design and tweaking it from there...

[BrakeDust]

I voted no also. My concept is complete. I am now just working out details and comparisons. I understood that there would be a period of public discussion and evaluation and tweaking after the initial designs were submitted. Then the final version must be completed prior to the final public poll. I don't think we should change things midstream.