Open source works great for developers for many reasons. On the flipside, rarely does it benefit a designer (although not always true).
1. It exposes a programmer's code work for all to see. If it's bad, you get more than just critique. Others can point out what is wrong with the code but even better, they can correct the code or help you see what is wrong. If it's good or great, it makes for an amazing addition to any developers resume for hiring purposes.
The same can not be said of designers. Sure they can get feedback and people can often point out what's wrong, but these feedback are often more vague. Rarely do they get a walk through tutorial of how to do things better, actually having someone go in and show them how to fix their design flaw (something that happens a lot on the coding side). Pointing something out and having someone help you solve your design problem are not the same thing.
2. I don't know about others but to me, a designer benefits more from having their own portfolio rather than something that they may have contribute bits and pieces together for a project. As a designer, I don't see the value over my own portfolio which I can get enough critiques on without having to contribute to an open source project. As a developer, I see a need but think in terms of what designers benefit out of this. Open source designs are not the same as open source software in all cases. As an entrepreneur, I hire designers base on independent skill sets which is extremely hard to measure when people are co-designing small projects.
3. Just a comment but it would seem this is geared towards a developer who can't design and want open source designs but where is the benefit the designer is getting out of this. Surely there is a better argument. For the record, I'm not arguing that designers can't benefit at all. I just don't see it outweighing the benefits a developer would get in the same scenario.
It's definitely easier for developers to contribute to open source projects, they can just dig into the code and easily contribute patches.
Designing for a project requires a lead to a greater extent to keep the design consistent, whereas programming is more defined and concrete work: "This is wrong, fix it." If the issue no longer occurs after the patch is applied, work is done. Design work is more abstract in that sense.
The designer's benefit would defiantly be in having the project in their portfolio. Additionally I don't think too many projects need an entire design team, for most projects one would be sufficient increasing the portfolio value you are talking about. Most people contribute to projects they use, adding functionality they would like to have themselves. I'm sure that is something that would motivate designers too.
I'm sorry but I strongly disagree (btw, I'm not the one that downvoted you; I don't have that option).
Why should I contribute to an open source project when I can do something like design a simple killer wordpress theme that may gain major adoption and use that as reference for my work than a single open source project catered to a single developers open source work that may or may not get used heavily. That or is only used in parts. There are tons of free designs out there, how often have you or anyone you know hiring designers reference how awesome or widely adopted their one off icon kit has been or something similar? Not happening.
Designers should contribute to projects they care about and use, adding the project to their portfolio should not be the sole reason to join the project. If you care only about portfolio, then designing a killer wordpress theme might be the way to go.
1. It exposes a programmer's code work for all to see. If it's bad, you get more than just critique. Others can point out what is wrong with the code but even better, they can correct the code or help you see what is wrong. If it's good or great, it makes for an amazing addition to any developers resume for hiring purposes.
The same can not be said of designers. Sure they can get feedback and people can often point out what's wrong, but these feedback are often more vague. Rarely do they get a walk through tutorial of how to do things better, actually having someone go in and show them how to fix their design flaw (something that happens a lot on the coding side). Pointing something out and having someone help you solve your design problem are not the same thing.
2. I don't know about others but to me, a designer benefits more from having their own portfolio rather than something that they may have contribute bits and pieces together for a project. As a designer, I don't see the value over my own portfolio which I can get enough critiques on without having to contribute to an open source project. As a developer, I see a need but think in terms of what designers benefit out of this. Open source designs are not the same as open source software in all cases. As an entrepreneur, I hire designers base on independent skill sets which is extremely hard to measure when people are co-designing small projects.
3. Just a comment but it would seem this is geared towards a developer who can't design and want open source designs but where is the benefit the designer is getting out of this. Surely there is a better argument. For the record, I'm not arguing that designers can't benefit at all. I just don't see it outweighing the benefits a developer would get in the same scenario.