Thank you so much — your comment really means a lot.
You’re absolutely right: I didn’t start this with Wayfarer in mind. It began as a spontaneous community project and turned into something that brought people in the neighborhood together. After the first tile was placed, we received verbal approval from the municipality, and we’re hoping to follow up after the summer to get something in writing.
For now, we’re sticking with painted tiles — they’re manageable in terms of time and materials. I’m also a registered artist with the Chamber of Commerce, so who knows… maybe someone sees the tiles and it leads to a commission someday!
Thanks again for your support and for approaching this with such a thoughtful mindset.
Thanks for the example, but I don’t think a single case — even involving a removed gym — should automatically disqualify every painted tile everywhere.
There’s a big difference between something that’s been forgotten or randomly placed, and a community-supported project that’s actively maintained and has verbal approval from the municipality. Not every tile is the same, and they shouldn’t all be treated as if they are.
If Wayfarer intends to exclude all tiles by default, that should be clearly stated in the criteria — not left to vague interpretations or assumptions. Until then, I believe each submission deserves to be judged on its own merits.
I do still wonder if there’s room for nuance here. There seems to be a big difference between random home-made items placed without context, and community-driven art initiatives that have local support and visibility — especially when created by a registered artist and supported by neighbours and the municipality.
In my case, I am a professional artist registered with the Chamber of Commerce, and the project was born out of a genuine wish to bring colour and connection to the neighbourhood. We’ve even received verbal support from municipal staff, with the intention to formalize it after the summer.
What I find somewhat concerning is that the response from the Wayfarer team does not seem entirely neutral or based on an objective assessment of the full context. By echoing the forum user’s request without further elaboration or openness to discussion, it gives the impression that the judgment is already made, without truly engaging with the circumstances or possible merits of such local initiatives.
Would the Wayfarer team be open to reconsidering such cases if supporting documentation (like an official site or municipal endorsement) becomes available later? Right now, it feels like such context is easily dismissed, and decisions fall largely to forum members who may not always remain neutral or constructive.
More transparency and openness to context from the Wayfarer team would be appreciated, especially when community-supported art is involved.
If that is true, why do you submit a picture of that tile minutes after it being installed, the sand of putting it in is still in that picture?
Please continue brightening up your neighborhood as Dutch neighborhoods are usually without color, so I really love the initiative to brighten it up. But please keep that separated from Wayfarer.
@NianticAaron has been very clear doing this to impact the gameboard is a no go. Other initiatives brought up by other posters here can be beneficial, but always make sure that those are official projects, which often are reported in local media, to cite in your supporting text.
I understand the concern, but taking a photo shortly after installation does not mean the project is not meaningful or community-driven. The tile was created with input from neighbors and in verbal collaboration with municipal staff, and more formal documentation is already in progress.
I would argue that dismissing such initiatives solely based on timing or lack of a press release risks undermining genuine local efforts. Especially when the primary goal is to bring visibility and color to overlooked areas, and the artistic work is done by someone officially registered as an artist.
The idea that a project has to be reported in local media to be valid feels unnecessarily rigid. Community art often starts small. Shouldn’t Wayfarer encourage authentic, grassroots efforts rather than shut them down?
So, if I design and build my own Little Free Library station and install it in public with municipal approval, it should be rejected or removed from Wayfarer (as home-made), but if I purchase and assemble a commercial kit for the same installation it could be acceptable?
I can understand litmus tests for portability, permanence, and official approval, but don’t know how to test for an original object’s place of origin.
I understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinion on what qualifies as art, and I respect that. However, I do want to clarify that this wasn’t simply a stencil bought from a store and randomly applied.
As a registered artist, I designed these tiles myself and hand-painted them with care and intention — no stencil was used. If you believe this was created with a store-bought stencil, I would kindly ask you to provide evidence of where this specific design is being sold, because it’s my original work.
The project was carried out in collaboration with neighbors and has verbal support from the municipality. The goal was — and remains — to bring color and identity to the neighborhood in a meaningful way. We hope to formalize the initiative later this year.
Of course, art is subjective. What one sees as vandalism, another may see as local engagement and creative community-building. I just hope the discussion can leave room for context, nuance, and respect for different perspectives.
Quote from Aaron:“Creating objects to gain Wayspots is not something we promote. Moreover, these home-made objects do not meet any criteria. We stand by our rejection. That is a generic reason that pops up when a nomination is flagged as abusive.” Yes objects
You’re of course entitled to your view about the artistic merits, but at the same time that’s not what the word “vandalism” means in English.
Vandalism has to involve damage or destruction to property. Painting something isn’t damaging it, and secondly the ownership of something in the public realm is also somewhat contested. In the UK anyway graffiti is legislated under the Criminal Damage Act, but largely because this was very hard to successfully prosecute (due to the contested nature of whether damaged had taken place and the ownership of the public realm) it was largely superseded in practice by the Anti-Social Behaviour Act in 2003, which allows graffiti to be classed as an anti-social activity and people issued with a fixed £75 fine. Meaning in practice almost all graffiti which is deemed an issue by local authorities is consider as anti-social behaviour and not vandalism.
This is important because in anti-social behaviour context is everything, it matters less what people think outside of the context, and is very important what people within/close to the context think. In which respect, on the specific example, in the UK people outside of the neighbourhood don’t get to have a legal opinion on it. If the neighbours and authority’s support it, then it cannot be anti-social behaviour.
I understand your point, but Aaron mentioned homemade objects, not signs. Free libraries also fall under homemade objects, yet they’re widely accepted in-game. That’s why it’s important to apply the same logic consistently.
“Creating objects to gain Wayspots is not something we promote. Moreover, these home-made objects do not meet any criteria. We stand by our rejection.”
so yes also homemade little paintings made by artist and homemade libraries
We absolutely do not making nominations to gain a Pokestop. We do it just for fun and we love rejection basted on harrasments, bulling other players etc, is that what you try to say here?
Folks are obviously frustrated when nominations are rejected. But we have had a response from Niantic on this particular nomination. Please respect what they have said. And as a reminder each nomination and response should be treated as a unique case. We cannot draw conclusions about other nominations.
I’m thinking we should all take some time before responding further on this thread. Consider if further comments will be constructive or not.
