The Philip Greenspun illustration project, first authorized in September 2007 and announced in November, has reached its first phase of collecting illustrations in exchange for payments to contributors. In this phase, with 50 image requests, nearly US$2,000 may be distributed, mainly in increments of $40.

The first round was announced by Brianna Laugher, who has been in charge of the project. Of the 50 images, 48 will offer $40 payments, while two (grape and apochromatic lens) will pay out $15.

The illustrations are tracked using a bug tracker on the toolserver. The tracker is otherwise used mainly for bugs with toolserver-based tools, but a queue was added specifically for illustrations in order to track each request separately and efficiently. For each image, a volunteer comes forward and is assigned to that image; upon uploading the image, Laugher and other volunteers ensure that the image illustrates the concept correctly. Once all requirements are satisfied, payment will be made to the volunteer.

For Round 1, the list of requests includes such wide-ranging illustrations as Abney effect, Jellyfish and a request for an animation of Vomiting.

Laugher apologized for the nine-month wait between the announcement and the start of the project, noting that she had made a few mistakes in underestimating the volume and complexity of requests, and did not delegate tasks enough. WAS 4.250 replied, "In short, you are human."

Round 1 runs through October 10. As of press time, 19 of the 50 images had been assigned, and of those 19, three were "in review".