I'm a programmer, not an artist, and I've always followed the advice of using crappy programmer art to get the game functional and playable before looking to find artists to make it look appealing.
However, lately I'm seeing more and more people doing the opposite, people who are artists first or know someone, and they get the look of the game settled before making the game playable. And I can see why: they immediately have something to post and show people, starting the marketing machine early.
Have the times changed? Do we need to be locking down …