And I understand that design work is not the same as patching code or incrementally adding features.
However, to attract people willing to do larger reviews and redesign work, we need to show them that their work actually matters, is valued, and will be implemented. Promoting the "small" work both improves GIMP right now, and demonstrates that putting in the time/effort for the big stuff is worthwhile. Still work to do there, but we're making progress I think.