We're trying something new with the Derby starting this week. After five years, we figure now's as good a time as any to fiddle around with things and see how they work out. So here's how Derby prints will work under this experiment:

• 1st Place will still be chosen by popular vote from Shirt.Woot users.
• 2nd Place will be chosen by consensus among our Art Directors.
• 3rd Place will be chosen by a special, rotating Guest Editor.

As far as payouts, Honorable Mentions, and that sort of stuff nothing will change. We're doing this as a fun exercise and for a few noble reasons as well. However, we've anticipated some of you might take issue with this since, well, not everyone responds well to change. So here are some pre-planned responses:

• "OMG YOU'RE TAKING AWAY THE VOTING!"
  No we're not. Your vote is still the most important part about the Derby. We kept First Place in control of the users because you guys, ultimately, are the reason we're here. This will just focus votes into a laser beam of efficiency.
   

• "THIS HURTS THE ARTISTS!"
  We actually think this will help the artists quite a bit, as there will still be a chance to win for people who spend more time on a design and submit it later in the week (whereas normally they'd never recover the gap in votes between the first submissions) or have to make resubmissions. They will still have an equal chance in the eyes of our Editors.
   

• "GUEST EDITOR? YOU'RE GONNA LET A STRANGER DICTATE THE RULES?!"
  Guest Editors will be chosen from our community, along with any nerdy sorts of artists or celebs willing to slum it and hang out with us. Community members who contribute to the discussion and overall positive vibe will have a chance to judge a Derby of their very own! We think we're off to a good start with our inaugural week's Guest Editor: bassanimation!
  
   
• "THIS RUINS SHIRT.WOOT!"
  Boy, you're easily excitable. This is a new thing we're trying out. If it absolutely flames out there's nothing that will force us to trudge on forever with this format. That said, these are suggestions we've been receiving from people in our forums for years and we wouldn't change things up if we didn't honestly think it would make things more fun and interesting.
   

So fire away in the forums! Let us know your questions, comments, and concerns. And be sure to check out our handy new poll on the front page as well!