Derby Preview #780: Halloween!

Trick or treat time! Send in your best Halloween designs, maybe they are Ugly Halloween Sweaters, Costume shirts! OR just a cool shirt about Halloween that you think is cool.

No politics, no cream shirts.

*This Derby begins MONDAY September 21st at 8pm, CST. & ends MONDAY September 28th at 8pm, CST. The three winning designs will be featured as the Daily offers Tuesday-Thursday. Great designs that don’t win may be included in an Editor’s Choice sale on Friday, so be sure to check back and see who makes the cut!

Please be sure to have your artwork ready to submit with your entry as part of the new submission process!

If you want to submit any off-topic designs, submit here!

If you are new to the derby and want to participate, WELCOME! Also, in addition to the rules above please check out our content guidelines here so you know what works and what doesn’t over here at Woot!

You can also download updated templates for your artwork over here . Happy designing

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Whelp. Time to get to work then…

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Beware the Woot-o-Lantern!

He rises each fall to haunt the forums to avenge his incomprehensible derby defeat!

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Can we get a “No Dia De Los Muertos” rule on this, since it’s an entirely different holiday, and it’s a little embarrassing/culturally insensitive that people still equate the two?

People do designs like this for many themes during the fall. I don’t think the Halloween derby is a specifically about Halloween as it is about the season in general. To say that it is insensitive is to say that anyone that wears a costume that references this during a Halloween party is being insensitive. I think people wear these costumes to celebrate similarity, more so than to appropriate a culture. But, I could be wrong, I usually am… I assume good intentions in people.

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Yeah…I don’t think there’s any negative intentions out there when it comes to DDLM artwork, but I also work with a large population of Latinx folks, and it’s becoming an increasingly sensitive topic in the community. There is a current of resentment building in the trivializing/appropriating of what is a deep and meaningful spiritual holiday for many. Not sure how many can recall the uproar when Disney tried to get slick with appropriating DDLM for Coco, but it took a lot of work to regain the trust of the community.

Anyway…just my 2 cents that I wanted to suggest. I know Woot likes to steer clear of controversy, and wanted to do my part in helping that.

No big deal… We have several people here who are Latinx and work DDLM into their artwork quite often. While I can’t say that everyone that does designs in this style are Latinx, the frequency of this style being used makes people think that it is just another art choice.
People here are very culturally sensitive, so if this is brought up, I am sure that some will steer clear out of respect. But to be honest, 90% of the art in the shirt world is about selling, not about limiting their options for fear of offense.
I have a bigger problem with direct IP theft than I do about cultural appropriation… Maybe because stealing from a specific person or company that has developed a fan-base for a character has more ill intent than a person that really likes a style and wants to elevate it through artistic practice.
We aren’t yet in an age where a person needs to do a DNA test before they are allowed to sing a certain song, draw in a certain style or play specific sports… LOL

I mean, if this were really an issue, then Mulan should be in boycott because Disney is not owned by the culture in which Mulan originated. They are making money from cultures that are not their own.
The slope can get slippery.

Steer clear of controversy?! Us!!! Noooo…

I agree with being sensitive, the reason I am hesitant to make it a rule to not allow is we have a healthy population of Latinx artists who tend to contribute DDLM designs to this Derby. We also won’t do an art call for DDLM specifically because it’s not a huge mover for us. We do typically have a sale featuring DDLM designs separate form Halloween, so I am going to leave it open in this Derby and we may save the art for a dedicated sale. Thank you for calling it out though, good to have the discussion here in the preview.

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Makes sense, and I can definitely appreciate that approach & reasoning.

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Where do we put #halloween, in title or subtext/description?

Um, okay…
So tonight at 8PM CST the derby opens… Once the derby page you just submit thru the “submit here” link.
This link for that derby will not be available until after 8PM.

No need for the halloween hashtag, subbing it through the standard DERBY portal is enough to get it in the derby.

Thank you! Have a great day!

So we have 2 halloween art calls out, which is I think what @BullShirtCo is referring to. we are looking for existing halloween designs you might have up elsewhere through the regular portal, and new designs through the derby.

The #halloween designs are for the regular portal so we can find and organize them easily!

Gotcha. Sorry about that. The thread that this question was posted in, led me down a different path. Kinda tricky having art calls at the same time as the same derby theme! LOL

Tis that time of year…hold on to your hats, I saw the first sign of Christmas in stores…

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If you decorate with Nightmare before Christmas, you can put them up October 1st, and leave them up until next YEAR!

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You assume I take down ANY of my decorations ever.

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ARGHHH!

Help, I posted my design in the contest tonight - The 'Fraidy Bunch - and in my rush didn’t realize that it auto corrected the title to “Friday”. Any chance you can please correct it?

Thank you!

That is awesome, and of course, exactly how it should be.
I think my ideal house wold look like it belongs in a theme park.
Then I would be truly happy.