The action in The Dark Knight Rises takes place eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, and to fans of the films it probably feels like they have been waiting longer than that for the next chapter in the Batman saga. The film is set to hit screens worldwide on July 20th, so we all still have a ways to go to see the most-anticipated film of 2012. But artists can pass the time with a new The Dark Knight Rises T-shirt contest.

And not just any T-shirt contest – but one that’s actually going to be judged by the man behind the film, Christopher Nolan.

The contest comes to us courtesy of DesginByHumans, an “ongoing T-shirt design competition and community where artists and t-shirt lovers create, buy, and talk about art and t-shirts.”

The rules are pretty simple:

Contest entrants are to submit their T-shirt designs through DesignByHumans, and all entries will be reviewed by them as well as Warner Bros. Ten finalists will be selected out of the best entires. From that batch, the best three designs will be chosen by none other than Christopher Nolan himself (and producer Emma Thomas). DesignByHumans will pay out to 5 places, with the 1st place winner receiving $3,500 plus 12 shirts of their choice.

There are a couple of other more specific rules involving submissions. IF you’re going to use the Batman emblem in your design, it has to be the official Bat Emblem from The Dark Knight Rises. They also want this contest to be about the upcoming film, not any past films. That means your design shouldn’t incorporate past villians like Two-Face, Joker, and Scarecrow – only ones appearing in TDKR (Bane, Catwoman).

The contest began on Monday and submissions end on April 11th. There will be an online voting period until April 22nd and the 5th place winner will be announced on April 30th.

[h/t GeekTyrant]