A tradition we inherited from our Sodipodi roots was to change the about screen in each release, and showcase the new or improved features in that release. Ted Gould put together a Museum of past Sodipodi/Inkscape about screens that's always fun to browse.
After a couple releases, we started to get some of our artistically skilled users involved in making the about screens. Partly this was because we've always wanted Inkscape to be a place that anyone can get involved in - even non-coders - and found About Screens to be a great way to integrate our users into development. Of course, the other part was that our users were much more effective at getting beautiful work our of our tool than the developers! (some due to lack of time, others like me due to lack of skill).
Of course, an about screen is typically a single-artist kind of thing, so this brought some problems. With multiple good artists on hand, how to select the person to do it? What if they can't complete it in time for the release? What if several people have good ideas for the about screen?
Then, someone (Josh perhaps?) came up with a brilliant idea: Hold a contest, and let all the artists compete! It worked like a charm, and we ended up with an amazing screen. We've done this time and again, with always great results. The contributors love the opportunity to help their favorite art program, and it's a great way to encourage early adopters to start experimenting with the new features - often gaining us more testing than we would otherwise!
Anyway, this release is no exception, and we've got some really excellent submissions. Some of my own favorites are shown in this post. Currently we're in voting mode - and please feel free to vote! The 14th is the last day of voting, so cast your votes soon!