So let me get this right. The design game seems to me to be more about scoring points by spamming your link around than anything else. Do I have that correct?
There's got to be a better way for this game to work than just summing up point totals. Here are some thoughts about how else this could be done.
1. Axe the plus/minus system on this one. I know it's nice for high level community members to have their x7, x8, x9 voting power, but they hold way too much influence over how these votes play out. Just get a handful of friends with Black cards to vote for you, and BOOM. Top design. We need a little more parity here if it is going to be about the design and not about who you know.
2. Let's try a rating system. One to five. After a minimum number of rankings (10? 20?), take the average of the rankings and see where it charts. This might also work as a main page hot-or-not style system.
3. Direct comparison. For each page view, allower the user the opportunity to which is better: the current item or another random active item. When that decision has been made, choose another random item for another comparison. Maybe you can limit each viewer to 5 comparisons per item. This should gather tons of data for analysis and ranking.
Spam be dammed, I do have to admit that I appreciate the delicious irony of this designer's costume:
