... I have to say it. I didn't want to rush my opinion, so I have waited for a while to see if I could get over my first impression of the new site look, and get used to it, but I can't. Sincerely, I don't know if I could dislike a website look more than I do this. It's not a matter of being a traditionalist - I'm not a nostalgic of the old Rosity look. I just can't stand this new look the way it is, that's all. I find it heavy on the eye, tiring, overdone, and in some cases (like the separation bars) simply plain bad taste. I'm sorry for speaking it clearly and apologize if this could hurt anyone. I still love the place and love the people and still highly respect the great admin folks here like Clint. Nothing has changed with regards to them. Just, the new site look completely sucks for me. I understand, of course, that this is only my personal taste, and not worth more than this. But I just had to let it be known. I hope that it can be changed soon. And I mean completely. And now that I spoke my opinion, I get off the soapbox for this subject. :-) Orio

Let me assure you of one thing Orio!... you are not alone! 11 out of ten for spunk in speaking up! Yeah! yeah!

Renderosity looks o.k. to me, and it does its job, so I'm not complaining. I see some really bad sites every day. A bad site is loaded with cookies, pop-ups, pop-unders, and bleeding-edge bells-and-whistles that make it incompatible with some browsers, problems that make it display wrong, and problems that make it difficult or impossible to navigate. Renderosity doesn't exhibit any of those symptoms for me. They'll never be able to satisfy everyone's design criteria, so the important consideration is a functional site. Whether it's pretty (or not) will always be secondary to ease of use.

I would hate to upset anyone here as I love this site & visit it daily. It is helpfull, friendly & it feels good to be part of such a large online artistic community.
This is how I feel about the subject:

I reset my browser so it wouldn't display my adjusted colour settings so I could view the site as new users would see it. I'm sorry but I didn't like it at all.
I asked some people that were in my house at the time to see what they thought (without prompting them or telling them what I thought).
They all used the same or similar words, amateur, ugly & other derogatory statements about the colour scheme.
I agree that functionality is very important & if most peple are honest they would prefer a simple clean site to one that employs heavy use of Flash, Shockwave, wierd scripts, pop-ups & god knows what else. However...Art is all about style over content. An appealing colour scheme is very important to most people & has nothing to do with the functionality of a web site & would not effect the speed of the site.
I thought it was just me, but I have yet to find someone that likes the colour scheme & its a shame that something as simple as that could do so much damage to what is otherwise a brilliant web site.

Having said that, the Logo is great.

Orio,

Update your profile to colors that you like.

-JH.

This reminds me of my college graduation... really! See, while all of the other colleges in Kent State University (college of nursing, college of education, etc.) got to wear bright, and cheerfully colored tassels with their cap and gown, the college of fine and professional ARTS had BROWN tassels! While this didn't stop me from graduating, I would have much preferred some other color. I'm not complaining though, because the site still works great. I have also changed my colors to what the creator of the logo had in mind, and the color scheme looks acceptable.

"colour scheme " There is a colour scheme?

Hi It's all well and good Jeff saying update your colours but to me it's the impressions I (or any one new to the site)gets when they first logon I'm sure a lot of newbees will be put off before they explore the site. just my opinion Dave

Sorry for the large image example, but for me it took all of 2 minutes to return to the way I had everything set up before the change-over. The only thing I can't change are the top and side bar colors, but with the black background I've chosen it looks OK to me. As far as newbies go...I'm going to give most of them credit for enough brains to figure out how to adjust colors to their personal preference, as that option appears on their profile page. This site is still well organized and very well managed. Change can be hard to accept for some people, but most people DO accept it and DEAL with it. It's been so long since the makeover that I'd nearly forgotten about it. IMHO Renderosity remains the best artist community on the Internet.

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?ForumID=12357&Form.ShowMessage=1292823

I am very happy for you XBN202. The main point you seem to have overlooked is the one whereby the new default background dramatically changes how images are viewed. Personally, I had formatted many of my images to be seen at their best on a black (Default background). Even though many folks would have customised their background in the past to something other than black, it still remains that many visitors will now see, initially, images against a white background. What you see with your preference settings is not what others see. Change is nice. I am unfortunately left with one option. I have to remove work from my gallery because the presentation interface of the site has been tinkered with to no great benefit for the community. Though I will accept and adopt to the changes, I fail to see any improvement in the visual impact of the site. Change! for the sake of change? Sincerely. Brendan.

I'm glad you're happy for me. But why would you format an image to be best viewable on a black background? IMHO an image should be best viewed on ANY color background. When a viewer clicks on an thumbnail of yours to see the entire image (provided he or she is a member and can do so), just how much background are they looking at? Furthermore, how do you know your visitor likes black better than white? BTW I admire your work, and viewed your images on both black and white backgrounds. They look fine either way to me, but as the old cliche goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I honestly do not believe that the new color scheme dramatically changes how images are viewed and/or appreciated. If I didn't like the image, it would matter the color of the background at all. I simply wouldn't like it. For all you know, half the people here have brown backgrounds :)

The new white default background is kind of harsh on the eye but then I'm an admitted "don't-change" freak. Change always takes some getting used to for me...don't know if I can get use to this one but hey...all I have to do is log in and there's my beautiful deep blue background like always. So yes, it is unappealing but at the same time we can each do something about it by setting up our own personal backgrounds. If newbies can get by the default scheme, then they will see the quality and variety that has always been here. Btw, the new logo rocks :o)

I agree with Brendan, the point is not whether we can change the colors or not, it's whether or not new viewers and newbies that don't know it can be changed can view the art as intended or not.

I also know what he means by working against the dark background in your art. It's a matter of white balance and how your eyes percieve the values of an image. If it's a predominantly dark image, as many renders are (because they start in darkness and are lit, much like theatres),they tend to lose a lot of the detail because of the white drowning out the darkness. It's the same as trying to watch an outdoor play with lighting in broad daylight versus at night. Art in brick and mortar galleries usually start on light canvases and are made darker, so they play better on white wall.

I really hope in 2 months or whenever, they consider switching the default back to some dark color, maybe not black, but something in that range (and please not mid shade gray)...

My 2c

ok not to piss any one off but the new look is killing me i have tryed a lot of the colors but hell im color blind to a point and it gives me one hell of a headache so i just dont come on the site much any more if i'm here to long i need meds lol

A white gallery background just isn't the real me. And I have some images that are older and in the gallery that were specifically designed over a faded black backround so that they would blend in. Now, well, they don't blend in any more. So I'll design some new art with the new default background color in mind and see what comes of it.

Hi Another thing that I've recently found out is that my default( font ) colours cannot be seen in Im's as the light grey default overwhelms any lighter colours. So if like me you like the darker backgrounds with lighter text then you've had it eye strain that is an example try answering a thread and read the text by the buttons Dave