I'm not sure exactly what's happening on that end, but on my laptop, the color has changed again.  (I'm not at home, so can't check how it looks on my big computer.)  I opened RR yesterday and this morning, and the screaming blue was there.  Closed it, came back in a couple-three hours, and the blue was darker but still not the gray-blue it used to be.  Bill's (bmac62) computer is showing RR in the screaming blue.  I just checked them side-by-side, and the color IS different.  The gray-blue of the comments and forum text boxes is the same, so please don't assume our laptop screens are calibrated differently.  It was the first thing I checked.  It's just weird.  PLEASE don't try to get me the neon blue back!!

As long as you're looking for serious feedback now, I'll give you my serious opinion.

I don't like change for the sake of change, and I don't think there was anything wrong with the site the way it was.  I dislike the new look, format-wise.  I agree with those who have said it looks cheap and amateurish.  THAT, I can probably get used to.  Change is inevitable.  I might whine about it, but it's just a look, and no different from any other art I see here.  Some I like, some I don't. 

The hyperlinks no longer being underlined is like playing one of those Myst-style games where you have to click on everything to see what it does.  Hovering over everything and waiting to see if a little hand shows up is annoying.  I can't really see the subtle difference between white and gray as an indicator of what page I'm on in the galleries without sticking my face up against the monitor, and the only way I know what words on the pages are links is because I've been here long enough to know how to navigate to where I want to go.  If you're not going to underline the links, can we have some other, more obvious clues?  Can I get used to this?  I don't know yet.  Right now I'm hating it, but perhaps my brain will learn to distinguish the subtle differences.  (If I were a new member, or a prospective member though, I don't know how easy it would be to navigate the site!)

The bright blue (and even the darker blue I'm now seeing) are absolutely awful, and I won't get used to them.  This afternoon I went browsing to see if there were other art sites I might be happy with, in case the members don't win this argument and the awful color stays.  Unfortunately, there really aren't.  Renderosity is unique.  I'm not making threats about leaving.  Seriously ... I'm sure RR doesn't need my $5.00 per month in order to stay afloat, and I've seen oodles of people leave because they're ticked about some change you've made, and all they get is gone.  It's stupid.  You'll all go one with or without me.  I'm just letting you know how strongly I feel about the color ... I was looking for alternatives, and if I had found a good one, I would have been checking it out more carefully instead of adding to this thread.

Stacey, I'm sure you know me well enough to understand the spirit of my previous comment ... I'll assume Andrew was the only one who didn't get it.  I know you really do have our best interests at heart, and you want to make this the best site it can be.  Knowing you're at least seriously considering our nearly (so far) unanimous complaint makes me feel better about the whole thing.

If this weren't an art site, I wouldn't care what the background color was, but everyone here is an artist at one level or another, and most of us are very attuned to the effects of color.  The blue-gray we had before (and that still shows up in a lot of places) wasn't my favorite when you changed over to THAT scheme, but at least it's a subdued color.  If you must have a color, could it just have a lot of dark gray in it please?  Don't make our art fight the background color.  The color I'm seeing now makes anything I've posted that contains a lot of green look absolutely billious.  I like green a lot, and would like to be able to continue to use it in my art!

So: 

New look ... I'll adjust. 

Hyperlinks ... jury is still out. 

Brilliant blue background ... No, no, and no.

Thanks for listening. 

(Oh yeah ... and the double spacing when I hit the Enter key is still driving me bonkers!)

 

 

 

"If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough."  ...  Robert Capa