Dear JeniferC,
Your holes for avatars are like peering through a peep hole - a square avatar within a hole? Gimme a break. It really look stupid. Back to the good old squares all by themselves. Did you ever see photographs in other print media displayed in circles rather than squares?
As for that annoying white on black text, which I have mentioned before, I recall newspapers would only use that in large banner headlines for shock value, e.g, disasters at sea or on land, the deaths of prominent individuals, such as presidents due to assassination, accidents, strokes, etc. It may be okay for New York Times Square, but that's about it. We artisans don't have to be shocked or stimulated into reading comments, just go back to the relaxing black on white text, especially since white on black makes me see double.