Alright, after much agonizing, and a few feeble attempts of my own to create a new look for the site, I've changed my mind yet again in regards to which direction I'm going for a new design.
Let me first say that this may offend some people, but that's just going to have to be the way it is. The bottom line is that this is my site, and I have to do what I feel is in its best interest, even if it means overriding a democratically reached decision.
Sometimes these votes turn out such that it would be detrimental to the site to move forward with the decision reached. I believe this is one of those times. While I believe with every ounce of my heart that everyone's designs were superb (and far better than anything I could ever produce!), I don't believe that the best one won. Don't get me wrong, Billy's was a fine piece of artwork, be not confused. But by his own admission it was very rushed together because he did not expect to win the vote. And it showed. When I looked at it I could tell that it had been thrown together pretty quickly. Out of respect I kept quiet. But over the weekend I began feeling uncomfortable with the prospect of putting that design up for the world to see. I want the site to look as good as it possibly can. So then I thought I'd try my hand at it. It didn't take long for me to figure out that that was not the way to go either.
So what does all this mean? It means that I've decided to go with Jesse's design. I feel as though it has a very polished and professional look, and would be the best option. As I said, I realize this may anger some people or hurt some feelings, and i apologize for that, but I'm doing what I feel is in the best interest of the site and its future.
Finally, I'd like to say that I hope that everyone voted for the design that they truly felt was the best. I realize that Jesse's design does resemble what TWCC looked like back in 2003 and for some time prior to that. But that is a poor excuse to not vote for any design. If you could not look at all the entrants and vote fairly for the best, then you should not have voted at all. I feel confident, however, that the vote was nothing but fair and unbiased.
This decision is strictly business and not personal in any way. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.