I wasn't talking about you (you'd be the "previous previous previous" designer in such a case), but if you want to go there, then I don't think it is up to you to tell that the community doesn't understand this or that, or that it made the wrong choice. I always go back to the community because all that is taking place here - it is done for this community's benefit. 90% of the votes have gone to the alternative look of the concept you created. If anything, a poor decision on my behalf would have been to pick the design that was favouring only 10% of everyone.

There is nothing wrong with going for an unique, out of the box look. There is nothing wrong with selecting prettier art either. However, while we strive for originality, we cannot walk too much away from the default structure of vB because it would provide for nightmare of a process during the software updates. I've been very clear on that. I know that you prefer moving away from vBulletin, but there is no better platform available that can compete with the flexibility and functionality that vBulletin offers. If it pops up and I'll notice the desire of many to go that way, we'll definitely work toward switching, especially if this is something the community will want us to do. It'll cost money, but it's alright. For now, vBulletin is still the leading software to meet our objectives.

Having said that, you can clearly see that we retained your design's structure completely, so you are first and foremost critiquing your own work here. Almost nothing (except the profile page) has changed in the layout of the design.

I am not going to get involved in an argument, Dan. This thread is about the logo contest.