[sweet creature]

Hi everyone ,

The Fan Forum Graphics Team is in the process of (re)customising message boards and now it's your turn!

If you have any picture or colour suggestions please post them in this thread. Don't post (hotlink) the pictures, links to them are fine. Make sure that the pictures are of as high quality as possible and that the top of the head of the person in the picture isn't cropped off. We also like to use photoshoot images when possible, preferably individual pictures of each cast member. When suggesting colours please keep in mind that some colours will work better than others. The Team usually tries to avoid really vibrant and dark colours because we have found in the past that they are hard to look at for long periods of time. If you would like some help coming up with colour combinations we recommend checking out the design seeds website.

Everyone is encouraged to voice their opinions for this as you are the ones who will be posting on the board and we hope to make as many people happy with the finished result as possible. It does not matter if you are a board moderator, regular poster, or casual poster here. If you have a suggestion, please share it here with us .

Your suggestions for possible pictures and colours will be taken into serious consideration, but in the interest of seeing every board receive the best customised look possible the final decision concerning how this board will be customised will be made by the members of the Graphics Team. This is because we want to make sure that the selected graphic and colours fit into the overall design scheme that we've established for Fan Forum.

For a full explanation of the message board customisation process, see this thread. If you have any questions, please feel free to send Mel, Catia or Chelle a PM or ask the Team on the message board customisation thread.

Please leave this topped until a week or so after the board has been (re)customised.

Note: It usually takes less than two weeks for us to finish making the new banner and the sooner we know what you want, the more we can work on it (though it can take a few months or so to set it up with the new colours on the board), so please let us know your suggestions as soon as possible.

When the Team have made and voted on a winning graphic I will close this thread until the graphic and colours get put up. It will then be re-opened so that you can share your thoughts about it.

Mel, Catia and Chelle

[Erinღ]

Oh my gosh, I am so excited! I really encourage you all what might think or voice your ideas in here! We probably won't completely agree but let's just throw some ideas around, maybe more than just one idea so that there might be at least one of your ideas will be agreed upon

Also, any kind of questions you have about the re-customization process are welcomed and I can help! And if not, I can (or you can) ask the graphics team posters listed in the OP!

Alright, color schemes are always difficult so I shall sit this one out for now and immerse myself into what I'd like, so I will begin with photoshoots!

Nylon Magazine
Cosmopolitan (maybe the ones with the pink backgrounds)
Femina China
Build Series

The first two are my top choices
And soon I'll be back with color schemes I think would like.

[crash landing]

Oh

ESQUIRE Magazine (2012)

This photo shoot still remains my favorite and that says a lot considering this weekend just did a LARGE amount of icons and looking at different shoots

My favorite part of this one is when she is wearing brown BUT assuming its untouchable cause it slightly cuts off hair at the top of most of the pictures involved now if it were usable. I was thinking BROWN due to the brown she's wearing in it. Though I would need to see examples of boards that have a brown color scheme cause in my head not sure if it would be desirable of a brown board

Thankfully this shoot has a second part that is completely usable Just no idea at all about color. Pink? or a Red?

C Schulz 2009

Thinking Blue dark blue banner and than light blue as the board's colors

TV Guide Magazine 2009

Would of course being talking about the pictures she's alone without the boys there's 6 of them at the bottom

This again is one that I don't have a clue on color cause she's wearing black but for some reason I think Pink? or Red? for Nina - not sure if its cause of female color or what it is or my fave colors

Cosmopolitan Magazine 2013

Going to agree with ERIN about the ones in the PINK background where again going to go with the Pink? or Red?

Think my combinations on colors are Red or Blue because it seems she does wear a lot of them

[fall into your smile]

This is so exciting! I'm on my phone right now but when I get on my computer it'll be easier. I didn't expect this! So happy!

[madness]

I wouldn't look at too old photoshoots. Like 2009 is 8 years ago. Remember that you'll have this banner again for over 4 years. That means that at some point you'll have a banner where Nina looks like she did 12 years ago. Perhaps it's better to look at more recent shoots.

[Erinღ]

C Schulz 2009 Thinking Blue dark blue banner and than light blue as the board's colors

Actually Sarah, this is the current photoshoot being used on the board right now maybe at first glance it probably wasn't familiar to you but also, the board is a pink color so you don't always have to feel like you have to match the color palette of the shoot but I totally understand your thinking, I definitely don't want to venture out too far from the shoot chosen. We just gotta find some balance!
*(I just went back for a moment to look at our current banner and wow I can completely see why one may have no idea that this was the shoot! Her head shots are very close up so there's not much else to be able to tell )

Esquire Magazine Shoot - ah, that would be a beautiful one and I did actually come across it last night as I was linking my choices but like you said, sadly I realized this one just might not be allowed due the cropping and some of the angles of her head positioning. But my gosh would that first one of her smiling so beautifully be so gorgeous to look at every day

TV Guide Magazine - I can totally see why you like this one, she's a goddess on that couch my reservations are like what running wild said, it's an oldie, and I'm also thinking that shoots in 2009 or 2010 are very reminiscent of her days on The Vampire Diaries, and it seemed that when she broke through and was leaving the show it was a big step for her and she took that next chapter so I would prefer a shoot that's more Nina, and a little more current.
Not at all saying we should only do shoots from when she left the show, definitely not saying that because I have linked some shoots as far back as 2012, and also I realized while sifting through the newer shoots, they just didn't meet the requirements asked here So I just had to keep going back and I thought "oh no, now I'm at 2014 this can't be good" but quickly realized how wrong I was and how glad I am that I dug back to 2012 because there were so many incredible shoots that I forgot about!

And yay for agreeing on the Cosmo shoot I almost didn't even bother looking at that shoot because I could only think of the ones that weren't with the pink backdrops but I checked anyway and thought oh my god this just made my top 2 list


And I'll say again just for future reference, it's completely fine to throw out different color ideas even if they don't necessarily match the palette of the shoot (like in our current banner, Nina is wearing a dark blue dress, and when the board was to be first customized a lot of us had said we wanted a purple/pink color on the board with that photoshoot and they (the graphics team) were able to make it happen without compromising one or the other. BUT let me also say that (I'm not speaking for the GT, and anyone on the GT please set me straight if any of what I'm saying here is false) they can't always be this flexible and can't work miracles (although if you ask me, I already think they do this)

[fall into your smile]

Going with the suggestions that you two made...

If we went with the Cosmopolitan shoot I think these three with the pink background could work....

Nina Dobrev France | Photos
Nina Dobrev France | Photos
Nina Dobrev France | Photos

Femina China, I like all four of these pics...

Nina Dobrev France | Photos
Nina Dobrev France | Photos
Nina Dobrev France | Photos
Nina Dobrev France | Photos

Blue (maybe light) or Red would be nice because as Sarah said, Nina does seem to favor those colors a bit. It'd be nice to go somewhat different than what we have now. I might use a few other boards I've seen as possible color references just for a general idea...

[crash landing]

COMPLETELY agree with the 3 pictures from the first shoot

[madness]

And I'll say again just for future reference, it's completely fine to throw out different color ideas even if they don't necessarily match the palette of the shoot (like in our current banner, Nina is wearing a dark blue dress, and when the board was to be first customized a lot of us had said we wanted a purple/pink color on the board with that photoshoot and they (the graphics team) were able to make it happen without compromising one or the other. BUT let me also say that (I'm not speaking for the GT, and anyone on the GT please set me straight if any of what I'm saying here is false) they can't always be this flexible and can't work miracles (although if you ask me, I already think they do this)

No, you're definitely correct. The colours used in the photoshoot are quite irrelevant to us. What matters is what colour palette you'd like to work with.

[crash landing]

Do we wanna switch it up cause this is more a Pink So like I suggested Red or Blue cause over the years it seems she goes towards them especially considering all the Blue I saw when I was looking at photoshoots this weekend for icons

So I re-reviewed from 2013-2017 not sure if 2013 would still be too "old" but here's my revised even if I still love the ones I listed above

Cosmopolitan Magazine

EW's ComicCon Portraits 2013

Now this last one could make the most sense and I know Erin listed it due to how its most recent of 2017 I'm really unsure cause I'm still very unsure of her shorter hair style cause I'm very PASSIONATE about her longer hair

Is she going to keep this style for awhile or will she grow it back out do we want a banner for 4 years of her shorter hair if she's going to grow it back to its regular

AQL BUILD Series Portraits

Either way I do LOVE this shoot - its just the short hair that has me

[shinebrighterxx]

If you're not sure on her hair length from the 2017 shoot i'd look at 2016, & maybe 2015. Nina appears to have lots of photoshoots to choose from & the more recent the more up to date the graphic will look, as Mel said

Her hair isn't that short though so you may not notice it too much if you do like the ones from 2017

[crash landing]

It'll be up to the girls I've literally just came back to the board after we will call it a 2 year hiatus so I'll let them decide on what they wanna do

Chelle her hair isn't too short BUT its short compared to all other styles that I've seen her sport I personally haven't seen it this short or short

EW's ComicCon Portraits (2014)

^^ This is the only other one minus the two 2013 ones that I listed 2014 is closer where I'm 50/50 on the most recent one cause of the hair but like I said I'll let the moderators think about the hair situation of it being shorter than I've personally ever seen it. With the whole thing of how long will it stay short

[shinebrighterxx]

Chelle her hair isn't too short BUT its short compared to all other styles that I've seen her sport

What I mean by it not being too short is that its long enough that in the first & possibly second picture you won't see or notice where it finishes so you won't be able to tell that it is short compared to how she normally has it . Unlike if she had cut it really short or at least shorter than what it is there where you are going to see where it finishes in most if not all the pics. That's all I was looking at, not comparing it to her previous styles (which I do agree with you that it is short)

its not up to just the moderators, its up to all the posters, regardless of their posting history. You've all got to live with the decision made

[crash landing]

Oh I know not just the moderators - but what I mean is - want to hear from the moderators on their opinion before I'm able to respond

We should get this other poster that I've lately meant Firecrest? and get their opinion more the merrier

[shinebrighterxx]

I knew what you meant there too, I was just making it clear for lurkers should they read your post that it isn't just up to the moderators