freak like me

my first self-appointed task at my new job (besides the inevitable gauntlet spent on the phone with IT, attempting to get myself all set up and put together) is to start designing new layouts for our site--i.e., come up with some more options for people who have opted to "personalize their page." now, if i were sensible, i'd have just started with solid colors, making it a little easier for myself. but, being a good little ninja scout blogger, and having paid attention when particularly creative web monkeys work their mojo, i've decided to plunge straight into the wild world of image exploitation.
and, naturally, i'm wondering how much i'm going to have to rein it in to suit the milquetoast tastes of the general populous. having found a fabulous free photo site, i've been mocking up some nutty little scenes, with psychedelic baseballs and technicolor dominoes; they look great (if i do say so myself, but then i'm creating them specifically to suit my aesthetic tastes), but i can almost hear the groans from the brass here, asking me for something more middle of the road. i mean, one of the major demographic groups we're going for is old; they're probably not so excited by an electric pink view of the manhattan skyline.
of course, i'm going to continue making my strange and exciting backgrounds until i am explicitly told to go for the bland. because it pleases me to do so, and as i've said: if they just wind me up and let me go, i really think i can do some good things with this site.