Somic,
graphics design does not equal
good UI. In fact, on the Web they are usually not related to one another at all.
The current forums package already has a bit too bloated screen layout, which makes it a bit slow (well, to me at least).
Avatars. In OpenACS, all content submitted by a user is consistently signed by his name. Forum posts is just one of the very many types of content, not the only one like in phpBB. You click on the name and go to the user's page, where - yes - he can upload a portrait or any other graphics. If you want an option to use avatars, it must be there. Take it from there to display in the board, if we ever want this option, err, clutter :)
