diff --git a/public/app/core/components/sidemenu/sidemenu.html b/public/app/core/components/sidemenu/sidemenu.html
index f4221367fdf..66ee0b6d8b9 100644
--- a/public/app/core/components/sidemenu/sidemenu.html
+++ b/public/app/core/components/sidemenu/sidemenu.html
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 	<li class="sidemenu-org-section" ng-if="ctrl.isSignedIn" class="dropdown">
 		<div class="sidemenu-org">
 			<div class="sidemenu-org-avatar">
-				<img ng-src="{{ctrl.user.gravatarUrl}}">
+				<img ng-if="ctrl.user.gravatarURL" ng-src="{{ctrl.user.gravatarUrl}}">
+				<span class="no-avatar h2" ng-if!="ctrl.user.gravatarURL">?</span>
 			</div>
 			<div class="sidemenu-org-details">
 				<span class="sidemenu-org-user sidemenu-item-text">{{ctrl.user.name}}</span>
diff --git a/public/app/partials/login.html b/public/app/partials/login.html
index 6f437a02824..b7aa340bfed 100644
--- a/public/app/partials/login.html
+++ b/public/app/partials/login.html
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<div class="container">
+<div class="login-container container">
 
 	<div class="login-box">
 
diff --git a/public/sass/_variables.dark.scss b/public/sass/_variables.dark.scss
index f94cab08b43..4ed292e66e5 100644
--- a/public/sass/_variables.dark.scss
+++ b/public/sass/_variables.dark.scss
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ $critical:              #ed2e18;
 // -------------------------
 $body-bg:  			   rgb(20,20,20);
 $page-bg:  			   $dark-2;
+$page-img-bg: 		   url('../img/angle_gradient_rev.png');
 $body-color:   		   $gray-4;
 $text-color:   	       $gray-4;
 
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@ $hr-border-color: rgba(0,0,0,.1) !default;
 $component-active-color: #fff !default;
 $component-active-bg:    $brand-primary !default;
 
+
 // Panel
 // -------------------------
 $panel-bg: 				 $dark-2;
diff --git a/public/sass/_variables.light.scss b/public/sass/_variables.light.scss
index e2c8fb06c8a..74d1305bcba 100644
--- a/public/sass/_variables.light.scss
+++ b/public/sass/_variables.light.scss
@@ -54,8 +54,9 @@ $critical:              #EC2128;
 // Scaffolding
 // -------------------------
 
-$body-bg:  		  $white;
-$page-bg:  		  $white;
+$body-bg:  		$white;
+$page-bg:  		$white;
+$page-img-bg: 	url('../img/angle_gradient_light_rev.png');
 $body-color:    $gray-1;
 $text-color:    $gray-1;
 
@@ -80,6 +81,7 @@ $hr-border-color: $dark-3 !default;
 $component-active-color: $white !default;
 $component-active-bg:    $brand-primary !default;
 
+
 // Panel
 // -------------------------
 
diff --git a/public/sass/components/_dashboard.scss b/public/sass/components/_dashboard.scss
index 9b23484bdb4..59b38a6512e 100644
--- a/public/sass/components/_dashboard.scss
+++ b/public/sass/components/_dashboard.scss
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ div.flot-text {
     border-top: 0;
     border-right: 0;
     border-left: 0;
-    border-bottom: 2px solid transparent;
+    border-bottom: 1px solid transparent;
     padding: 1.2rem .5rem .4rem .5rem;
   }
 }
diff --git a/public/sass/components/_sidemenu.scss b/public/sass/components/_sidemenu.scss
index 8063bbaa2c9..829ee37f71a 100644
--- a/public/sass/components/_sidemenu.scss
+++ b/public/sass/components/_sidemenu.scss
@@ -189,6 +189,15 @@
 
 .sidemenu-org-avatar {
   width: 44px;
+  background-color: $gray-2;
+  border-radius: 50%;
+  .no-avatar {
+    color: $brand-primary;
+    text-shadow: 0 1px 0 $dark-1;
+    padding-left: 17px;
+    position: relative;
+    top:  5px;
+  }
 }
 
 .sidemenu-org-avatar > img {
diff --git a/public/sass/layout/_page.scss b/public/sass/layout/_page.scss
index 48c4e33b5df..84f48f6b1e7 100644
--- a/public/sass/layout/_page.scss
+++ b/public/sass/layout/_page.scss
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@
 
 .page-container {
   background-color: $page-bg;
+  background-image: $page-img-bg; /* this is an experiment */
+  background-position: left;
+  background-size: 60%;
+  background-repeat: no-repeat;
   position: relative;
   padding: ($spacer * 2) ($spacer * 4);
   max-width: 1060px;
@@ -30,7 +34,6 @@
 
 .page-header {
   padding: $spacer 0 $spacer/2 0;
-
   display: flex;
   justify-content: flex-end;
   align-items: flex-end;
@@ -40,7 +43,7 @@
   border-top: 0;
   border-right: 0;
   border-left: 0;
-  border-bottom: 4px solid transparent;
+  border-bottom: 1px solid transparent;
 
   h1 {
     font-style: italic;
diff --git a/public/sass/pages/_login.scss b/public/sass/pages/_login.scss
index 3f3bb020263..a624408c7b1 100644
--- a/public/sass/pages/_login.scss
+++ b/public/sass/pages/_login.scss
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+.login-container {
+  background-image: $page-img-bg; /* this is an experiment */
+  background-position: left;
+  background-size: 60%;
+  background-repeat: no-repeat;
+  min-width: 100%;
+  margin-left: 0;
+  margin-top: -26px; /* BAD HACK - experiement to see how it looks */
+  padding-top: $spacer * 5; /* BAD HACK - experiement to see how it looks */
+}
 
 .login-form {
   display: inline-block;
@@ -6,11 +16,12 @@
 
 .login-box {
   max-width: 700px;
-  margin: $spacer * 2 auto 0 auto;
+  margin: 0 auto; /* was $spacer * 2 auto 0 auto; */
 }
 
 .login-box-logo {
   text-align: center;
+  margin-bottom: $spacer * 2;
   img {
     width: 6rem;
   }
@@ -173,7 +184,7 @@
       width: 125px;
     }
     .icon-gf-grafana_wordmark {
-      top: -90px;
+      top: -5px;
       font-size: 3rem;
     }
   }