Here is my take on your scenario: Think about your potential user Joe, when he first hits your home page, with distinctive UI. Will he think 'Oh... this looks

Here is my take on your scenario: Think about your potential user Joe, when he first hits your home page, with distinctive UI. Will he think 'Oh... this looks cool! Let me mess with this, even though I'm not really sure how this is going to work' ? Probably not, unless you have a really compelling value proposition to offer that would be instantly obvious to him. If your site does have such characteristics, go ahead and 'roll your own', by all means. Otherwise, I'd suggest you go with a commonly prevailing/understood/acceptable design/UI to begin with, as it should facilitate higher rates of user acquisition (i.e. conversion) in relatively shorter time-frames. There's nothing to stop you from re-branding (gently, gradually?) once you have achieved critical mass or a sizeable user base. HTH [Not really a designer here, but someone (who likes to think of myself as) having a good eye for designs/branding and UI engineering, with a good bit of experience at getting such things done.]