[mothered]

I think the ribbon looks a little out of place, but mostly because it's the only place on the page that shows a sense of depth. The grey part of the background, the header and the board are all on the level, then the ribbon is trying to show the illusion of the board and ribbon popping forward. I suspect if the ribbon popped out just a bit less, plus some shadow between the board and background, it may work. Overall I like it but I still like our current too. Perhaps the header could be slimmed like it is now but with the new design.

Yes, as with everything, there's always room for Improvement.

It all comes down to personal preference, therefore (In this case) there's no right or wrong. I fully support what you've mentioned, namely the bits and pieces with the Improvements.