I have this magazine called Inspired Eye (the first issue is free!). I quickly realized how limited BBpress and Vanilla was, I bit the bullet and got simple press. It's totally worth it, it's more serious. It can work out of the box, or if you are like me, you can change nook and crannies (If you break something the good folks of the forum will find you a fix)

http://www.theinspiredeye.net/

I custom designed my icons which I am really proud of:

That looks good to me. And yes - those icons are very nice and I really do know how difficult it can be to make them!
Wish you the very best with the site and especially the forum of course. I hope it goes well and thrives.

second those icons!  nice indeed!  good luck with the site!

Thanks guys