diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 70208bb9..77afef7a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,5 +5,7 @@ node_modules
 build
 dist
 share/jupyter/static/components
+share/jupyter/static/css/style.min.css
+share/jupyter/static/css/style.min.css.map
 *.egg-info
 MANIFEST
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 73899606..1218e9ef 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -23,7 +23,11 @@ Basic principles:
     
     # install the Python pargs (-e for editable/development install)
     pip install [-e] .
-    
+
+You will also need `bower` to fetch frontend-javascript and `less` to compile CSS:
+
+    npm install -g bower less
+
 Note on debian/ubuntu machines, you may need to install the `nodejs-legacy` package
 to get node executables to work:
 
diff --git a/jupyterhub/app.py b/jupyterhub/app.py
index d6200166..75548a97 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/app.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/app.py
@@ -9,10 +9,12 @@ import logging
 import os
 from subprocess import Popen
 
+from jinja2 import Environment, FileSystemLoader
+
 import tornado.httpserver
 import tornado.options
 from tornado.ioloop import IOLoop
-from tornado.log import LogFormatter
+from tornado.log import LogFormatter, app_log
 from tornado import gen, web
 
 from IPython.utils.traitlets import (
@@ -25,6 +27,7 @@ from IPython.utils.importstring import import_item
 here = os.path.dirname(__file__)
 
 from .handlers import (
+    Template404,
     RootHandler,
     LoginHandler,
     LogoutHandler,
@@ -36,6 +39,13 @@ from . import orm
 from ._data import DATA_FILES_PATH
 from .utils import url_path_join
 
+
+class RedirectHandler(web.RedirectHandler):
+    def get(self, *a, **kw):
+        self.set_header("mu-redirect", True)
+        app_log.warn("mu redirect: %s -> %s", self.request.path, self._url)
+        return super(RedirectHandler, self).get(*a, **kw)
+
 class JupyterHubApp(Application):
     """An Application for starting a Multi-User Notebook server."""
     data_files_path = Unicode(DATA_FILES_PATH, config=True,
@@ -64,6 +74,10 @@ class JupyterHubApp(Application):
         help="The base URL of the entire application"
     )
     
+    jinja_environment_options = Dict(config=True,
+        help="Supply extra arguments that will be passed to Jinja environment."
+    )
+    
     proxy_cmd = Unicode('configurable-http-proxy', config=True,
         help="""The command to start the http proxy.
         
@@ -157,7 +171,7 @@ class JupyterHubApp(Application):
     
     def _log_format_default(self):
         """override default log format to include time"""
-        return u"%(color)s[%(levelname)1.1s %(asctime)s.%(msecs).03d %(name)s]%(end_color)s %(message)s"
+        return u"H %(color)s[%(levelname)1.1s %(asctime)s.%(msecs).03d %(name)s]%(end_color)s %(message)s"
     
     def init_logging(self):
         # This prevents double log messages because tornado use a root logger that
@@ -191,8 +205,11 @@ class JupyterHubApp(Application):
         self.handlers = self.add_url_prefix(self.hub_prefix, handlers)
         self.handlers.extend([
             (r"/user/([^/]+)/?.*", UserHandler),
-            (r"/", web.RedirectHandler, {"url" : self.hub_prefix}),
+            (r"/?", RedirectHandler, {"url" : self.hub_prefix}),
         ])
+        self.handlers.append(
+            (r'(.*)', Template404)
+        )
     
     def init_db(self):
         # TODO: load state from db for resume
@@ -240,20 +257,28 @@ class JupyterHubApp(Application):
             '--api-ip', self.proxy.api_server.ip,
             '--api-port', str(self.proxy.api_server.port),
             '--default-target', self.hub.server.host,
+            '--log-level=debug',
         ]
         if self.ssl_key:
             cmd.extend(['--ssl-key', self.ssl_key])
         if self.ssl_cert:
             cmd.extend(['--ssl-cert', self.ssl_cert])
+        
 
         self.proxy = Popen(cmd, env=env)
     
     def init_tornado_settings(self):
         """Set up the tornado settings dict."""
         base_url = self.base_url
+        template_path = os.path.join(self.data_files_path, 'templates'),
+        jinja_env = Environment(
+            loader=FileSystemLoader(template_path),
+            **self.jinja_environment_options
+        )
+        
         settings = dict(
             config=self.config,
-            # log=self.log,
+            log=self.log,
             db=self.db,
             hub=self.hub,
             authenticator=import_item(self.authenticator)(config=self.config),
@@ -261,8 +286,10 @@ class JupyterHubApp(Application):
             base_url=base_url,
             cookie_secret=self.cookie_secret,
             login_url=url_path_join(self.hub.server.base_url, 'login'),
-            template_path=os.path.join(self.data_files_path, 'templates'),
-            static_files_path=os.path.join(self.data_files_path, 'static'),
+            static_path=os.path.join(self.data_files_path, 'static'),
+            static_url_prefix=url_path_join(self.hub.server.base_url, 'static/'),
+            template_path=template_path,
+            jinja2_env=jinja_env,
         )
         # allow configured settings to have priority
         settings.update(self.tornado_settings)
diff --git a/jupyterhub/handlers.py b/jupyterhub/handlers.py
index 743f2d39..3fc53bb1 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/handlers.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/handlers.py
@@ -5,9 +5,16 @@
 
 import json
 import re
+try:
+    # py3
+    from http.client import responses
+except ImportError:
+    from httplib import responses
 
 import requests
 
+from jinja2 import TemplateNotFound
+
 from tornado.log import app_log
 from tornado.escape import url_escape
 from tornado.httputil import url_concat
@@ -54,26 +61,97 @@ class BaseHandler(RequestHandler):
                 return cookie_token.user.name
             else:
                 # have cookie, but it's not valid. Clear it and start over.
-                self.clear_cookie(self.hub.server.cookie_name)
+                self.clear_cookie(self.hub.server.cookie_name, path=self.hub.server.base_url)
     
     def clear_login_cookie(self):
         username = self.get_current_user()
         if username is not None:
             user = self.db.query(orm.User).filter(name=username).first()
-            if user is not None:
+            if user is not None and user.server is not None:
                 self.clear_cookie(user.server.cookie_name, path=user.server.base_url)
-        self.clear_cookie(self.cookie_name, path=self.hub.base_url)
+        self.clear_cookie(self.hub.server.cookie_name, path=self.hub.server.base_url)
     
     @property
     def spawner_class(self):
         return self.settings.get('spawner_class', LocalProcessSpawner)
+    
+    #---------------------------------------------------------------
+    # template rendering
+    #---------------------------------------------------------------
+    
+    def get_template(self, name):
+        """Return the jinja template object for a given name"""
+        return self.settings['jinja2_env'].get_template(name)
+    
+    def render_template(self, name, **ns):
+        ns.update(self.template_namespace)
+        template = self.get_template(name)
+        return template.render(**ns)
+    
+    @property
+    def logged_in(self):
+        """Is a user currently logged in?"""
+        user = self.get_current_user()
+        return (user and not user == 'anonymous')
+    
+    @property
+    def template_namespace(self):
+        return dict(
+            base_url=self.base_url,
+            logged_in=self.logged_in,
+            login_url=self.settings['login_url'],
+            static_url=self.static_url,
+        )
+    
+    def write_error(self, status_code, **kwargs):
+        """render custom error pages"""
+        exc_info = kwargs.get('exc_info')
+        message = ''
+        status_message = responses.get(status_code, 'Unknown HTTP Error')
+        if exc_info:
+            exception = exc_info[1]
+            # get the custom message, if defined
+            try:
+                message = exception.log_message % exception.args
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+            
+            # construct the custom reason, if defined
+            reason = getattr(exception, 'reason', '')
+            if reason:
+                status_message = reason
+        
+        # build template namespace
+        ns = dict(
+            status_code=status_code,
+            status_message=status_message,
+            message=message,
+            exception=exception,
+        )
+        
+        self.set_header('Content-Type', 'text/html')
+        # render the template
+        try:
+            html = self.render_template('%s.html' % status_code, **ns)
+        except TemplateNotFound:
+            self.log.debug("No template for %d", status_code)
+            html = self.render_template('error.html', **ns)
+        
+        self.write(html)
+
+
+class Template404(BaseHandler):
+    """Render our 404 template"""
+    def prepare(self):
+        raise web.HTTPError(404)
 
 
 class RootHandler(BaseHandler):
     """Redirect from / to /user/foo/ after logging in."""
     @web.authenticated
     def get(self):
-        self.redirect("/user/%s/" % self.get_current_user())
+        uri = "/user/%s/" % self.get_current_user()
+        self.redirect(uri, permanent=False)
 
 
 class UserHandler(BaseHandler):
@@ -98,24 +176,25 @@ class LogoutHandler(BaseHandler):
     """Log a user out by clearing their login cookie."""
     def get(self):
         self.clear_login_cookie()
-        self.write("logged out")
+        html = self.render_template('logout.html')
+        self.finish(html)
 
 class LoginHandler(BaseHandler):
     """Render the login page."""
 
     def _render(self, message=None, username=None):
-        self.render('login.html',
+        return self.render_template('login.html',
                 next=url_escape(self.get_argument('next', default='')),
                 username=username,
                 message=message,
         )
 
     def get(self):
-        if False and self.get_current_user():
-            self.redirect(self.get_argument('next', default='/'))
+        if self.get_argument('next', False) and self.get_current_user():
+            self.redirect(self.get_argument('next'))
         else:
             username = self.get_argument('username', default='')
-            self._render(username=username)
+            self.finish(self._render(username=username))
     
     @gen.coroutine
     def notify_proxy(self, user):
@@ -211,13 +290,15 @@ class LoginHandler(BaseHandler):
                 user = yield self.spawn_single_user(username)
             self.set_login_cookies(user)
             next_url = self.get_argument('next', default='') or '/user/%s/' % username
+            print('next', next_url)
             self.redirect(next_url)
         else:
             self.log.debug("Failed login for %s", username)
-            self._render(
+            html = self._render(
                 message={'error': 'Invalid username or password'},
                 username=username,
             )
+            self.finish(html)
 
 
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 19414f5d..924f94af 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -42,9 +42,12 @@ except NameError:
         locs = locs or globs
         exec(compile(open(fname).read(), fname, "exec"), globs, locs)
 
-here = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
 pjoin = os.path.join
 
+here = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
+share_jupyter = pjoin(here, 'share', 'jupyter')
+static = pjoin(share_jupyter, 'static')
+
 #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Build basic package data, etc.
 #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -53,7 +56,6 @@ def get_data_files():
     """Get data files in share/jupyter"""
     
     data_files = []
-    share_jupyter = pjoin(here, 'share', 'jupyter')
     ntrim = len(here) + 1
     
     for (d, dirs, filenames) in os.walk(share_jupyter):
@@ -117,19 +119,41 @@ class Bower(Command):
     
     def run(self):
         check_call(['bower', 'install', '--allow-root'])
+        # update data-files in case this created new files
         self.distribution.data_files = get_data_files()
+
+class CSS(Command):
+    description = "compile CSS from LESS"
     
-    def get_outputs(self):
-        return []
+    user_options = []
     
-    def get_inputs(self):
-        return []
+    def initialize_options(self):
+        pass
+    
+    def finalize_options(self):
+        pass
+    
+    def run(self):
+        style_less = pjoin(static, 'less', 'style.less')
+        style_css = pjoin(static, 'css', 'style.min.css')
+        sourcemap = style_css + '.map'
+        check_call([
+            'lessc', '-x', '--verbose',
+            '--source-map-basepath={}'.format(static),
+            '--source-map={}'.format(sourcemap),
+            '--source-map-rootpath=../',
+            style_less, style_css,
+        ])
+        # update data-files in case this created new files
+        self.distribution.data_files = get_data_files()
 
 # ensure bower is run as part of install
 install.sub_commands.insert(0, ('bower', None))
+install.sub_commands.insert(1, ('css', None))
 
 setup_args['cmdclass'] = {
     'bower': Bower,
+    'css': CSS,
 }
 
 # setuptools requirements
diff --git a/share/jupyter/static/images/jupyterlogo.png b/share/jupyter/static/images/jupyterlogo.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..21f404e0
Binary files /dev/null and b/share/jupyter/static/images/jupyterlogo.png differ
diff --git a/share/jupyter/static/less/error.less b/share/jupyter/static/less/error.less
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0a1eadb0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/share/jupyter/static/less/error.less
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+div.error {
+  margin: 2em;
+  text-align: center;
+}
+
+div.error > h1 {
+    font-size: 500%;
+    line-height: normal;
+}
+
+div.error > p {
+    font-size: 200%;
+    line-height: normal;
+}
+
+div.traceback-wrapper {
+    text-align: left;
+    max-width: 800px;
+    margin: auto;
+}
diff --git a/share/jupyter/static/less/logout.less b/share/jupyter/static/less/logout.less
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2e579363
--- /dev/null
+++ b/share/jupyter/static/less/logout.less
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+div.logout-main {
+  margin: 2em;
+  text-align: center;
+}
+
+div.logout-main > h1 {
+    font-size: 400%;
+    line-height: normal;
+}
+
+div.logout-main > p {
+    font-size: 200%;
+    line-height: normal;
+}
diff --git a/share/jupyter/static/less/page.less b/share/jupyter/static/less/page.less
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5366572c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/share/jupyter/static/less/page.less
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+.jpy-logo {
+  height: 48px;
+}
diff --git a/share/jupyter/static/less/style.less b/share/jupyter/static/less/style.less
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..41a0522c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/share/jupyter/static/less/style.less
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/*!
+*
+* Twitter Bootstrap
+*
+*/
+@import "../components/bootstrap/less/bootstrap.less";
+@import "../components/bootstrap/less/responsive-utilities.less";
+
+/*!
+*
+* Font Awesome
+*
+*/
+@import "../components/font-awesome/less/font-awesome.less";
+@fa-font-path:    "../components/font-awesome/fonts";
+
+/*!
+*
+* Jupyter
+*
+*/
+
+@import "./variables.less";
+@import "./page.less";
+@import "./error.less";
+@import "./logout.less";
diff --git a/share/jupyter/static/less/variables.less b/share/jupyter/static/less/variables.less
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/share/jupyter/templates/404.html b/share/jupyter/templates/404.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..67c4ac09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/share/jupyter/templates/404.html
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{% extends "error.html" %}
+
+{% block error_detail %}
+<p>Jupyter has lots of moons, but this is not one...</p>
+{% endblock %}
+
diff --git a/share/jupyter/templates/error.html b/share/jupyter/templates/error.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b86ca639
--- /dev/null
+++ b/share/jupyter/templates/error.html
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+{% extends "page.html" %}
+
+{% block login_widget %}
+{% endblock %}
+
+{% block main %}
+
+<div class="error">
+    {% block h1_error %}
+    <h1>{{status_code}} : {{status_message}}</h1>
+    {% endblock h1_error %}
+    {% block error_detail %}
+    {% if message %}
+    <p>The error was:</p>
+    <div class="traceback-wrapper">
+    <pre class="traceback">{{message}}</pre>
+    </div>
+    {% endif %}
+    {% endblock %}
+</header>
+
+{% endblock %}
diff --git a/share/jupyter/templates/login.html b/share/jupyter/templates/login.html
index 0efa7cee..b36170ba 100644
--- a/share/jupyter/templates/login.html
+++ b/share/jupyter/templates/login.html
@@ -1,18 +1,44 @@
-<html>
-<head>
-    
-</head>
-<body>
-    {% if message %}
-    <div id="message">{{message}}</div>
-    {% end if %}
-    <form action="?next={{next}}" method="post">
-      <input type="text" name="username" id="user_input" value="{{username}}">
-      <input type="password" name="password" id="password_input">
-      <button type="submit" id="login_submit">Log in</button>
-    </form>
+{% extends "page.html" %}
 
-<script type="text/javascript">
-</script>
-</body>
-</html>
\ No newline at end of file
+
+{% block login_widget %}
+{% endblock %}
+
+{% block site %}
+
+<div id="login-main" class="container">
+  <div class="row">
+    <form action="{{login_url}}?next={{next}}" method="post" role="form">
+      <div class="col-lg-6">
+        <div class="input-group">
+          <span class="input-group-addon">Username:</span>
+          <input type="username" class="form-control" name="username" id="username_input" val="{{username}}">
+        </div>
+      </div>
+      <div class="col-lg-6">
+        <div class="input-group">
+          <span class="input-group-addon">Password:</span>
+          <input type="password" class="form-control" name="password" id="password_input">
+          <span class="input-group-btn">
+            <button type="submit" id="login_submit" class="btn btn-default">Log in</button>
+          </span>
+        </div>
+      </div>
+    </form>
+  </div>
+  {% if message %}
+  <div class="row">
+    <div class="message">
+      {{message}}
+    </div>
+  </div>
+  {% endif %}
+<div/>
+
+{% endblock %}
+
+
+{% block script %}
+{{super()}}
+
+{% endblock %}
diff --git a/share/jupyter/templates/logout.html b/share/jupyter/templates/logout.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e394f2b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/share/jupyter/templates/logout.html
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+{% extends "page.html" %}
+
+{% block login_widget %}
+{% endblock %}
+
+{% block main %}
+
+<div class="container logout-main">
+  <h1>You have been logged out</h1>
+  <p><a href="{base_url}login">Log in again...</a></p>
+<div/>
+
+{% endblock %}
diff --git a/share/jupyter/templates/page.html b/share/jupyter/templates/page.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4af4fd0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/share/jupyter/templates/page.html
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+<!DOCTYPE HTML>
+<html>
+
+<head>
+    <meta charset="utf-8">
+
+    <title>{% block title %}Jupyter Hub{% endblock %}</title>
+    <link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon" href="{{static_url("images/favicon.ico") }}">
+    <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="chrome=1">
+    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
+    
+    {% block stylesheet %}
+    <link rel="stylesheet" href="{{ static_url("css/style.min.css") }}" type="text/css"/>
+    {% endblock %}
+    <script src="{{static_url("components/requirejs/require.js") }}" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
+    <script>
+      require.config({
+          baseUrl: '{{static_url("", include_version=False)}}',
+          paths: {
+            jquery: 'components/jquery/jquery.min',
+            bootstrap: 'components/bootstrap/js/bootstrap.min',
+            moment: "components/moment/moment",
+          },
+          shim: {
+            bootstrap: {
+              deps: ["jquery"],
+              exports: "bootstrap"
+            },
+          }
+      });
+    </script>
+
+    {% block meta %}
+    {% endblock %}
+
+</head>
+
+<body {% block params %}{% endblock %}>
+
+<noscript>
+  <div id='noscript'>
+    Jupyter Hub requires JavaScript.<br>
+    Please enable it to proceed.
+  </div>
+</noscript>
+
+<div id="header" class="navbar navbar-static-top">
+  <div class="container">
+  <span id="jupyterlogo" class="pull-left"><a href="{{base_url}}home/" alt='dashboard'><img src='{{static_url("images/jupyterlogo.png") }}' alt='Jupyter Hub' class='jpy-logo'/></a></span>
+
+  {% block login_widget %}
+
+    <span id="login_widget">
+      {% if logged_in %}
+        <button id="logout">Logout</button>
+      {% else %}
+        <button id="login">Login</button>
+      {% endif %}
+    </span>
+
+  {% endblock %}
+
+  {% block header %}
+  {% endblock %}
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+{% block main %}
+{% endblock %}
+
+{% block script %}
+{% endblock %}
+
+</body>
+
+</html>