diff --git a/src/app/api/newsletter/subscribers/route.ts b/src/app/api/newsletter/subscribers/route.ts
index 35c8d58..a79576a 100644
--- a/src/app/api/newsletter/subscribers/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/newsletter/subscribers/route.ts
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
       <!-- Header -->
       <div style="background:#111;border-bottom:2px solid #1D4ED8;padding:24px 32px;">
         <h1 style="color:#1D4ED8;font-size:22px;margin:0;font-weight:bold;">AV Beat</h1>
-        <p style="color:#555;font-size:12px;margin:4px 0 0;">News & Intelligence for Pro AV, Live Production & Display Tech</p>
+        <p style="color:#555;font-size:12px;margin:4px 0 0;">Pro AV, Display and Live Production Tech</p>
       </div>
       <!-- Body -->
       <div style="padding:32px;">
diff --git a/src/app/home-page/components/ArticleFeed.tsx b/src/app/home-page/components/ArticleFeed.tsx
index b22a862..54bba22 100644
--- a/src/app/home-page/components/ArticleFeed.tsx
+++ b/src/app/home-page/components/ArticleFeed.tsx
@@ -624,7 +624,7 @@ export default function ArticleFeed() {
                           </span>
                         )}
                       </div>
-                      <h3 className="font-heading text-[#e0e0e0] font-bold text-[0.875rem] md:text-[1rem] leading-snug mb-1 md:mb-1.5 group-hover:text-[#1D4ED8] transition-colors duration-200 line-clamp-2">
+                      <h3 className="font-heading text-[#0F172A] font-bold text-[0.875rem] md:text-[1rem] leading-snug mb-1 md:mb-1.5 group-hover:text-[#1D4ED8] transition-colors duration-200 line-clamp-2">
                         <Link
                           href={articleHref}
                           {...linkProps}
@@ -644,14 +644,7 @@ export default function ArticleFeed() {
                           <span className="font-body truncate">
                             By {article?.author}
                           </span>
-                          {article?.date && (
-                            <>
-                              <span aria-hidden="true" className="text-[#333]">·</span>
-                              <time className="font-body whitespace-nowrap" dateTime={article.date}>
-                                {article.date}
-                              </time>
-                            </>
-                          )}
+                          {/* Date intentionally hidden on Industry News cards per current design direction. */}
                         </div>
                         <Link
                           href={articleHref}
diff --git a/src/app/home-page/page.tsx b/src/app/home-page/page.tsx
index b4fa6f1..0e1b539 100644
--- a/src/app/home-page/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/home-page/page.tsx
@@ -12,8 +12,14 @@ import NewsletterSignup from "./components/NewsletterSignup";
 import SponsorLogoStrip from "@/components/SponsorLogoStrip";
 import CompanyMentionsHover from "@/components/CompanyMentionsHover";
 
+// force-dynamic so the homepage re-renders on every request — the hero
+// component (FeaturedBentoFromDb) reads from supabase live and breaks
+// when the parent page is statically prerendered.
+export const dynamic = 'force-dynamic';
+export const revalidate = 0;
+
 export const metadata: Metadata = {
-  title: 'AV Beat — Pro AV, Live Production & Display Tech News',
+  title: 'AV Beat — Pro AV, Display and Live Production Tech',
   description: 'The digital platform for pro AV, live production, and display tech professionals. Breaking news, deep-dive features, and industry spotlights from InfoComm to ISE and beyond.',
   alternates: {
     canonical: '/',
diff --git a/src/app/layout.tsx b/src/app/layout.tsx
index 0efe0e6..1d88609 100644
--- a/src/app/layout.tsx
+++ b/src/app/layout.tsx
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ export const viewport: Viewport = {
 
 export const metadata: Metadata = {
   metadataBase: new URL(process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL || 'http://localhost:3000'),
-  title: 'AV Beat — Pro AV, Live Production & Display Tech News',
+  title: 'AV Beat — Pro AV, Display and Live Production Tech',
   description: 'The digital platform for pro AV, live production, and display tech professionals. Breaking news, deep-dive features, and industry spotlights from InfoComm to ISE and beyond.',
   icons: {
     icon: [
@@ -59,14 +59,14 @@ export const metadata: Metadata = {
     locale: 'en_US',
     url: '/',
     siteName: 'AV Beat',
-    title: 'AV Beat — Pro AV, Live Production & Display Tech',
+    title: 'AV Beat — Pro AV, Display and Live Production Tech',
     description: 'Breaking news and insights for pro AV, live production, and display tech professionals.',
     images: [
     {
       url: '/assets/images/og-image.png',
       width: 1200,
       height: 630,
-      alt: 'AV Beat — Pro AV, Live Production & Display Tech News',
+      alt: 'AV Beat — Pro AV, Display and Live Production Tech',
       type: 'image/png'
     }]
 
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ export const metadata: Metadata = {
     card: 'summary_large_image',
     site: '@AV Beat',
     creator: '@AV Beat',
-    title: 'AV Beat — Pro AV, Live Production & Display Tech',
+    title: 'AV Beat — Pro AV, Display and Live Production Tech',
     description: 'Breaking news and insights for pro AV, live production, and display tech professionals.',
     images: ['/assets/images/og-image.png']
   },
diff --git a/src/app/news/NewsPageClient.tsx b/src/app/news/NewsPageClient.tsx
index 5eeec62..a7838af 100644
--- a/src/app/news/NewsPageClient.tsx
+++ b/src/app/news/NewsPageClient.tsx
@@ -226,33 +226,7 @@ export default function NewsPage({
             </div>
           </div>
 
-          {/* Row 2: Category chips */}
-          <div className="flex items-center gap-2 flex-wrap">
-            <span className="text-[#555] text-[10px] font-body uppercase tracking-wider shrink-0">Topics:</span>
-            <div className="flex gap-1.5 flex-wrap">
-              {CATEGORIES.map((cat) => (
-                <button
-                  key={cat}
-                  onClick={() => setActiveCategory(cat)}
-                  className={`px-2.5 py-1 text-[11px] font-body rounded-sm border transition-colors ${
-                    activeCategory === cat
-                      ? "bg-[#1D4ED8] border-[#1D4ED8] text-white"
-                      : "bg-[#FFFFFF] border-[#DCE6F2] text-[#888] hover:border-[#1D4ED8] hover:text-[#1D4ED8]"
-                  }`}
-                >
-                  {cat}
-                </button>
-              ))}
-            </div>
-            {hasActiveFilters && (
-              <button
-                onClick={clearFilters}
-                className="ml-auto text-[11px] font-body text-[#555] hover:text-[#e0e0e0] underline transition-colors shrink-0"
-              >
-                Clear all
-              </button>
-            )}
-          </div>
+          {/* Topics chip row hidden per current design direction (2026-06-03). */}
         </div>
       </div>
 
@@ -285,7 +259,7 @@ export default function NewsPage({
                     <Link
                       key={article.slug}
                       href={`/news/${article.slug}`}
-                      className="flex gap-4 py-5 border-b border-[#222] group hover:bg-[#111] transition-colors px-2 -mx-2">
+                      className="flex gap-4 py-5 border-b border-[#DCE6F2] group hover:bg-[#EFF6FF] transition-colors px-2 -mx-2 rounded-sm">
                       <div className="flex-shrink-0 w-[160px] h-[105px] relative overflow-hidden rounded-sm">
                         <AppImage
                           src={article.image || "/assets/images/article-placeholder.jpg"}
@@ -299,7 +273,7 @@ export default function NewsPage({
                         <div className="flex items-center gap-2 mb-1.5">
                           <span className="text-[#1D4ED8] font-body text-[10px] font-bold uppercase tracking-wider">{article.category || "NEWS"}</span>
                         </div>
-                        <h2 className="font-heading text-[#e0e0e0] text-base font-bold leading-snug mb-2 group-hover:text-[#1D4ED8] transition-colors line-clamp-2">
+                        <h2 className="font-heading text-[#0F172A] text-base font-bold leading-snug mb-2 group-hover:text-[#1D4ED8] transition-colors line-clamp-2">
                           {article.title || "Untitled"}
                         </h2>
                         <p className="text-[#777] font-body text-sm leading-relaxed line-clamp-2">{article.excerpt || ""}</p>
diff --git a/src/app/rss/route.ts b/src/app/rss/route.ts
index 1cfcb5f..fccd916 100644
--- a/src/app/rss/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/rss/route.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ export async function GET() {
     <title>AV Beat</title>
     <link>${SITE_URL}</link>
     <atom:link href="${SITE_URL}/rss" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
-    <description>News &amp; Intelligence for Pro AV, Live Production &amp; Display Tech</description>
+    <description>Pro AV, Display and Live Production Tech</description>
     <language>en-us</language>
     <lastBuildDate>${new Date().toUTCString()}</lastBuildDate>
 ${items}
diff --git a/src/components/Header.tsx b/src/components/Header.tsx
index 2a31319..4c1d70d 100644
--- a/src/components/Header.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Header.tsx
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ export default function Header() {
     <div className="relative">
       {/* MAIN NAV */}
       <div className={`sticky top-0 z-50 transition-shadow duration-200 ${scrolled ? "shadow-nav" : ""}`}>
-        <nav className="bg-[#F8FAFC] border-b border-[#DCE6F2]" role="navigation" aria-label="Main navigation">
+        <nav className="bg-[#1D4ED8] border-b border-[#1E3A8A] text-white" role="navigation" aria-label="Main navigation">
           <div className="max-w-container mx-auto px-4">
             <div className="flex items-center justify-between h-[96px] gap-4">
               {/* Logo — links to homepage. Responsive lockup:
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ export default function Header() {
                       key={link?.label}
                       href={link?.href}
                       ref={(el) => { navLinksRef.current[i] = el; }}
-                      className="px-2 py-2.5 text-sm font-body font-bold uppercase tracking-wide text-[#cccccc] hover:text-accent hover:bg-[#FFFFFF] border-b border-[#222] transition-colors focus:outline-none focus-visible:ring-1 focus-visible:ring-inset focus-visible:ring-[#1D4ED8]"
+                      className="px-2 py-2.5 text-sm font-body font-bold uppercase tracking-wide text-white hover:text-white/80 hover:bg-[#1E3A8A] border-b border-[#222] transition-colors focus:outline-none focus-visible:ring-1 focus-visible:ring-inset focus-visible:ring-[#1D4ED8]"
                       onClick={() => setMobileOpen(false)}>
                       {link?.label}
                     </Link>
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ export default function Header() {
                   {/* Reading List mobile link */}
                   <Link
                     href="/reading-list"
-                    className="px-2 py-2.5 text-sm font-body font-bold uppercase tracking-wide text-[#cccccc] hover:text-accent hover:bg-[#FFFFFF] border-b border-[#222] transition-colors focus:outline-none focus-visible:ring-1 focus-visible:ring-inset focus-visible:ring-[#1D4ED8] flex items-center gap-2"
+                    className="px-2 py-2.5 text-sm font-body font-bold uppercase tracking-wide text-white hover:text-white/80 hover:bg-[#1E3A8A] border-b border-[#222] transition-colors focus:outline-none focus-visible:ring-1 focus-visible:ring-inset focus-visible:ring-[#1D4ED8] flex items-center gap-2"
                     onClick={() => setMobileOpen(false)}>
                     <svg width="14" height="14" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" strokeWidth="2" aria-hidden="true">
                       <path d="M19 21l-7-5-7 5V5a2 2 0 0 1 2-2h10a2 2 0 0 1 2 2z" />
@@ -420,7 +420,7 @@ export default function Header() {
       <div className="max-w-container mx-auto px-4">
         <div className="bg-[#FFFFFF] border-b border-[#2a3a50] h-8 flex items-center justify-between px-4">
           <p className="text-[#999999] text-xs font-body hidden sm:block">
-            News & Intelligence for Pro AV, Live Production & Display Tech
+            Pro AV, Display and Live Production Tech
           </p>
           <div className="flex items-center gap-3 ml-auto">
             <a href="https://linkedin.com/company/avbeat" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="AV Beat on LinkedIn"