One thing about the global message is that you need to make it bold (<strong> tags are provided by default for this purpose), and perhaps increase the font-size depending on the urgency/immediacy of the message

On Windows, the default Sakomoto theme uses MS PGothic - a single pixel-wide red (#ff0000) font on a warm-white (#ffffee) background is quite difficult to see and read. It doesn't jump out at you the way a slightly thicker font would