10.Oct.2007 at 6:55 pm | hso
Magazine Style WordPress Themes are “In”
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This review was originally written for wpSnap as a guest author, but due to some pending technical issues, I decided to publish it here instead. If you are one those smart readers who subscribe to both my feed as well as wpSnap blog, you may see this review in both feeds.
Lately, there is a growing trend in the WordPress theme design community to produce high-end, premium, magazine (or webzine) style work. This was to happen sooner or later, it was only a matter of time before users discovered the full potential of WordPress to power sites outside of their blogs and when that happened, the quest for better themes followed. The obvious progression for designers was towards themes that looked and worked like anything but Kubrick, the result is this new trend. So in recognizing some of the fine work out there, I wish to list in chronological order a few of my personal favorite magazine styled WordPress themes. Note that I personally never wetted my hands into either creating or using any of these themes, I’ll let my friends at wpSnap dissect it for you in terms of usage and codes.
What is currently out there?
If my memory serves me right, Eston (Bond) of Hyalineskies was one of the earliest to venture into uncharted waters. His “Gridlock” theme did not receive as much attention from the rest of the design community, but users no doubt caught on to it and fondly continue using it to this day.
This was shortly followed by “Grid Focus” by Derek (Punsalan). I do not know Derek personally, but I believe his work has always been perky and fresh; his work has his signature styling and stands out of the rest of the pack. Now whether or not Grid Focus is magazine style is debatable and for good reasons, but it fits my definition so I included it.
Along came Brian (Gardner) with a series of premium paid themes based on his Revolution theme. My favorite has to be his latest in the series, the “Revolution-Sports“. The simple act of adding colors to his work makes it super attractive and in my opinion will be highly sort after. Again, my interaction with Brian has been none to barely (on Thought Mechanics), but judging from his work, I should say that he is one of the best.
Arun (Kale’s) “The Morning After” was specifically designed to meet the markets demand of online publishers and webzines powered by WordPress. Frankly I noticed Arun’s work only when this theme was released. His knack for tackling publishing needs using WordPress with this grid-based work highlights his talent and puts him in the ‘must watch designers of tomorrow’ list.
It would be unfair if I missed WP Designer A.K.A Small Potato from this mix; so far he has proved himself as the master of surprises with many of his painstakingly perfect work. His latest work comes to mind when we talk magazine themes, which SP calls “Jello Wala Mello“, to top that, the theme is designed with a dark background, making it one of it’s kind. I could not find a demo of this theme, so we will have to make do with a screen capture, but knowing SP, I am sure his work is impeccable.
This last designer is a friend from South Africa, Adii, who is known for his mini-interview series, has not just one, but two really cool new magazine style themes that will rock your world. The first of his two, “Your Revolution” seems almost like a response to Brian’s work, but my favorite is his second work, “The Block Magazine“. The Domtab Java that once resided on Mark’s site sure can be put to great use as demonstrated in this theme. Overall, this effort tops most others by the inclusion of colors, breaking the monotony, which even I find hard to crack.
So what is in store next?
My prediction is many designers who have been procrastinating (including myself) will hit the drawing boards and crank out magazine style (or at least better quality) WordPress themes! In the past, many have used magazine style as a “buzz word” to attract attention to their work, but now they will have to step up to the plate and actually create themes that work as webzines and work well.
What to watch for while using these themes?
My one complaint with some of these themes has to do with styling for IE, let’s not forget there still are a good chunk of IE users out there, so take a few minutes and fix the paddings.
Also, the pagination for each of these themes is different, even the traditional method requires “noindex” tags for SEO in pages 2 and on, so provide adequate corrections.
Finally, since keyword density is fast becoming the norm for optimizing your site for search engines, the enormous use of excerpt and limited category tag usage might be a tricky proposition for those starting out, so users should watch what they are getting into.
Final thoughts?
The aforementioned designers and their work has set the bars high, which means two things for the WordPress community; one, you can expect better quality themes from designers, and two, it solidifies the notion that WordPress indeed is the best.
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I look forward to caturday!
1. Style » Magazine Style WordPress Themes are “In” | October 10, 2007 #
[...] Sarah J. Gim wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptLately, there is a growing trend in the WordPress theme design community to produce high-end, premium, magazine (or webzine) style work. This was to happen sooner or later, it was only a matter of time before users discovered the full … [...]