Creative WordPress Themes For Artists
Posted by Franziska on Aug 18, 2011 in Blog | 10 commentsAfter a long time of research and many attempts to build a nice, clean and good-looking website, I finally found a great theme builder. The themes that I have been using previously were all great and they definitely served the purpose. All I needed was an SEO friendly blog where I can add plugins and connect to my readers and online friends.
So far, I used two separate websites, one for my blog and another one for my artwork. But now, I wanted it all on one website. And for that I needed a theme that supports an online gallery. I thought a photography blog theme would work but I soon found out that they are great if you focus solely on pictures. But I wanted both: text and photos.
My scream for help was heard and I got a great suggestion from an online friend who recommended Elegant Themes. When I browsed through their templates, I figured that this is what I was looking for. When my husband came home in the evening, I told him about it but I was skeptical because the themes are not free. You know what he said? “If you want free, you get free -don’t expect the free stuff to be great! It’s always the same, people want great products but are not willing to pay for it. There was someone who put a lot of effort into building these sites and you don’t want to pay them?!”. I felt a little ashamed that I am one of those cheapos and I realized how right he is…
With Elegant Themes you get much more than just one template. They have an assortment of more than 70 themes, you can download all of them and pick and choose. There is a membership fee of $39 per year and you can end it any time if you wish. Also, they have a support forum, a help section and videos.
Here’s a link to ElegantThemes, just click on the image:
I am not done yet filling in all the information and adding all my paintings including paypal buttons and all the plugins that I love. It’s so much fun figuring out how all this works! So what do you think of the new look of my blog? And what do you use?
So great to hear you’ve got your theme sorted out and are almost there with all your refurbishment Franziska. I was reading this post with interest and had a thought about what you said.
I had a chat with my husband about it and this is what he said. First of all he does his support help on the wp site for free as do all the others but he loves it because he learns valuable things every day by digging into problems. He also said that the other guys who offer the free themes are all great designers and are passionate about what they do and that is their way of giving to the community. So free doesn’t mean less value in this case.
He also said that the free themes contain all the basics but that there is nothing you can’t add and adapt in them. They just look simple so that people who need ‘simple’ can deal with them, but that they can be as complex as you need them.
So accepting these themes doesn’t mean you are a ‘cheapo’ at all Franziska. You can then spend money on building your chosen one into something that really suits you. And you can pay the designer himself to help you further. Most of these guys gladly do commissions for people. So it’s a win win.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. It was good to reflect.
Fiona Stolze
Inspired Art and Living
http://fionastolze.com
Fiona Stolze recently posted..Inspired by Gangaji’s Biography ‘Just Like You’.
Hi Fiona,
thank you so much for your very long comment! I definitely get what you are saying and I always make sure I donate something to all these great people who offer their work for free (especially the plugins). They spend so much time and passion doing all theses great things!
A couple of days ago, I was even thinking to build my own templates. I have gone very far with studying codes and digging into how these themes are built.
In the end, I think I made a good decision buying this one because I can go into the codes myself and make changes which you can’t do with most themes -even though I know you can always add stuff with plugins. They definitely have great value but I think with a complete support team you get quite a lot more. Always depending what you are looking for.
Thanks for sharing your perspective
Franziska
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..Creative WordPress Themes For Artists
..oh and I didn’t want to give the impression that I am not grateful for all those dedicated creative heads out there who offer their services for free! Without them my blog wouldn’t be running the way it is
xxx
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..Creative WordPress Themes For Artists
Congrats Franziska! It looks really nice and clean. Very Classy!
jennifer ressmann recently posted..Tissue Box Transformation
Thanks Jennifer, I am glad you like it
Still a ton of work to do but I am on a good way!!
Franziska
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..Creative WordPress Themes For Artists
Yes. You know they seem to always be a work in progress and then some more progress.
Hi Franziska,
Your blog is gorgeous! I once used Elegant Themes and I thought that it looked great right out of the box; however, attempting to customize it was too time-consuming for me. It sounds as though you have found a theme that fits your content and goals for the site.
Rachel Lavern recently posted..Get Totally Obsessed With Imagination
Hi Rachel,
I really love the layout and the design. Your blog looks pretty nice with your template, I had a look into yours as well and compared. I think ET makes sense when you want to display a lot of pictures and have separate pages for them otherwise it’s too much work, I definitely agree with you.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment
Franziska
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..Creative WordPress Themes For Artists
I have absolutely no objection to paying for value in a web tool. I have spent hours customizing my Twenty Ten theme with plugins and code changes. Changing the typeface, for example, required a tutorial from my web buddy Rob Cubbon, and darned if I can remember how I did it! I plan to build other sites and would happily pay to have my upgrades “cloned” in a commercial theme that would save me the effort of doing it all over again.
Astro Gremlin recently posted..Art for Art’s Sake?
You are so right! Building the right theme takes so much time and effort (I can tell you a thing or two about it, too…). It would have been great if you had documented what you created… But I am hoping you have the perfect theme for your purpose and that it works great
Next time, document it and then sell it to others, they will thank you for all the work you invested!
Thanks for leaving a comment,
Franziska