A new theme for a new year

Here it is. My completely (I mean somewhere near complete) new theme.

I’m still not sure what I think about it or how comfortable I am with it. Change is hard sometimes. I’ve struggled with what elements I wanted to include for hours tonight, trying to get something to work right, hoping for that feeling I get when everything is right with the world and the design gods are smiling down on me.

Well, I didn’t quite get that feeling I was hoping for, but I decided to throw the new theme up anyway. Maybe my readers can help me put the finishing touches on this thing.

One of my goals with this theme was to bring some of my work with WordPress to the forefront. There wasn’t enough attention given to my themes before, so I put together something extra at the bottom of the home page. I also wanted to shine a little light on my new feature: my custom design service.

I orginally had only one post excerpt on the home page but felt like it took away from the blog part of the site. Now, I have three post excerpts on the front page, but it pushes the emphasis on the WordPress themes and custom design service below the fold.

Things I like about the theme

  • Less clutter.
  • The design feels more open.
  • Emphasis on content.
  • Smaller sidebar.
  • Fresh design.

Things I don't like about the new theme

  • Main content area may be too big for readability.
  • Not sure if I'm satisfied with the colors, especially the background.
  • Not particularly ecstatic about the sidebar links.
  • Not sure if I like only having excerpts on the home page.
  • Doesn't feel complete.

A work in progress

Since I don’t feel the design is complete, I’ll have to mark this as a work in progress. I’m sure I’ll update little bits here and there throughout the week. I’d rather go ahead and put it up even though it’s not finished, so I can get a feel for how it works with my blog.

Feel free to give me your input. Do you like the new theme? Hate it? What do you think would make it better?