Category Archives: Design

Graphic and web design, interesting visual innovations, visual inspiration and conceptual theories from the weird and wonderful world of design.

What do you look for in a “premium grade” WordPress theme?

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… Is it an advanced feature set? Is it a cutting edge design? Is it a combination of both with a sprinkling of pixie dust for extra magic? What do you look for in a “premium grade” WordPress theme? I use the term “premium grade” as I’m not refering specifically to paid-for or “premium” WordPress themes, but rather to themes of a high standard.

With such a vast array of free (and paid-for) WordPress themes on the market today, it’s easy to get lost, wading through the thousands of themes available. As many of the themes are user created, and not everyone has experience or training as a web designer or developer, users get presented with many sub-par WordPress themes. In contrast to this, the themes market is becoming more and more advanced on a daily basis, opening doors for users to experiment with more advanced, theme specific, functionality, enhancing their themes and making them unique and personalised.

With this advancement in the “premium grade” themes market, users are also becoming more expectant, and critical, of the themes which they are presented. It is becoming more common and expected for a theme to have a clever design hook of sorts, some nifty Javascript or an additional “unique” custom feature, if not all three.

So my question is; “What makes a theme ‘premium grade’ in your eyes?”

Win a signature series WordPress theme

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So, the good fellows at Obox Design are delving into the WordPress themes zone. Over the past few months, there has been much discussion, and a few sneak peaks, of “Hash One”, the first in the Obox Signature Series of WordPress themes.

“Hash One” has had an awesome amount of work put into it and is set to include several theme specific features, courtesy of the Obox development department (aka. Mr. Marc). The dudes (and lady) at Obox are running a competition to get a chance to own 1 or approximately 40 unique versions of the “Hash One” theme. Here’s how it’s done:

1. Find the tweet on Twitter sent out by @obox (or @MarcPerel or @NatPerel) discussing the Obox Signature Series theme, “Hash One”.
2. Retweet the above-mentioned tweet.
3. Visit your profile page and get the direct link to the tweet you just made.
4. Paste this URL  into a comment on From-the-Couch with a message.

That’s it. An easy 4 step process to get yourself in the running for this really cool theme. For screenshots of the theme and a bit more about the features and whatnot, visit From-the-Couch.

5+ Websites for daily inspiration and fun

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Inspiration is a feeling that can arrive in an endless variety of packages…from neatly wrapped parcels to boxes bursting at the seams to explode. Being at a computer for a large part of the day, I find inspiration in many nooks and crannies online. There are a few websites that I visit regularly that I find to be great sources of knowledge and information, in addition to offline activities that spark inspiration. Below is a list of a few websites that create inspiration, as well as a bit of fun reading for after the inspiration boost has subsided. Continue reading →

Design Dosage – Daily Inspiration

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“Inspiration! Get your inspiration here! Step right up! Step right up!”

Designers and developers alike are always searching the web for the latest trends in design and code. There are many websites offering tutorials, tips and commentary on the latest innovations in the web fabric. Design Dosage is a recent addition to that list.

A new-comer on the scene, Design Dosage offers a different category for each day of the week, covering a range of popular design and development search terms. A week at Design Dosage looks like this:

Designers are also able to submit their work to Design Dosage for feature in a particular category. Only the very best work is featured, keeping a high standard of work on the gallery.

This project is, in my opinion, a great display of what South Africans are up to on the web. The base theme used for the gallery is the free ‘Snapshot‘ theme, created by Woothemes, and the project itself was started and is maintained by a South African web designer. Keep up the inspiration guys! :)

For a daily dose of design inspiration, visit http://www.designdosage.com.

What are your thoughts on Design Dosage? Got anything to say to the creator? Share in the comments below.