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These six themes are at the forefront of modern, minimalist, typographically interesting WordPress theme design.

I’ve moonlighted as a blog designer, a design consultant and write design reviews every week at ProBlogger. I write on usability, simplicity and minimalism in design. This stuff is important to me, and my criteria for good blog design is difficult to meet. Yep — I’m picky and proud of it.

There are thousands of free WordPress themes available, and of those thousands, I’ve seen hundreds. Of those hundreds, I would only use a few. Less than ten, in fact: themes I consider simple, usable, elegant, modern and uncluttered. Themes that emphasize what’s important and de-emphasize what isn’t.

If you’ve been thinking about a redesign for your WordPress blog (or are open to the possibility in future), I’d recommend any of these themes. If you have some knowledge of code, I’ve suggested the customizations I would make to optimize each theme for usability and readability. Read More…