Cream of the Crop: Six Cutting-Edge, Minimalist WordPress Themes

Photo by feaverish

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.

{1. Upstart Blogger Minim

Modern, minimalist theme with big headlines, good readability and space for a large header and tag-line (just replace the image in the top left corner).

Demo | Download

Suggested customizations:

• Display full posts on the home page, then use the ‘more’ tag to excerpt them so you get a ‘Read more’ link rather than [...].
• Add a ‘Learn more’ link at the end of your About blurb in the sidebar.
• Move ‘Popular Posts’ above the search bar.
• Add links to key static pages under the popular posts.
• Move the search bar beneath that.
• Remove the tag cloud. They’re pretty but wholly unusable.
• Remove ‘Meta’ from the sidebar, move links and archives to their own page.
• Display feed options under the logo instead of further down the sidebar.

{2. Overstand

Minimalist black, orange, white and gray WordPress magazine theme.

Demo | Download

Suggested customizations:

• Use full posts on the main page combined with the ‘More’ tag to create excerpts that don’t end in [...].
• Declutter the footer area.

{3. Grady

Minimalist, no-image theme. Visuals are made interesting by the typography and coloration.

Demo | Download

Suggested customizations:

• Simplify the information beneath each post title to: by author, date, category and comment count.
• De-clutter the sidebar following the same guidelines provided for the Upstart Blogger Minim theme above.
• You’ll have to use the ‘More’ tag in posts to excerpt them because no comment link appears under full posts on the main page. I wouldn’t recommend this theme if you’re planning on displaying full posts on the main page.

{4. Modicus

Another modern, minimalist theme with plenty of whitespace.

Demo | Download

Suggested customizations:

• Post headlines need to be at least H3.
• Body text should be +1, for readability.
• Remove ‘Meta’ and ‘Your Comments’ from the sidebar.
• Move ‘Bookmarks’ and ‘Archives’ to their own page.
• Add date, author and comment count below title. Add another comment link beneath the post, or use ‘More’ tag excerpts.

{5. Futurosity EOS

A sophisticated magazine-style theme for WordPress.

Demo | Download

Suggested customizations:

• Move RSS links higher in the sidebar.
• Add popular posts in the sidebar.
• Remove the ‘Meta’ sidebar element.

{6. Modicus Remix

Revised Modicus theme which makes bold use of color and typography.

Demo* | Download

* Demo is light-boxed from download page.

Suggested customizations:

• Add popular posts to the sidebar.

Related design, simplicity and usability links:

1. Whiteboard: Why Less is More in Design
2. The Blog Usability Checklist
3. A Beginner’s Guide to Making Your Site More Usable
4. A Guide to Creating a Minimalist Website
5. 50 Tips to Unclutter Your Blog
6. Critique Your Design
7. Usability is a Conversation

{Bonus theme: Grid Focus, which I use heavily customized here and at Anywired. Including it would have been too obvious. Plus, I don’t want it to become too popular, lest it become the new Cutline…}