After what seems like years of a WordPress theme hiatus, heavyweight theme designer (and gossip blog mogul) Chris Pearson has released a brand new WordPress theme called Neoclassical. I’d love to rip it to shreds (in fun) because of my envy for him and his popular Cutline theme, but the reality of it is the Neoclassical theme is quite elegant.
Chris was kind enough to show me the theme briefly before it was released, and my simplistic/whitespace design eye found it to be more soothing than Cutline.
There are a few minute similarities, i.e. the random images header, but the theme is designed to appeal to a different niche, in my opinion. Cutline seemed to be more of a “techie” type theme, while Neoclassical seems to have the appeal of something like the Open Education project that he is supporting.
More than anything, this post is my way of welcoming Chris back to the world of theme design - many of you know I briefly managed his Cutline theme, but had to back down due to my crazy and busy schedule. Not that I wanted to try to fill his shoes anyway, definitely not an easy thing to do.
Chris, great work with the theme. The style is simple, typography is great and I’m sure you will see it used elegantly! (I will also endorse the fact that Neoclassical is NOT a Blue Zinfandel copycat.)
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It is a great theme. I have been thinking about switching. I used Copyblogger for a site that I manage and it has been a great theme to work with and tinker with. But, before I think about switching, is the great Mr. Gardner going to be coming out with a new, free theme for us personal bloggers?
Rhett - pretty funny stuff… the great Mr Gardner. Never heard that one before! As for your question, in case you missed my last post, I’ll show you an excerpt:
In other words it’s in the cards - although my definition of “soon” and yours might differ!
But if you cannot wait for a new one here, and want the most recent theme that I designed, feel free to check out the Redbook Wordpress theme I released over at Performancing!
Thanks Brian. I read the first part about the theme marketplace, but I have read too much about all that drama so I think I tuned out after that. I look forward to seeing a new theme (and if it will work for my plans with rockstarpoet).
Brian wanted to stop in again and say thanks for the quick replies to my emails. On that topic … should I wait until December to get the theme or could a little bird whisper a secret in my ear?
Still poking around making sure that what I am planning will work and I have fewer and fewer doubts each day.
I switched to Neoclassical immediately when it was released. I LOVE IT.
I was a big Cutline enthusiast, but it fell on hard times, in my opinion, after you departed, Brian. The new release has multiple problems, including how posts line up, and the forum is full of questions that are largely ignored. It is very unfortunate.
So . . . I changed to Neoclassical and couldn’t be happier. I LOVE the way Chris handles images. And the header images are a snap to change, as you can see from my site.
Overall, nobody does themes better than you and Chris.
Brian: The new Pearson theme certainly provides an attractive canvas for content. In an effort for honest and productive criticism, I see areas where it can be improved. For the growing number of wide-screen monitors, a limitless swath of white is akin to viewing the endless ocean — boundaries are necessary.
Haha, how funny. There is a similarity to Blue Zinfandel, but it might be difficult to make two good, white, serif font, 3 column themes without some similarities right?
I think this theme is great - I hope you’re right that people will use it elegantly. Copyblogger has managed to survive in most cases, but I’ve seen some bungles! I fear that Neoclassical will be easy to overpower with ugly sidebar widgets etc. I hope it doesn’t happen too often!
Oops - I thought the hay bale photo you used was to represent Chris’s apparent absence, but it’s one of the header images. Well, I liked it either way!
Good design, I love