A few weeks ago I was bored on a Friday night so I went surfing on the internet. Little did I know that I’d catch a wave that would take me for a unexpected ride.
I ended up on Squarespace, and practically fell out of my chair when I saw how incredibly awesome their site design was.
For grins I signed up for a trial account just to see what it was all about, and while I was there I fell deeper in love when I saw their UI design.
Recently at StudioPress we’ve been refining our approach to theme design. You may have noticed a subtle trend which includes a fresh design and focus on typography and spacing.
As screen resolutions get bigger and the capability of showcasing the web is increasing, we want to extend this approach to our users. So we’re updating our selection of themes, as well as the upcoming design of Genesis 1.9.
Breathability and Spaciousness
One of the things that I like most about the Squarespace design is just how open it feels. Maybe I’m weird, but I’ve developed a claustrophobia of sorts when it comes to viewing websites. Too many sites feel crammed and are extremely hard to read with small font.
In my opinion, having 20px of padding around content areas used to be enough, but lately I’ve decided that 40px should be the new minimum. And that’s at a minimum, because in some cases I think that it should be more.
Who here thinks that this is a depiction of a good readability experience? Certainly not me. Perhaps a little spacing, larger font and a lot of whitespace would do the trick?
So I took matters into my own hands and gave myself a fresh coat of paint. Or lacktherof.
Welcome to My New Digs, Yo!
Kick off your shoes and show yourself around. Things are in the same place, just a little less dust. Much is the same, in other words, is really what I’m trying to say.
In fact, I simply recycled the previous theme I was using by customizing just the CSS and renamed it “Surfacing”. For those of you who know me, that name should make sense.
One thing that is new for me is a custom homepage, so be sure to check that out.
What are your thoughts about the new look? Or about minimalist design in general? Give me a shout down in the comments, and let’s talk about it!
I really like the new design, Brian. In fact, I love it.
I’m actually in the process of switching over to Genesis myself and going with a more minimalist design, so I can totally relate when you talk about the whole spacious sweetness thing
It’s amazing for me to look back at my previous designs and see how “bad” they were, or how little attention I gave to typography and spacing.
Good thing I’m with it now, eh?
Good thing, indeed.
I have the same thing. Not so much with design, but with products. It seems we’re constantly evolving, which is a good thing, but not always when you look back.
They weren’t bad designs back then. They were state-of-the-art back in their day. The times change and so does design.
I’m loving your new digs.. absolutely loving! My site is the cobbler’s child (you know there’s never enough time beyond client work) But some sweet inspiration here. Thanks!
Always happy to be an inspiration, as I’ve been inspired by many others!
Good stuff! There’s a lot of this going on – the trend toward simplicity. It’s a good thing, especially for users.
Zeldman’s lastest redesign demonstrates it, Mark Boulton has said he’s redesigning his blog to a one-column approach and the new WordPress.com home page is very similar to your home page and the Squarespace home page. People want the content, and getting out of their way is great. I’m interested to see how all this evolves and how designers push the edges of the trend.
I hear ya with what you’re saying. It’s really hard to balance content vs. a site map approach, because while we want to get out of their way, we still need to give them a direction.
Looks good around here. It might be time to change “Starbucks Addict” to “New Theme Addict” in your bio.
Heh, yeah – I hear ya there Dave. For some reason the “Starbucks” things sounds better.
Oh, and by the way – I never made it up to the Falls on my trail run. Next time!
Definitely. I love it out there. Maybe there needs to be an annual StudioPress meetup/conference in the Boulder area?
Twist my arm.
Of course I love this look! Down to colors and everything. I have been doing more minimalist sites lately for clients. At first I was bummed and thought my “portfolio” would suffer because so many designers in my area do the full out site and I felt mine looked too simple. Instead it has been more of a challenge for me to create sites that use the ‘white space’ as a design element rather than unused space. It pushed me to start recreating my own sites in that way. Thanks for the post and it encourages me to keep going and feel confident about it.
Hey Mariah, definitely keep doing your thing. The trends in modern design right now point to readability and space – which as web developers, it’s our responsibility to encourage folks to do what’s best for them. Not what others are doing.
Everything looks so great! I really love the home page. I want to learn how to use large photos in websites just like that. Fabulous job, Brian!
Thanks Susan, the full width/high-res image thing on a homepage is a design trend that I absolutely love. Squarespace has the same thing, which I really modeled mine after.
You site is a pleasure to read, my old eyes thanks you! Very nice.
Good stuff, I feel the same way. With my old eyes, too!
Hey Brian – As a user of the Minimum theme, I can’t wait to see the new designs and dig the new look on your site. Consider me a willing beta-tester!
Great to hear Vince. I’m actually planning on developing something very similar to what you see here for a theme to be sold at StudioPress, so hopefully I can knock that out soon.
While I love the new homepage design, I think the new comments design is my favorite!
That’s something that I was inspired by when I saw how Rafal designed his comments – and so we pushed out that concept on the Going Green theme update.
I like this style a lot and if you do not mind me saying so you look like Mark Strong. A very cool actor I’m sure you have seen in movies..
Nope, don’t mind you saying.
I like the new look and liked the last look as well. Since most of my clients are business related they tend to want to throw up all their information on their home page. BIG MISTAKE. Your home page now is perfect. I suspect your bounce rate will be reduced to nothing. I always refer to the most successful business on the planet Apple. Apple has the resources to make their website spin & jump through hoops. Apple could place more content then 99% other companies, yet they go minimalist. Even when they launch brand new products the Apple home page never has more then 5 images and always less then 50 words. CRAZY! They know the successful formula is to deliver people where they want to go QUICKLY. End users will sit on your website and absorb everything once they get to the pertinent page. Don’t confuse people with your home page with information overload. Its a BIG mistake.
I also think when considering responsive design home pages can be trimmed down even more. Generally speaking people looking at a website via phone instead of computer are looking for different information. Typically you want to deliver things like contact information, address / map quicker on a responsively designed home page.
Hi Gardner definitly when we start to realize that more is not necessarily better, and that we can get by with less stuff, we try to simplify by removing unnecessary elements so we can focus on what’s truly important.
Good design. Congratulations by the change.
It looks like you’re running for office.
But seriously I like the simplicity. As you know I just switched over to genesis and just trying to get the focus on content and options.
Thanks Darin, and yes – I wish more folks would focus on their content and not design. Too many people cram all kinds of things on their site, and it ends up being distracting.
Brian-
If this is a sign of what’s to come with StudioPress, I’m imPressed!
On a side note…I know you have done well with the Real Estate niche with a template and plugin integration. Are there any other niches that you plan to focus on more. It seems that there is a need for more niche specific templates as well as more in-depth plugin integration related to that niche.
Hey Michael, yes – this is definitely the direction that we’re headed. Rafal and I have been moving this way for a while now, and I’m excited about taking the design you see here on my site to a new theme for StudioPress.
As for the “niche” question you asked, right now we’re focusing on real estate. I don’t know what the cards hold past that, but until we can achieve our goals in the real estate niche, it seems silly for us to move on.
Brian, awesome design! If this becomes a StudioPress theme, I’ll be the first in line! This is great!
As far as niches go, I’m in the financial services industry, and there is no one, and I do mean no one who has catered to this industry with regard to WordPress theme design. It’s a huge industry, and most of the websites you see for financial firms are just terrible.
Maybe something to think about. You guys could corner the market and mad tons of cash!
Keep up the great work here man!
I love this new look. I myself have taken a break from blogging and designing to have a baby, he is here and it’s time to get back to work. I have found myself wanting a much more simple, easy to navigate design. I think simple trends in and out, but in the end will always win. We all have busy lives and with our limited time we need to be able to get to the nitty gritty quick, fast and without distraction. Can’t wait to see some new simple designs from StudioPress, I have been thinking to myself there was nothing I would like to use without having to simplify alot.
I’ve always been a fan of simple, but at times fall prey to the allure of pushing out as much as I can in front people. Like you said, in the end, minimalism generally wins. And I’m ok with that!
Nice design as usual Brian. I always admire your redesigns and am a quiet fan of yours. I completely agree with you on the Squarespace feel. I have Synthesis hosting and after viewing their sites, I considered pulling my personal blog and hosting it over on Squarespace. I’m not sure that I’m ready to give up WordPress though.
I think the custom homepage is awesome and you should definitely keep that. The whole redesign is very reflective of the new trend toward minimalism and emphasis on typography, both of which I am a huge fan of. In my opinion the blog view would look better with excerpts since it will show off the contrast between the heading and paragraph typography but that’s just my two cents and I fully expect you to design how you feel!
Thanks for the feedback Nicole.
I tried using Squarespace, and found that although I loved the design elements, it was far behind with content management. That being said, it’s far easier to come up with a similar design in WordPress, than to learn a whole new publishing system.
As for my site, I agree with you on the blog excerpts. It’s something that I’m sure I’ll bring back, so no worries there!
Love the new design. Its restful.
And I agree with your thoughts. Its why I went with the Minimum theme on Genesis. Here’s a shameless plug to encourage you guys to update that theme for mobile responsiveness
Its such a great theme!
Well done. Keep designing
It’s quite possible that I use my new site design as the basis for the Minimum 2.0 update. In other words, like we’ve done with other theme updates, we’ll do in by way of a new design. Which would kill two birds with one stone!
That would be awesome Brian, I really enjoy this design!
LIke the sounds of this too!
Brian, I’m sure I’m one of many people who come a-runnin’ when word gets out that you’ve redesigned your site.
I generally like the new look, with two caveats:
1. No appearance of the “b g” logo you were tinkering with, similar to the icons for your blog/code/stream/themes? I liked that and I’m surprised it doesn’t show up here. At the very least it would make a nice favicon.
2. In the middle of the home page there’s no link to “About,” unlike the other sections. It’s inconsistent with the primary navigation. Maybe you’re channeling the reader’s attention away from you and toward your ideas and products…but some readers might want to know more about you first. Just my $.02.
It’s always rewarding to see your designs and read your thoughts. That’s the mark of a good site.
Robert
Thanks for the comment Robert and sorry it took so long to reply. It got marked as spam, and I was just able to approve it. I did change the CTA button on the homepage to point to my About page. Good suggestion there!
Looks great, Brian!
I have been a fan of minimalistic designs lately. I am going to re-design my site as well
Brian:
Absolutely amazing look!
I had myself been looking at a design over at mindjet.com (I use the software) and kept coming back to it because of its big main image and minimalist look for the last 2 weeks or so.
I was about to start asking questions in the forum about modifying/creating a genesis theme like that over the weekend…………but………………
Since you’ve just gone a head and done it the next obvious question is……
Are we going to see something like this as a theme in Studiopress soon?
Thanks.
Patrick
P.S. On a side note….how are you generating receipts from eJunkie? Perhaps you could email me or put me in touch with someone who knows how you’re doing it. Thank again.
Yes, the answer is basically soon. I’m currently working on one theme, and once that is done and available I’ll focus my efforts on making this minimalist look available quite possibly by way of a Minimum 2.0 update.
What a surprise Brian
I’m on holiday at the moment using a laptop on the kitchen table, but you just made my day with… “by way of a Minimum 2.0 update.”
I’m using Minimum and have been waiting for the responsive update.
I know what you mean about small fonts – so many sites are still using small fonts with lashings of text and little use of whitespace or anything else to break it up.
I’m sure the content is good, but my heart drops when I see the amount of text and I leave the page.
Love the home page Brian – that is one large top graphic.
Hi Brian,
Squarespace is beautiful!
Playing the devil’s advocate…How do the product details of Studiopress themes, Premise and Synthesis (all of which I own) compete with Squarespace?
What do the products from Copyblogger have that Squarespace doesn’t?
(also I second the thoughts from Sam about the Minimum theme’s mobile update)
Thanks!
Tom
Sqaurespace is a very simple blog/CMS platform. What we do at Copyblogger is develop software that integrates tightly with WordPress.
I like the new design, but I like Squarespaces even better.
Out of all of the many Genesis templates, only about six are responsive. Over a year ago Studiopress indicated all templates would become responsive. I think Studiopress hasn’t made much progress.
I’d disagree with you Jon, as we’ve actually got 15 responsive themes available. And I’m literally in the process of working on another one, with updates to existing themes slated shortly thereafter.
I stand corrected. Thank you for the update Brian. Do you have an ETA on the Corporate theme? Again, thank you for update.
Sorry if my comment sounded harsh – I reread it and it might have, in which case I apologize.
As for the ETA on Corporate, not exactly sure. There’s a few of our other “business” themes that warrant design attention first, before Corporate gets responsive.
Less is often more.
A few weeks ago, I launched a new design on the Adorable Theme… looking for a more minimalist, readable experience… open spaces, larger fonts, cleaner design… it all makes for a more enjoyable experience.
There is something lovely about having “fresh air” permeate a site, and your new design is awesomely refreshing!
Keep preaching, Gwen.
This is exactly why people pay good money to sit in first class on an airplane. They want to kick back and have a comfortable place to sit.
I’m a big fan of minimalism (as my own site on a stripped-down version of “Balance” attests).
I think that the struggle with minimalism is that you have to really KNOW what you are trying to convey. Your thesis, as it were, has to be clear-cut and pared down to the bone. That’s a challenge! But works SO much better for design and communication purposes.
I love your aesthetic. Great job.
Digging it Brian! Funny, I think we were both out there on Squarespace trying it out and thinking the same thing at about the same time. Loving the openness, have started doing the same and hoping for a new carrieburns.net this weekend!
Good luck on the new site, is your plan to use Squarespace or stick with WordPress?
I love it!
I really really like the minimalist design.
I want a frontpage like that. : )
Good job,
Martin
Hopefully soon you’ll be able to, if I can get a few things off my plate and this design launched as a theme!
I have to admit, I was a little shocked when I arrived here, but as I looked around I realized that the navigation is simple and I need a redesign myself. Looks great.
Also, will Surfacing be an available theme for us to purchase? Thanks
It won’t be called “Surfacing”, but yes – in the near future.
Finally a theme I could really desire. I can’t wait to see these modern minimalist styles come up on Studio press for us to use. Thanks for sharing.
Your design work in stellar Brian. I am sure you have addressed this, but do you have any resources to get folks started in WordPress and/or Genesis themes? I would love to be able to build more sites for folks, but my education was in Speech Communications and not graphic design. Any books or resources you would recommend? Sorry if this comment is off-topic.
Peace,
Dominic
I’m falling back in love with black & white again.
I de-cluttered my church blog about one month ago (http://www.crazyaboutchurch.com/) and I went minimalistic on my personal website about a week ago (http://www.charlesspecht.com/).
In fact, the minimalistic design of my personal blog has made me rethink what I want that website to focus on. I was planning on blogging about “blogging tips” for newbies, but I’ve decided to go with “the intersection of faith & minimalism.”
It’s strange how design can alter behavior in life.
PS: I love your new design, Brian. It is clean and refreshing. I have found it to be an even more enjoyable reading experience. Can’t wait to see how this will influence future StudioPress designs!
“Clean and refreshing”… guess I nailed it then.
Inspiring! Love it! The redesign has got me thinking it’s time for a redesign of my own.
As a side note, will there be HTML5 support in the 1.9 update?
Thanks Jordan, appreciate it. And yes, Genesis 1.9 will be primarily focused around HTML5 support.
Yes!! I am so glad! I tried the Bones option by Eddie, but it did not really work out for me. I am really looking forward to this upcoming update!
Love the custom Frontpage! Would be great to have modules for the Frontpage so you can pick and choose from the themes “parts” you like the best. Less work for me to do it manually
Looking forward to a new Minimum theme!
I’ll see what I can come up with when I go to develop this theme for StudioPress. It’s often hard to anticipate all the ways folks might want to display information on a homepage, but I’ll do my best.
Hi Brian the new look is GREAT less is always better for many reasons including loading time as well. If you don’t mind me asking how did you add the mouse over effect for your main icons? I have been trying to add it for sometime know to my featured 1 2 3 . thanks so much.
Love the design! Been waiting for something like this. I’ll definitely be snapping up the new Minimum Theme upon release.
Stop doing this Brian!
Every time I think I have my websites looking great, you come up with and even better design. This is like breaking records at the Olympics. Will there ever be a time when there is no one faster, no design better? I guess I’d better start hanging out at Starbucks – there must be something in those beans!
Heh, Starbucks definitely helps ignite the design cells in me, so that’s a great place to start. Funny that you say “stop doing this”, because there are times when I see site redesigns and think the same thing. (which causes me to redesign my own.)
You think you’ve gone minimalist? Wait ’til I break out my redesign. Forget 40px for minimum padding. I’m going for at least double that and no sidebars.
Funnily enough, I was also inspired by the the beautiful use of whitespace on Squarespace. I’d never seen the site until someone mentioned WP.com’s redesign being reminding them of it.
I think we’re on the same page, obviously Justin.
As for true minimalism, I really wanted to go with a no sidebar approach, and still might. Last time I did that I got hassled by my readers, so I’d need to find some sort of wat to help them navigate.
Design change with time… your old theme reflected those time (though that wasn’t too back in history)
New design is like fresh air with 100% focus on content. Love it for sure!
I’m really impressed with the new design, a real breath of fresh air.
I went onto squarespace to check out the designs and I agree, some of them are simply beautiful.
I work with a lot of business sites and they often need a lot of information in a tight space. Because of that I personally never really get the opportunity to work with such spacious layouts when designing….a real shame.
I might have a go with re-doing my personal site though – great inspiration Brian!
Brian:
I really like the minimalist design. I use Eleven40 and was thinking about switching to Streamline — but now you have me thinking about this minimalist design.
Has Streamline been updated recently? I thought I looked at Streamline a couple months ago and I don’t recall seeing the “front and center” subscribe box and the colored subscribe box in the sidebar. I really like both of these additions.
Great stuff, Brian.
Jon
Hey Jon, the current Streamline theme was released a few months ago, and what you’re looking for is to use the Genesis eNews and Updated widget.
Your new design is awesome. I love it. In fact, when I first saw it, I was hoping for it to be released as part of StudioPress
I’m hoping that the new design will be something similar to this.
There will be a theme very similar to this available on StudioPress soon.
my only complain about this look is I want to go work on my site now.
Heh, good thing that you have the entire weekend to do so!
Brian, I like your new minimalist design and excited to see the new themes you develop. Typography and spacing have been some of my challenges when looking at templates– in addition to finding one that prominently displays an opt in, without sacrificing other strong visuals, like photos.
I recently streamlined my main blog to go to a single column format and added more padding. It does look fresher given how webste and blog designs have evolved over past few years.
Thanks for the comments Debra (and for the tweet!).
I’d love to see your main blog – can you drop a link?
Thanks for asking Brian. You’ll find my main blog, Home Staging Business Report at:
http://www.stagingdiva.com/homestagingbusiness
Appreciate any feedback!
I like the minimal look a lot and it’s hard to keep from going too far. Like an artist has to say it’s done and stop messin with it. First time I’ve ever seen Squarespace, they do look nice. I have a couple requests after seeing that site and your new design. How about tutorials on adding a button in the middle of the main picture and how to add the band above the content like yours here that says “From The Blog”.
Also any update on eta for 1.9?
Hi Brian! I love the way new look your design, sleek & clean. I just noticed when i resize my browser, there is something weird position on your sidebar. I’m become big fan of Genesis after read some webs explained what benefits are using Genesis theme framework & you know what? I’m planning to buy it
Yes, “Because less is more” is a very nice slogan. All it takes is the capabilities to put this into practice. This is a nice result Brian, a good compromise between minimalism and Web 2.0 (or 3.0 by now…) style.
Wow, exceptionally nice. I cannot wait to get my hands on something similar. Really really like the new feel. It made reading very easy and you’re right, that home page is pretty sweet!!
Cheers.
I really dig the new design. I personally like minimal designs and been thinking about going even minimal, I think you just inspired me to finally do it.
Very cool. I’m visiting that site now. I put your site next to mine and wow – what a difference. – BIG TIME.
There’s a few of our themes at StudioPress that I have done the same, and let’s just say it was quite the motivating thing.
I really like the new design and I owe you a HUGE thanks for the inspiration! As I spent the last several days trying to put the finishing touches on my new blog, I couldn’t figure out what was bugging me about the design. I think after looking at something for so long, it can be easy to get lost in your “original design concept” and not see it from a usability standpoint.
Well, your post immediately helped me to see what was wrong with my design. It was clunky (is that a word?) and cluttered! I realized that the site couldn’t “breath” and that I was trying to cram too much in spaces that were too small. After spending a few hours this morning on a redesign, I’m feeling much better about it and almost ready to wrap it up!
So, thanks again for sharing this post and for the inspiration! I’m looking forward to seeing the awesome work that you guys come up with next!
Hey April thanks so much for taking the time to comment about the new design. Glad that it could be inspirational for you, and great to hear that you’ve added some breathability to your own site!
All I want to say about your current design is WOW. Very clean and minimalist, but still brings enthusiasm and passion. It represents as a smart character. I’ve become your fan since the first time I know your WordPress Framework, maybe about 2 months ago, and continue to work with your Nomadic Child Theme. And here I am. Now I’m falling in love with Genesis. Thanks Brian, for inspiring me a lot about WordPress theme and everything in between.
Real Nice! Go ahead and drop it in the community themes with a buy button
Mike
It won’t be in the community themes, rather ours at StudioPress.
Agreed. Less is more. Looks great, Brian.
Thanks Josh, nice to see you dropping by!
Loving it. Simple is better in my opinion. I like my current site, but when I next do a re-design, I want to take simplicity to the next level
Matthew (Turndog Millionaire)
Hi Brian! I love the design its awesome and I like the spacing around the content area, but my only concern about how they will be looked around the smaller screens or the mobile devices.?
But a great work done again. Good Luck
On smaller devices I have reduced the padding around the content areas.
I still like the old design and Quattro 1.0 Child Theme
It does pay to follow people on Google+ because that is where is stumbled upon your blog post. Amazing redesign! I’m jealous!
Hopefully I’ll be able to do something similar but not a copy
I’ve been using Genesis for about 6 months now and I wouldn’t go back again.
Great work!!!
Thanks Neil, glad to hear you’ve been a Genesis user for 6+ months and won’t go back! Also good to hear that you made your way over here from my Google Plus post – goes to show that dropping links on social media works!
Brian,
As I have been designing for several years, now, I have defiantly became a fan of the “less is more” design style. Many of my clients have came to me in recent times, like over the last few months, asking me for minimalist designs. I’m excited for Genesis 1.9 and for some new themes.
I do really enjoy your new design, you seem to do it over every few months though, must be to keep readers on their feet
Great looking site and blog! I see new designs every day that make me want to redesign my site, but this is one of the best I’ve seen recently.
Thanks so much Neil, really appreciate that!
Really loved this theme! Will you release this theme in StudioPress?
Yes, that’s the hope.
I would add code formatting styles to the theme, since you have those code snippets. Otherwise amazing theme.
Awesome – this is one of my favs now.
Hi Brian the new look is GREAT less is always better for many reasons including loading time as well. If you don’t mind me asking how did you add the mouse over effect for your main icons? I have been trying to add it for sometime know to my featured 1 2 3 . thanks so much
I like how you have the blog & a stream – how do you do that? I’d like to set something like that up on my new personal blog that is almost ready.
It would be great to have posts on the stream feed into Facebook – saves doing two posts
A nod to Sarah McLachlan, of course
Great look! I always worry my sites are too plain. I’m excited to see more minimalist looks.
Love! I’m a sucker for whitespace! – So when does the copycat come out on SP
What an amazing theme and custom homepage you’ve created! I’m in love with the fonts on this site – I’m assuming is a Google Font, but I could be wrong. Do you mind sharing what font you’re using? Just gorgeous
Great looking redesign! Just makes me wonder what will be next, lol. Minimalist design is definitely the way to go.
Brian, I do love the new look and the wide open feel…A LOT… But I have a few questions:
1. Previously, all the advice used to be to give readers an easy time of finding what they need above the fold and on the homepage without having to navigate many (or any) levels. The current redesign means that the homepage is a ‘cover’ and requires the extra click to get into any real information. What are your thoughts on this? I have customised your Blissful Child Theme very recently, but now you’re making me wonder if I should tweak it further to be more wide open. What do you think?
2. I would think a minimalist design is easy for existing readers because they already have a relationship with you, but what is your advice to entice new readers to come ‘in’ to a site like mine? Colours? Exciting headlines? I’d really love to hear your thoughts, or any of your readers’ thought.
Thanks Brian!
Hey Magz, thanks for your comment. Here’s my response:
1. It really depends on what kind of site/blog you have and ultimately what you want them to do. Some folks are selling products, some are hoping to capture an email signup and others just simply want to write. For me, I put a homepage in place because I wanted to emphasize the idea that this is “my site and these are the 4 places I want you to go.”
2. I think the minimalist approach is more about what the site owner wants to convey – for me, I wanted to keep things simple for my readers. It’s possible to pull off minimalist design without it being just black and white. You can do minimalise but have a subtle display of textures in a background or what not. Ultimately what you want to do is present plenty of space and nice typography and what that is surrounded by is less important.
Any chance you could have a quick look at my site? ANY feedback (good or bad) would be most appreciated
My mind has been whirring all day trying to decide if a static homepage could work with the Blissfull theme. The jury is still out
I commented before mentioned what a great look the site it. I just wanted to ask about the comments section too. There are a lot of options out there and Disqus is one which pulls a lot of people in. I prefer the simple look of the genesis comments as they obviously feel much more a part of the site which, is important when you are going for a minimalist design like this. Is the load on the server really something to concern yourself with when choosing whether to host the comments yourself or let Disqus handle them?
Love this new look, like the 2.0 version even better. Will be using it for my next site deployment. Thanks for all you do for WP design..
Love the new look Brian
My first impression of this design was very good. However, the wideness & full-blast white hurts my eyes physically after reading a while.
Wow! This is a great theme and I can’t wait for it to be released. I do have one question, however. Maybe two. First, the homepage is nicely done. For a coding neophyte like me, can I get the same effect by pushing buttons? Secondly, how large of a picture should one use to get the same effect you showing here?
If you can follow text tutorials you should be fine.
As for the image, I’m using a 1600×600 size image for that featured area.
Love the look…especially the home page. Very clean & eye catching!
Thanks Gary, appreciate it! For the record, we’ll be releasing this theme hopefully on Wednesday over at StudioPress.
Good. I use eleven40 and I’ve been trying to set up a largely image-intensive home page like yours and the one at Think Traffic forever. I’m trying to use your “Add feature Images” code and am clearly doing it wrong. NOT css literate here at all apparently.
Love eleven40, but really want to pull off the solid image home page, so I’ll go peek when it’s out.
Thanks.
Ahhh, grasshopper just read between the lines in the tutorial section. Geez.
Thanks, Mr. G
This is a winner Brian, I have been increasingly a friend of “less is more: one of the reasons I like Genesis. I love the feeling of space. it is not that it is bare though, there is a richness to the fonts … I could ramble on but I won’t congratulations on the new look it is great!
Thanks so much James, appreciate it. The good news is that this very theme is going to be released on StudioPress tomorrow.
Love the redesign. So beautiful and easy on the eyes. I wish I could find a news theme that is easy on the eyes. Your is good, would love it if it is made even better. When do you expect Genesis 1.9 will be out? Thanks.
At some point soon, hopefully, we’ll be updating the News theme or coming out with another one. As for Genesis 1.9, we’re hoping to have a release this fall with HTML5 support.
Hey Brian, I love the theme upgrade….I want to go back to it on my site but having issues on where and how to add the image to the front page…..any help would be great….Thank you.
Are you talking about the big main image that’s on the homepage of the Minimum theme?
I’ve definitely noticed this trend. At first, I fought against it, but the more sites I design for other people, and the more requests I get for it, the more I’m starting to like it. It certainly makes reading much easier on the eyes. I’m planning a complete redesign for my own site after reading this post, as well as the post on typography. I increased my font on the posts on my current theme/design, but everything still looks a bit cramped, and my home page is way too cramped. I’m excited to implement these ideas! And a complete redesign is always fun, too.
Hi, this is my first post ever on your blog Brian. I’ve been a long time user of the 2 biggest WP frameworks; yours being one of those two. I’ve mainly used Genesis for client’s sites because I haven’t had time to redesign my own. Lately, I’ve also been moving towards simpler design for web. I say web, because my forte is design for press and I’ve been carrying the simplistic torch in that area of design for a while now.
Given the lack of time I’ve had to redesign my own sites I’ve at least had the desire to attack the typography aspect of them even if the rest of the design stay as is for a couple more months. Looking back in fact, my oldest designs all have smaller text. The text gets bigger on newer sites as time progresses. I’ve even been considering serif fonts. We shall see.
Up until last year I wouldn’t design a site wider than 960px. Now that 1024px monitors are pretty much obsolete, I’m starting to tread in wider designs.
I just subscribed… Very interesting stuff. I hope to use many of these ideas for my near-future redesigns.
Regards,
Danny
Hi Brian,
I loved “minimalist” design of this site and typography and spacing a lot.
Can you please tell me which font are you using for this blog at present?
Thank you.
Regards,
Avadhut
Fantastic job here Brian!! Designs are very pleasing and inspired me to recreate my websites in that way. Thank you and keep up the good work.