However, now I’m ready to take the plunge.

Thesis is great because it provides a solid framework for anyone who is interested in using Wordpress but also doesn’t want to create a website from scratch. On this page, you can see the all the ways that other bloggers have customized Thesis. On some of the sites, you can hardly tell that the designer used a base theme!

(Pictured at left: Not THAT kind of thesis, by Eusebius@Commons)

Another great thing about Thesis is the support that comes with it. The official website hosts a forum run by devoted fans and knowledgeable web developers. You can pretty much find an answer to any question you may ever have about customizing the Thesis theme. Don’t feel like searching the forums? A Google search will generate more than enough answers.

You won’t be able to see the new design until I’m finished, but I promise that the layout will be clean and user-friendly. After using Clean Home for about nine months now, I know exactly what I need and want from a website framework.

I highly recommend Thesis for fans of Wordpress, bloggers, and anyone who knows basic HTML and CSS.

According to Utko, newspapers are essentially boring. Okay, newspapers aren’t really supposed to be exciting, but in an age when consumers have short attention spans, maybe we have to do more to entertain and entice them.

(Pictured at left: Newspapers re-imagined, by danie;)

Do we even know how to capture the attention of the average reader? Sure, Utko’s newspapers have won awards, but is sharp design really the way to motivate people to buy newspapers?

When thinking about the Too Shy to Stop redesign last fall, I decided that design was a top priority. I knew that layout wouldn’t be the only reason that people would visit our website, but I wanted a clean look to complement our clear and compelling writing. Each element of a publication has to work together to create an appealing final product.

Roby Fitzhenry of Always Creative, the design company that created the layout for Too Shy to Stop, said, “Designing for an online magazine was fun but a bit challenging. Unlike print-based magazines and newspapers, designing for the web means that the content needs to easily flow into a flexible grid while maintaining readability and visual interest. Consistency, usability, and the brand’s overall identity and voice were my top focuses while redesigning Too Shy to Stop.”

In redesigning his newspapers, Utko could experiment with bold graphics and intricate two-page spreads. However, designing for online doesn’t allow for as much experimentation because consumers just want something that’s easy to read on a glowing screen.

(Pictured at right: Design for an art museum?, by √oхέƒx™)

Martin Langevald, of the Neiman Journalism Lab, thinks that design is not the only thing attracting an audience to an online publication. For him, connecting with the audience is more important than impressing readers with design. He writes, “…the world revolves around us, the editors and publishers.  As it ever did, in print newsrooms. Let’s lose that model.” Writers and creative professionals (Utko and myself included) spend so much time trying to impress one another that they forget who they are creating for!

This does not mean that we should forget about design. Publications, whether online or in print, just have to be real, accessible, unique, straightforward, and memorable. These characteristics may not qualify a newspaper page for wall space at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but they will keep consumers interested and engaged.