You don't have to be a designer to make your WordPress site look good. In fact, no matter what theme you're using now there are lots of easy ways to make it look better. Mykl (who is a designer BTW) will share tips and tricks to take your site design from acceptable to awesome. Presented at WordUp! Minneapolis 2012

2. “Design is not just what
it looks like and feels like.
Design is how it works.”
- Steve jobs

3. You’re Already On Your Way
• WordPress works pretty damn well
“out of the box”
• Don’t let your theme & widgets
get in the way of that
• Good site design should emphasize
your content, not itself

4. But…

5. “Everybody thinks they have
good taste and a sense of
humor but they couldn't
possibly all have good taste.”
- When Harry Met Sally

6. Good taste is
subjective.
Good design:
not so much.

7. Photo: emiliokuffer on Flickr

8. Look Around. Get Inspired.
• Pay attention to what you like about other sites
• Find & Follow creative curators on the web
and via social channels (like fastcodesign.com)
• Listen to recommendations from designers
• Apply what you learn

9. Start by making
your site your own.

10. Photo: LeonMMelissa on Flickr

11. Color

12. Color
• The easiest way to make any site stand out
• Mix pairs of unusual colors or pick one
dominant color for emphasis
• A little goes a long way,
even monochromatic tones
can be powerful

17. Typography

18. Type Tips
• Web fonts (@fontface) now allow you to use
a variety of different fonts
• Perfect way to add a
unique touch to any design
• Don’t use too many
• Be careful when mixing

22. Photos

23. Show Don’t Just Tell
• Great photos are another powerful way to make
your design stand out
• Create rules for formatting and be
consistent (rounded corners, specific width, right-
aligned, etc.)
• Always credit sources.
Don’t steal!

28. Page Templates

29. Use Different Page Templates
• Built into many themes
• Creates variety,
• Can enhance different
types of content

30. Theme Customizer
• Introduced in WordPress 3.4
• Make changes, preview them in realtime,
before going live
• More options to as theme
developers further integrate
it into updates

32. Premium
Theme
Frameworks

35. Plugins

36. Plugins
• Choose plugins that add functionality
but allow control over their style/design
• Take advantage of those controls to tie into
your site’s style whenever possible

41. Sidebar

42. Triage Your Sidebar Often
• Only include what you NEED to
• Avoid too many third-party widgets (Facebook,
Twitter, Flickr), can slow page load times
• Limit # & size of ads unless
you are making lots of money
• Animated anything = annoying

43. :(

44. :)

45. Default widgets usually need tweaking

46. Consider consolidation

47. Other Bits & Pieces
• Create & usa a favicon
• Use built-in text formatting for posts & pages
(H1, H2, blockquote, etc.)
• Less is ALWAYS better.
Simplicty is never a bad choice.

48. “A designer knows he has
achieved perfection not when
there is nothing left to add,
but when there is nothing left
to take away.”
- Antoine de Saint Exupéry

49. Photo: Tsahi Levent-Levi on Flickr

50. Thank you!
Mykl Roventine
myklroventine.com
@myklroventine
Headshot: Glimpses of Soul Photography