Let me first point your attention to a nicely worded article called The Case for Minimalist Web Design. I would insist that readership clicking on the previous link should replace “Web design” with “blog design” and mostly pay attention to the neat little bullet points for the purpose of my little experiment here.

I would like to represent to you my own silly list of bullet points for your consideration:

• Minimalist is a design solution that may/may not be appropriate
• Negative space is a very powerful and persuasive element
• Something about typography, limited though important
• Blah blah graphics used with precision and for a measurable purpose
• In conclusion, Sandbox update is coming

This is what I personally consider after deciding on that first point is: does X add any measurable benefit to the end user, and if it doesn’t, can I throw it out the window?

Here’s the experiment. Recently I came across the web site, The Federalist Papers, and for the most part I was entirely knocked off my feet. It was the first time in a long while that I came to a site where the content and the design so perfectly meshed together.

So I asked myself, what can I learn from what this site does so well and use it in my own designs? This site is useful. The paragraph-level permalinks are useful. The typography is right-on. I’m just fascinated with how well everything clicks together.

Now, if only I could get that to happen on my blog.

What very few designers realize, particularly the younger ones, is that most people would rather read something—actually read the words—than look at all of their lines and arrows and silly pictures they’ve screened back.

When the words finally reach the reader, the designer has, as often as not, rendered them almost unreadable, and so a reader moves on. But we’ve always felt that the words don’t need a whole lot of help—that a piece about searching for tigers in Ireland is not necessarily needing of a picture of tigers or of Ireland, much less blinking or screened-back ones. The words are enough, if the words are good.

I’m sharing some of the best—and, more importantly, interesting—minimalist WordPress themes that are freely available. Many may react to these designs by thinking ways they could have been (or should have been) enhanced, altered, etc., and I think that’s a primary reason so many WordPress users are searching for a “simple” theme.

One note. Minimalism is just one school of design thought. There are plenty of others, each having different strengths and weakness and for different purposes. It’s silly to compare the designs of Google with Kaliber10000 because the objectives of each is completely different. Context is key.

Disclaimer. I haven’t been so obnoxious as to pitch my own themes here (except for right here), but do feel free to have a look the plaintxt.org themes for WordPress. These themes are my attempts at producing some of the best minimalist WordPress themes.

Click on the thumbnail for a larger image and complete theme information.

1. Barecity

   

2. White as Milk

   

3. Hemingway Reloaded

   

4. Hiperminimalist

   

5. Simpla

   

6. Way Too Clean

   

7. Man~ja

   

8. Burnfield

   

9. The Simple Life

   

10. Zen Minimalist

    

If you’re interested, screenshots for these ten themes are available from my The Best Minimalist WordPress Themes, Part 1 set on Flickr. Feel free to use and reuse the screenshots from there anyhow you like.

And if you’re swaying away from minimalism, you might check out SimpleBits Best WordPress Themes.

So what are your thoughts about blog design? Is a minimalist approach appropriate? Sometimes? Never? Share your comments, thoughts, arguments, etc., on minimalism in blog design.