Minimalist Agenda

So I decided that I wanted to start an industry-related blog all about front-end design and development. I had grand plans. I was going to make it minimalist, yet sexy, responsive and pretty.

I was going to make it my own in every sense of the word. And then, just to put the icing on the cake, I was going to write awesome content that would make me an industry hero.

I have an over-active imagination.

When it comes right down to it, although I have had the time to do all of that, I decided not to. I have had some experience with making blogs, and unfortunately, it is all too easy to neglect and forget them. I decided that it would be wisest to start off easy.

The Problem

I wanted to make a blog that was:

1. Quick and easy to start
2. Minimalistic
3. Responsive

The Solution

A pre-made theme.

I know, I cringed at the thought too. My general opinion (and the opinion of some others) has been that “pre-made themes are for people who don’t know how to make their own”.

But the more I mulled it over, the more it began to make sense for the following reasons:

1. I wouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel just to get started.
2. I wouldn’t be sick and tired of looking at my blog by the time it was finished.
3. I can focus on the writing for now, and if this blog ever makes me wildly popular, I can always redesign it myself.
4. Don’t they say that content is king? If what I have to say is truly useful, people will appreciate it despite the design of the blog not being my own.

Besides, I use other people’s work all the time. I don’t write my own CSS resets, I use a modified and translated version of Starkers for all of my WordPress work, I’ve been using grid frameworks for ages, and don’t even get me started on jQuery and WordPress plugins.

All in all, for this individual project, it just made sense for me to take advantage of another designer’s work, at least for now.

So that’s what I did, I went looking around for responsive WordPress themes. There don’t seem to be a whole lot of them, but I found one that gets the job done. Scherzo is my weapon of choice:

The Moral of the Story

Even if you’ve been a web professional for years, and could easily accomplish a task yourself, you should ask yourself “Do I really need to do this?”. If a pre-made solution will solve the problem, and there’s no overwhelming need for originality, then it’s alright. Use that theme.

After all, how many of us take our own stock photos?