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10 Fresh, Elegant and Clean Wordpress Themes

May 7th, 2007 in Design Showcase | 242 Comments

We like to observe the Web. We like to present fresh ideas, creative solutions and interesting approaches. We like to share them with our readers, making both our personal work and the work of fellows developers easier. Observing creative works of talented designers, you can improve your skills and learn new techniques. However, to do that, you need to keep an eye on fresh and inspiring starting points. We collect them. And present them to you. Every month. So you don’t have to.

Let’s take a look at 5 fresh and elegant and 5 simple Wordpress themes you might be willing to use for your next project.

You can find even more themes in our post 83 Beautiful Wordpress Themes and in Arpit Jacob’s Top Ten Best Free Wordpress Themes And Templates.

Fresh and Beautiful Wordpress Themes

1. Dark Theme Release at iLEMONed

2. iTheme

3. WordPress Theme: Hello 2007 - Hello Wiki

Fresh Wordpress Themes - WordPress Theme: Hello 2007 - Hello Wiki

4. Digital Pop Wordpress Theme

5. New Order Wordpress Theme

Clean Wordpress Themes

6. JsThemeV1.1

7. WordPress Themes - esn studio

8. Minyx / Infected-FX

9. Recycled Canvas :: Creative Synthesis

10. Y Go Lonely

Bonus: Download 2410 Wordpress Themes!

The guys over Xyberneticos.com have collected over 2400 Wordpress Themes, packed them in a .zip-file (251 Mb!) and offered them for free download. Impressive, really.

Published in Design Showcase, May 7th, 2007
Tags: galleries, themes, weblogs, wordpress

1.

fearlex (May 7th, 2007, 9:49 pm)

Now i can one theme a every day :D
2.

hanifan (May 7th, 2007, 10:16 pm)

wow,thanks smashing for this pretty good wordpress template. can you give the info beside the wordpress template like popular plugin component wordpress.thanks
3.

Pavel Ciorici (May 7th, 2007, 10:50 pm)

Thank`s a lot!!!
4.

Calítoe.:. (May 7th, 2007, 10:57 pm)

Regarding the Xyberneticos file, I really appreciate their effort, but after waiting forever for the file to download and the contents to unzip, one sees that it is not possible to preview the themes. In my honest opinion, I find it more comfortable to go to themes.wordpress.net and play round there.
Thanks for the info anyway.
5.

Rick Moore (May 7th, 2007, 11:28 pm)

The Hello Wiki theme is partially ripped from Dan Cederholm’s Link [www.simplebits.com] site. The header graphic and navbar look to come straight from his site. I’d probably remove this one…
6.

Alex (May 8th, 2007, 12:15 am)

Rick, i see what you mean but i think its different enough to constitute as a different theme seeing as how it might have been inspired but the graphics they used we’re all theirs and the layout changed a bit so i dont think its the same code.
7.

Smarty Blog (May 8th, 2007, 12:36 am)

Great collection!
8.

sand man (May 8th, 2007, 12:44 am)

hey whats Happening to smashing magazine this post looks More like a rip off of.

Link [www.clazh.com]
9.

Vitaly Friedman (May 8th, 2007, 1:37 am)

Dear friends,

I am really sorry about that, but the fact is we’ve been selecting these themes for the whole month, and it is quite interesting that many of them are the same. However, not all of them are the same. Well, we’re doing research as well as other bloggers (probably) do, so we must have had similar sources. We appreciate Arpit Jacob’s work offering us and fellows developers more creative Wordpress themes.
10.

Matthew Hockenberry (May 8th, 2007, 2:28 am)

Well our theme certainly isn’t on the other list and given how weird it is (in objective, not design) I was kind of surprised to see it on the list.

Coincidently it was just really released (like 15 minutes ago) so great scoop Smashing Magazine!
11.

James Bennett (May 8th, 2007, 2:32 am)

Gotta agree with Rick; the “Hello” theme is very obviously a rip of Dan Cederholm’s site, with just a few elements tweaked. Compare the color of the header areas, the type of pattern lurking just above the header, the placement of the navigation with the extended bar beyond the last tab…

It’s a rip. It did change a few things to not be a direct copy, but there’s little to no actual originality or creative design work going on in that theme.
12.

eBusiness (May 8th, 2007, 2:51 am)

This is fantastic! We need more list of the best blog CMS themes.
13.

Mahdi (May 8th, 2007, 2:57 am)

really is vrey nice
14.

Ahmed (May 8th, 2007, 3:10 am)

Hey guys on the smashing web leading magazine ^_*

I really adore your work all over the time .. but excuse me this time .. I can’t find the real beauty with those themes and with this post this time :(

They’re simply ordinary and some below basic themes .. and without the real sense of innovation except couple of them or something ..

I really believe there are hundreds of themes that look much more attractive, simple and innovative than those ones ..

Sorry for being disappointing .. But I love you Smashing Guys :)
15.

sd (May 8th, 2007, 5:01 am)

Hm, to me first 3 themes look like wordpress adaptations of (top down respectively) 1. bartelme design; 2. centrigy 3. iconshoppe or bunch of similar sites. I.e. looks like people behind these sites leave their skin like snakes…
16.

Chippy (May 8th, 2007, 7:29 am)

Thank you so much Smashing, I may just use of these for myself!
17.

Camilo (May 8th, 2007, 9:20 am)

Finally a good breakdown! Great pics!
18.

sand man (May 8th, 2007, 9:54 am)

Hey there Thank you for the link back and I apologize if I was too harsh.
19.

Armen (May 8th, 2007, 11:40 am)

I keep on top of the new releases quite well, but you’ve managed to bring a couple that I’ve never laid eyes on…nice ones too.

God job guys!
20.

Nick (May 8th, 2007, 11:40 am)

Wow, very nice collection of themes. I would advise your readers to steer clear of the giant zip file though…Most of the themes in there are crappy. Stick with the 10 listed and customize from there.
Nick
21.

Jeff (May 8th, 2007, 12:24 pm)

Link [hellowiki.com] looks strangely Link [simplebits.com]… Not cool.
22.

Infected-FX (May 8th, 2007, 1:19 pm)

Thank you very much to include one of my subjects, all the others are really wonderful, I feel pleased :$
23.

Ved (May 8th, 2007, 1:21 pm)

Why why why … aren’t there good themes for Blogger ?
24.

Hitesh Mehta (May 8th, 2007, 2:08 pm)

Amazing List!
25.

Shay (May 8th, 2007, 3:50 pm)

I gotta love iTheme (simplicity rocks sometimes). I haven’t seen all of these but very cool stuff.
26.

Ozh (May 8th, 2007, 4:20 pm)

2410 themes in a single archive is not impressive, it’s a total waste of time, space and bandwidth. Who wants to dig through such a number of themes, which has to include anything from top notch to super ugly ?
27.

Mitch (May 8th, 2007, 4:59 pm)

I’ve just found some blank templates to create my own themes, they’re very good for a starting point!
use them to create your own layout and design. A fantastic resource!

Link [www.blankcss.com]
28.

Hans (May 8th, 2007, 6:56 pm)

Is there any way to submit one’s own theme to such round. I’ve released one, previously called Link [blogosquare.com]. Pretty light minimalist though. I thought it fitted the description of clean wordpress themes, that’s why I’m asking :)
29.

Paweł Kata (Oszczędzanie pieniędzy) (May 8th, 2007, 7:02 pm)

I was getting a little bored with K2 modifications and now You’ve listed the best of the best for me :-) Thanks sooo much for this list.
30.

Alex Burr (May 8th, 2007, 8:38 pm)

You guys really should get rid of #3. It’s quite obviously a cheap rip-off of SimpleBits. Just admit you made a mistake and take it down.
31.

Carlos Eduardo (May 8th, 2007, 10:14 pm)

I love this collection!

Thank you for this list…
32.

Aki (May 9th, 2007, 12:10 am)

These are totally cool !
33.

abi (May 9th, 2007, 1:44 am)

Ah, I’ve been on the lookout for a cool 3-column theme. Thanks for pointing me to Digital Pop - it will work well for my new blog on Link [www.informedvoter2008.com].

Of course, now I’m back to square one, but I was only at square 1.5 anyway :)
34.

Chicago Web Design (May 9th, 2007, 7:05 am)

I really like those. Thanks!
35.

criticalerror (May 9th, 2007, 7:15 am)

now only miss 1 plugin that display allways a random theme and your blog will allways look diferent…!!!!

Or you can have a dark theme at night and a white theme during the day ;)

Link []
36.

tomtail (May 9th, 2007, 6:50 pm)

would be nice if you post also some nice compatible themes for Drupal..
thx anyway!
37.

Cocoliso (May 10th, 2007, 12:56 am)

Hmm. Cheers but maybe you could explain what you like about these templates. In anycase, the designs look fine.
38.

Paul Enderson (May 10th, 2007, 7:06 am)

Excellent stuff guys - as usual! I think my personal fave has to be the iLEMONed bartleme theme. :)
39.

decybel (May 10th, 2007, 10:18 am)

cheers mates :)
40.

faizan (May 10th, 2007, 11:20 am)

any effort from sm to look for clean joomla template?
41.

Alex (May 11th, 2007, 1:35 am)

The website hosting ‘iTheme’ seems to have gone down! Anyone got a mirror?
42.

Motto Agency (May 11th, 2007, 3:24 am)

Like them all however the iTheme… that background… just seems like I’m seeing that too much these days…
43.

Mike (May 11th, 2007, 8:38 am)

Hmmm,nice list. I’m considering a new theme for my blog. This surely will help. Thanks!
44.

Yogi (May 11th, 2007, 5:32 pm)

Great list..
45.

Steve (May 11th, 2007, 8:37 pm)

What about this theme:

Link [themes.wordpress.net]
46.

Alexey Novikov (May 12th, 2007, 7:33 am)

How do you think, is my wp-theme good enough (http://blog.micromarketing.ru)?
47.

Navdeep (May 12th, 2007, 11:39 am)

Here is a neat black wordpress theme by Link [www.dezinerfolio.com].
48.

Jack Day (May 12th, 2007, 6:38 pm)

Once again, another awesome post. This makes me want to start a blog! But I dont have anything to post.

And navdeep, thats a nice design!

Cheers,
Jack
49.

nina osenar (May 12th, 2007, 11:01 pm)

iTheme is superb.. i really like it
50.

Abazza (May 13th, 2007, 2:04 pm)

Fine collection. In the beginning of wordpress it was easy to find good themes,… now there are so many themes,… thats why its very useful to find your list.

Thank you!
51.

esn studio (May 14th, 2007, 8:30 pm)

Thank you for featuring my theme (esn studio - Golden Green). That made my day. :)
52.

Mahdi (May 16th, 2007, 6:30 pm)

oh this file is very big for me.
53.

BooTCaT (May 17th, 2007, 12:51 am)

thanks for spotting us , the zip of all those cute and great wordpress themes .
thanks and it was really helpful rather than collecting them , individually .
54.

libretto (May 18th, 2007, 5:32 am)

Thanks for this list. I have already translated in french the dark thème : Link [wordpress-tuto.fr] et aussi le ithème : Link [wordpress-tuto.fr]
Je me demande quelle sera ma prochaine traduction en français ?
55.

7 (May 18th, 2007, 10:58 am)

Very nice theme.
56.

Cary (May 20th, 2007, 5:56 am)

The only similarity I can see between SimpleBits and Hello Wiki is the header. Oh right, nobody else has ever made a header like that before. Dark background with menu underneath. Get real.
57.

kevinshow (May 21st, 2007, 5:33 pm)

good job
thx u
58.

raar (May 22nd, 2007, 2:36 pm)

artentertainment
59.

XmasB (May 23rd, 2007, 6:18 pm)

Thanks for this great list. I have finally found a theme that I actually really like.
60.

robert (June 5th, 2007, 8:57 am)

I’d really like the Minyx theme if available in english
61.

Sharat (June 22nd, 2007, 2:45 am)

iTheme and iLemoned are the best of the lot.
I guess the future belongs to themes with Ajax supported sidebars now….as in iTheme :)
Thanks for the compilation
62.

DN (September 7th, 2007, 4:59 pm)

nice themes

thanks
63.

Kik (September 13th, 2007, 11:07 pm)

I have found great collection of free templates Link [www.flexibul.com]. Some of them are quite nice :)
64.

Adam Breckler (September 18th, 2007, 10:53 am)

Theme: High-Rise v1.1
Link [www.adambreckler.com]
65.

devid (October 12th, 2007, 4:22 pm)

I’ve just found some blank templates to create my own themes, they’re very good for a starting point!
66.

Estetik (November 10th, 2007, 1:29 pm)

iTheme and iLemoned are the best of the lot.
I guess the future belongs to themes with Ajax supported sidebars now….as in iTheme :)
Thanks for the compilation
67.

Matthew Corgan (November 24th, 2007, 4:50 am)

I thought the themes were very original and sleek looking. I should try them on my original nintendo blog at Link [classicvideogamereviews.blogspot.com]

I enjoyed your post. Have a great day.
68.

Ensest Hikayeler (January 1st, 2008, 8:00 pm)

the theme buy?
69.

Jeff Adams (January 2nd, 2008, 1:38 pm)

I think I might have to give Wordpress a go, they really seem to be getting it right design-wise. I’m going to be checking the other articles on these now!
70.

readywpthemes (January 8th, 2008, 9:57 am)

Please don’t forget mine 1stTheme
71.

Mp3 indir (January 16th, 2008, 11:15 pm)

Thanks ..!!!
72.

oyun İndir (February 4th, 2008, 11:57 am)

I’ve just found some blank templates to create my own themes, they’re very good for a starting point!
73.

übersetzungen (February 5th, 2008, 2:06 pm)

There are many useful informations in this great article…I really enjoy reading the whole blog that you write. Thanks!
74.

japublicidade (February 7th, 2008, 5:27 am)

Hello, Congratulations, your Job is excelent!
Japublicidade
75.

Ivan | JobsBlog.ie (February 18th, 2008, 8:41 am)

Why is it so hard to choose a theme for a blog?! :)

I am still on Kubrick…

Ivan | Link [www.JobsBlogs.ie]
76.

ALVIN (March 11th, 2008, 9:38 am)

very nice theme lists , Well done
thanks

ALVIN
77.

Susan (March 12th, 2008, 7:32 pm)

I would also check out Link [new-wordpress-themes.net] for new wordpress themes…
78.

Susan (March 13th, 2008, 12:02 pm)

Whoops…for some reason the http is showing odd. Here’s the link…I hope it shows ok this timeLink [new-wordpress-themes.net]
79.

Kristi Ambrose (May 4th, 2008, 9:32 am)

why is it when i goto that link all i see is spanish? no one else said anything about it being in a different language so maybe im missing something
80.

Pat (May 14th, 2008, 10:06 pm)

I’m really enjoying a new clean theme just released by Todd Hiestand. Theme’s at Link [], and my implementation is at Link [patloughery.com].

I’m not a bot, just a satisfied user of a clean 3-col theme.
81.

Mike (June 1st, 2008, 3:21 am)

Cool work! … but take a look at what I found a min back!!

Link [www.anewmorning.com]
82.

Christian Dalsvaag (June 4th, 2008, 4:07 pm)

These are simply beautiful. Thank you!
83.

kelly (June 30th, 2008, 7:56 pm)

Nice post! Which are the ones that are compatible with latest wordpress 2.5.2 or is it 2.5.1? :) kelly, MyQute.com
84.

Chan (August 21st, 2008, 8:42 am)

I still use Kubrick/Default theme with a little change of look. I prefer something simple and the list is interesting. And this is mine site with Default Theme Link [camerawebs.com]
85.

Miocarbon (September 24th, 2008, 10:30 am)

Thanks for let me know this beautiful wp themes. Still plan to build another blog using your themes
86.

Reenata (September 30th, 2008, 3:47 pm)

Thanks for the great Theme!!!!
87.

Rosario (November 21st, 2008, 8:31 am)

Nice themes. Looking for more..

Thanks
88.

chat (December 4th, 2008, 2:15 am)

Thanks for the great Theme!!!!
89.

jagadish (December 18th, 2008, 2:27 am)

Nice Themses Thanks for themes. Love them.