Custom Thesis 2.1 Skin for “Home Changes Staging & Redesign”

In July, DIY Themes released the Thesis 2.1 Theme for WordPress, which in my opinion is a huge improvement over the 2.0 version. I have loved learning how to use this new tool and was excited to recently create a new website using a custom Thesis 2.1 skin.

“Home Changes Staging & Redesign” is a mobile responsive skin with a custom front page layout. I adapted Sherri’s business card to create the header/logo for her. As a bonus, I was able to give her the logo in Windows Meta File format so she could use it in Microsoft Office products (Word, PowerPoint, Publisher). This format allows her to resize the image without losing any quality.

Custom Thesis 2.1 Skin Design Notes

• Fonts used: Pacifico and Droid Sans
• Non-standard plugins used: Slideshow, BigContact Contact Page and Facebook Comments

Unlike the majority of web designers, I use CorelDRAW as my primary tool rather than Photoshop. One of the primary reasons I love to use CorelDRAW is because it produces vector-based images rather than raster. Vector images can be reduced or enlarged in size without loss of quality. All of the graphics for the custom Thesis 2.1 skin and the social media graphics were created in CorelDRAW and exported in the JPEG or PNG formats for web use.

Extras

Besides the favicon customization, I also created matching social media graphics for her Twitter, Facebook and Google+ pages.

It was a real pleasure working with Sherri in launching her new business website, Facebook and Google+ pages.

[NOTE: Sherri has changed her site several times since our redesign of her site.]