Early Theme Adopters: Motif
In our Early Theme Adopters series, we focus on users making the most of recent additions to the Theme Showcase. Today, join us as we take a look at sites using Motif, a free theme you can easily adapt for any need, from your business site to your personal blog.
Motif is a chameleon of a theme; you can transform its appearance in seconds. Created with business owners in mind, it offers all the features you’d need for a smooth, professional site, from full-bleed featured images to a testimonial area on the homepage.
Make a few tweaks, though, and it’s just as convincing as a personal blogging theme, or for a homepage for your event or community group. Here are some examples of its incredible versatility.
Kai Squared Events
Event planner Danielle Walker is using Motif for her company’s website. She’s created an elegant design that’s still warm and inviting, and that showcases her best work. The homepage sets the mood with a splashy wedding photo; scroll down a bit and you’ll read some of her clients’ reviews in the designated testimonial area.
From the homepage, a streamlined custom menu makes it easy for visitors to find all the content and information they need, from a contact form to a gallery page of Danielle’s past events.
The Duke Mitchell Film Club
Are you looking for an easy-to-build homepage for your event, your book club, or any other community organization? Motif might be the theme you’re looking for.
The Duke Mitchell Film Club, a monthly film event in London, created its online hub using this theme. Design touches like a custom header and featured images channel the film club’s quirky vibe. Functionality is just as important, though — and the widget areas in the homepage footer provide all the space organizers need to relay the most important information to their guests.
high countries
A homepage can also set the tone for your personal blog. Instead of opting for a traditional blog layout, Jamie O’Donnell, an expat blogger writing from Japan, chose Motif to design her own corner of the web. With just a few touches — a brief personal statement, a full-bleed featured image — visitors already get a sense of the person welcoming them.
For those ready to discover more, the menu invites readers to visit Jamie’s latest blog posts. Motif‘s clean design ensures they are highly readable, and that her striking images look great on screens both big and small.
The Petit Kitchen
Of course, if you prefer to welcome your visitors with your freshest content, Motif lets you do just that, too. If you don’t create a static front page, your latest posts will be automatically displayed front and center.
Food blogger Freddi, cooking over at The Petit Kitchen, has transformed the theme into the perfect vehicle for her photo- and recipe-heavy blog. A bright, open design and a handful of well-chosen widgets keep the focus on Freddi’s yummy-looking food.
Stay tuned for more examples of sites using recently-added themes — and if there are any particular themes you’d like to see featured, feel free to leave us a comment.
- April 2, 2014
- Customization, Themes
WordPress.com News 
I use Motif and I like it a lot.
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I’d love to see you feature the Greyzed theme. I’ve been using it for a while and I think it’s fairly snappy. Catches the eye…
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i love motif ❤
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It’s intriguing to see that each of the sites shown above has an entirely different look. A very helpful comparison.
Is it shameless self-promotion to remark that I switched to a customised Motif theme myself just yesterday…?
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Nicely done — I like the look of the Twitter Timeline and Instagram widgets on the front page. Looks very streamlined and inviting!
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Oh, thank you for the compliment, Ben! I spent a plenty of time trying out things on my private test blog, so I’m glad it turned out well 🙂
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Is this the theme your sticking with, then? Hehe…that was quick decision if so, looks very streamlined.
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Yep, it’s the one I’m keeping, I came to love it too much to part with it! I’ve been testing various themes and layouts for ages on a test blog (not accessible to anyone but me), so in fact, this was a decision long due! 😉
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Really digging the Motif theme, I love how all the blogs shown have the same theme but have changed it up so well. Certainly tempted to change to that theme!
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I currently use the suits theme and I love the minimalistic design of it. The power of themes 🙂
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