Btw, I see yhou have toned down the orange on your own site – as predicted… :-)

I haven’t toned it down. Not even slightly.

Maybe you’re just getting used to it?

Or maybe you switched to the off-white theme?

Btw, I see yhou have toned down the orange on your own site – as predicted… :-)

Quick example: Manifest WP theme — I am currently using it for a project of mine. Even if I enjoy the theme very much, I quickly discovered that the CSS is far from perfect… Take a look:

.postContent h4 {
font-family : constantia, palatino, times new roman;
font-size : 1.2em;
…

— I am pretty sure that you cannot use “times new roman” without quotes in the code (I may be wrong?)…

So even if you start with the best of themes, still, every designer will have probably a lot of work to tweak a particular theme, to suit his needs best… :) (Well, this is better than start from scratch, probably, anyway…)

Design in the absence of content is just decoration, right?

True, but layouts are layouts. And these are mostly pretty good (to very good) layouts for common types of web content (i.e., blog, magazine, store, and so on).

A good layout for a magazine gives you a starting point to design your own magazine by tweaking a supplied theme; a good layout for a blog gives you a starting point to design your own blog by tweaking a supplied theme.

Then, too, occasionally a web layout is so transparent that it supports almost any kind of content while feeling like it was uniquely designed for that specific site. Douglas Bowman’s “Minna” layout for Blogger is that kind of layout. It’s a generic thing he created in a rush at Google’s request, but there was some magic and genius in his instincts, and the layout has seemed “custom designed” for literally millions of blogs.

For more about the story behind Minna, read Douglas Bowman’s The New Blogger and have a watch and listen to Jeffrey Zeldman: Understanding Web Design from the AIGA Business and Design Conference (October 23–25, 2008). A PDF transcript is also available if you don’t feel like watching the video.

Hope all is well.

I’m not sure I agree with that. While I will agree that a 100% canned solution isn’t the best choice for anyone who has the talent and skill to do custom work, I think Zeldman correctly suggests that ‘from scratch’ isn’t a necessity either. Especially if your goal is to have a functioning, attractive blog, and not to create a showcase of your design work. I’ve created many WP sites, both for myself and others – including clients. For personal sites, I sometimes use themes with only a small amount of customization, because I enjoy the work of the designer. For clients, I’ve started with themes as a base and customized them to suit the client’s needs. I’ve also created WP themes from scratch. I find that the ‘right’ solution varies in accordance with ‘the problem’. If I don’t have to spend time (and therefore the client’s money) getting the posts over on the right and the sidebar over on the left, or coding a thumbnail calendar view of post dates from the ground up, then that leaves more time/money to focus on the unique things the client does need.

As Designers we say we create solutions that are customized to the clients needs. A pre-made theme can’t fully (100%) solve a clients specific needs. The exception is if the client has no budget.

Worst case scenario is that you pick a canned theme that another Designer or competitor has chosen. Now you’re wearing the same outfit and you look like twins. Awkward.