…and we’ve got a fab new companion site to go with it. Check out the WordPress Visual Quickstart Guide: Second Edition site.

We created a simple, usable theme to complement the cover design of the new edition of our WordPress book.

Designing for WordPress is one of our favorite things – and writing about it is a close second. We were lucky enough to do both for this project, creating a companion theme to the book as part of the process of walking users through the creation of a simple theme from scratch.

Simple is the key word here; we’ve got a few bells and whistles, but for the most part this theme is a simple showcase of the power of WordPress.

Here are some of the features of this custom theme:

As part of a tutorial on integrating custom fonts, we changed the titles on our theme to use Google Fonts.

Author pages help visitors get a better idea of who writes the articles as well as providing an overview of that author's published work.

• Text-based header, which pulls in both the site title and the tagline from the WordPress admin
• Author pages, which display each author’s profile information as well as a Gravatar and links to their published articles on the site
• An author overview section at the bottom of each post
• A simple portfolio section, which uses custom post types to display a thumbnail image, URL, description and relevant tags for each portfolio item
• Google Ads integration in the sidebar

And maybe the coolest part? You can download the whole theme. For free.

Buy the book at Peachpit Press, and download the sample theme on our companion site. And don’t forget to let us know what you think!

Hi, Kendra!

There’s a LOT going on around the couldbe studios offices lately: fun projects for clients both new and old, an in-progress update to our WordPress book (and the corresponding from-the-ground-up redo of the WordPress book site’s theme), and more – but one of the things we’re the most excited about is hiring our first onsite employee!

Kendra Perez has joined the couldbe team as a part-time intern, bringing a knack for numbers (sorely needed around these parts) as well as a love for web design.

<- Intern / Jessica ->

To make room for the new addition we moved Matt’s desk into the smaller office (now that Matt’s got a fab new day job, he primarily develops for us nights and weekends – the smaller office works perfectly for him) and arranged the main office with two desks and a defined space for the kidlets to play while Kendra and Jessica work. (They have a TV, video games galore, snacks, and a couch – we’re jealous!) Aside: we’ve found that the more kids we have in the office, the easier it is for the grownups to get work done (although couldbe kid Ellison is pretty great about keeping himself entertained – or, as he calls it, ‘working’ – while mama cranks out a few websites). When the little ones are at school or day care, the kid area doubles as a snazzy reception spot (although, perhaps disappointingly, we rarely turn on the XBox for our visiting clients).

Kid area in the front

Kendra is just starting out with web design, and we’re eager to find out what works best for her in terms of tricks and tools. We’ve set her up with Coda for coding and Flow to keep track of to-dos, and she’s already got a head start using Illustrator and InDesign. Maybe there’s a blog post in there – what do you think, Kendra?

We’re all seriously excited about all the changes around here and are looking forward to a great second half of 2011.

The last time we saw Fancy That it was called Munchkin Designs – owner Lisa wanted to expand her product line to include more than just kid stuff, so she asked us to help her re-vamp the shop. It’s makeover time!

We kept a lot of the site’s basic structure, but widening the main content area allowed us to use larger product photos which really showcase Lisa’s fabulous wares. The big picture on the front page now links to a featured category, which Lisa can switch out every month.

And she was VERY excited to make use of Shopify‘s built-in blogging feature! Previously she’d just linked to an external blog in her footer, but now that Shopify can handle comments and whatnot there was no reason to keep things separate. We were able to transfer all her old posts so she only needs to update in one place. Handy!

The new site features custom drop-down menus, special overview pages to display grouped collections, and a background that changes color depending on the section. We also used Typekit for the headers to give it a bit of whimsy.

We covet all things letterpress, so working with Paperwheel Press was a treat! Elizabeth creates these fantastic cards, stationery and invitations on a gorgeous letterpress machine (there’s a little video of it in action on her site) and we wanted to reflect the simple yet textured look of letterpress in her site design.

The front page features a slideshow & interior pages each have a custom header image to give them an extra personal touch.

We used TypeKit for the cursive font (Bickham) and enabled the custom background feature inside WordPress so that Elizabeth can give her site a little facelift any time she wants to.

We’ve been lucky enough to work with some fabulous small businesses in 2010. Here’s a quick recap of the sites we’ve created and updated in the last twelve months.

PausePlayPlayPrev|Next

Choosing Health Now

My sister Rebecca needed a website to go along with her book, Choosing Health. We created a custom Wordpress theme as well as illustrations for the site and the book itself. She's easily able to update with content and videos to keep visitors coming back.

molly meow- the cat bed duvet company

We worked with Molly on the molly mutt site, so when she needed a companion site for cat duvets we were delighted to help! The shop integrates smoothly with her existing dog bed duvet shop, sharing a cart so cat and dog owners can finally coexist in harmony.

Baktuli

Henry needed a clean, modern site to showcase his fabulous luxury yoga towels. We created this custom Shopify theme to make it as easy as possible for him to keep the content fresh while providing a great experience for his customers.

Savvima

Using Avi and Naomi's existing graphics we created a lovely custom WordPress theme to complement their fast-moving magazine-style site.

Moody Eyes Online

The Moody Eyes Online folks needed a custom site to go with their fabulous selection of fashion frames. We created this design to give the feel of a high-end eyewear shop while enabling easy navigation and fun social features.

WeVillage

WeVillage Urban Playcare is a modern, minimalist space for kids - so we created a modern, minimalist identity that perfectly complements their facilities. The custom photos really drive home the fact that this isn't your average drop-in daycare.

The Clink Room

Using the gorgeous mock-ups provided by the Clink Room guys, we created both a custom WordPress theme and a matching Shopify shop. The extraordinary cap and shirt designs can be presented to the public with minimal back-end hassle.

Selective Premiums

Stace had an existing logo and identity scheme that she liked, but her site was woefully outdated. We moved her to a new e-commerce platform and created a site that's clean, modern and easy to navigate - a must when you have 3000+ products!

Prewired Controls

Stu liked the layout and design of his existing site but wanted to be able to update and edit things himself. We duplicated his site on WordPress (replacing a lot of outdated code as we went - no more table-based layout!) and Stu and his team finally have full control over their content!

amy mcmullen photography

Amy started out just wanting a blog but ended up having us redesign her entire site! This simple WordPress template puts Amy's gorgeous photographs in the spotlight and enables her to easily update the look and feel every time she does a new shoot.

Trends Under $10

The Trends Under $10 site started its life as a custom Shopify theme for a business venture that never quite saw the light of day - which made us sad, because it was a really great site! So when the owner asked us if we'd update the theme to reflect the new business, we were only too hapy to oblige!

Choosing Health Now | Molly Meow | Baktuli | WeVillage | The Clink Room | Savvima | Moody Eyes Online | PreWired Controls | Selective Premiums | Amy Mcmullen Photography | Trends Under $10

2011 is already off to a great start. We’ve got some seriously exciting new projects in the works & have been in talks with some other fabulous small businesses about creating or converting their online presences. We can’t wait to tell you about what’s coming next!

Amy Mcmullen needed a new site to showcase her gorgeous photography, and we were only too happy to oblige! Her requirements: simple, creative, and no Flash – she wanted to be able to show off her portfolio on the go.

We stuck with Amy’s existing color palette of light blue and white, and Amy chose a fabulous font for her text (Typekit makes that part a breeze). Using WordPress’ new Custom Header feature, we were able to it up so Amy can switch out her blog’s header whenever the mood strikes – and with all these beautiful photos to choose from, the mood will strike often!

The slideshow on the home page and the portfolio pages uses jQuery rather than Flash, so it can be viewed on devices like the iPhone and the iPad. But we didn’t stop there: using WPTouch Pro, we created a mobile-specific version of Amy’s site that gives smartphone users a customized landing page and a special reduced-size image gallery.