2 Comments Written by Anders on December 23, 2008 – 6:44 am

Stylish Design has recently started offering WordPress and soon other web design templates for free download. So I thought it would be a good idea to cover the topic of templates in web design. I hope to write a balanced article explaining how to utilize templates and remain professional.

When it comes to graphics and web design many website owners try to keep away from using templates of any kind, whether it is graphics or website templates, ebook covers, layouts or promotional banners. This is because many people are entrenched in the idea that using templates is unprofessional and may damage their credibility in some way.

Templates utilized badly can indeed tarnish your image — obviously you have spent some time coming up with a unique identity and therefore it makes sense for your website to be unique as well.

That does not discount the ability for you to utilize templates however, they can be a beneficial aid to design and also provide a much faster route to market by speeding up the development process.

The Right Way to use Web Templates

A template should not be seen as a finished or complete solution. You are able and should customize your template to suit your needs and to match your branding. Some customization work can be so extensive that you could consider the finished piece a totally new and stylish design.

The template is used as a base for your web design and development work, as it provides the framework for you to work within and inevitably saves you time and money. This time can be used more productively generating content or additional marketing collateral.

Of course, it isn’t necessary to completely redesign a template for it to be both unique and retain your corporate identity. Changing just a few elements, a couple of key graphics, updating a stylesheet to retain your corporate colors and you can have an original site that is functional and well designed.

Hiring a professional designer to create an online identity for your from scratch can be a time consuming and extremely costly process. Consider the benefits of having a template customized to your requirements by a professional, or if you’re confident with Photoshop, HTML and CSS why not give it a go yourself?

Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Template

Website templates are extremely affordable and, as we have already discussed, can save you a lot of time and effort when it comes to creating a new layout for your website or blog. However, not all graphic templates are suitable, so you have to be careful when choosing one. So let us consider some of the mistakes to avoid and considerations you should have in mind when choosing a website template.

The first thing to consider is whether you are using a CMS or a Blog System, such as WordPress, Joomla or osCommerce for example. If you are then it’s probably a good idea to find a template pre-designed for your system and then customize that. You can of course get a website template designed and then ask an expert in the field of your particular CMS or Blog to convert your template to a theme, however this can sometimes be costly.

The other obvious mistake people often make is choosing a great looking but extremely popular template. The problem here is unless you invest a significant amount of time into customizing your template, then your website is in danger of appearing a little generic.

A great way to choose a theme is to find one not specifically designed for your sites’ topic. For example, if your running an online florist, consider utilizing a template created for a webhost. Replacing images of servers and computer cables for flowers and bouquets to create your own unique design is one suggestion. This way, you do not have to make major changes to achieve a unique design in your niche.

Another important point to remember is to choose a design with your audience in mind. The template needs to suit your purpose and meet the requirements of your audience. Do not simply choose a template based on looks — a black-background web template designed with online gamers in mind would not look right for your floral business, for example! While design will always remain a subjective issue, there are fundamental elements that make for good design.