How to Create a Quaint Website Template for WordPress
People love content that is funny, quirky, and full of personality. If you’re looking to spice up your WordPress content with a little bit of fun, why not try creating a quirky website template? You can use the innovative digital agency platform, Canva, to develop your own unique website design that perfectly encapsulates your brand.
The perfect website template will be light, airy, and very simple to manage. It should not take more than ten minutes to set up a new blog. With minimalism at the forefront of all design decisions, creating a unique and memorable experience for your audience is well within your reach.
The Birth of “The Origami Rabbit”
For my last creative project at college, I decided to give the gift of life to a stuffed rabbit. I hand-stitched the ears, cut out the slits for the eyes, and cut some extra material at the front so that It could fold. Using simple geometric shapes, I incorporated orange, yellow, and black as the main design components.
As you can see from the image above, It was a labor of love. However, when my professor saw it, he wasn’t very happy.
“Why did you make It look like a rat?” he asked. I responded, “Because, Mr. B, It looks like a rat because it is a rat!”
He then proceeded to give me an “F” grade on our project. I never saw a stuffed rabbit before, but now I know why it’s Mr. B’s favorite animal.
Why Are Quirky Designs So Popular?
Let’s be honest, we’ve all been there. We’ve seen a design that looks cool or unique, and we had to have it because, well, it’s different. It caught our attention, but as soon as the novelty wore off, we’re disappointed that it doesn’t match our expectations. For some people, quirky designs are a way of life. They actually call the clothing they wear quirky because they don’t follow the trends and instead go their own way.
Why should you create a unique and memorable website design? Because people have short attention spans, and they want content that is quick, easy to understand, and entertaining. The best designs are those that entertain the reader while also delivering the key message.
Ten Tips for Creating the Perfect Quirky Website
There are many different types of quirks, so you need to find yours. If you want to create a unique and memorable experience for your audience, here are some tips to get you started.
1. Find your niche
Your niche is a broad area of content that you can build on. Think of a topic that you are an expert at, an area that you can write with confidence. For example, perhaps you are a chemistry expert. The subject matter of your niche will give you the confidence to approach design projects with chemistry-related materials. Alternatively, if you are an expert in tax law, you could use that as your niche, and approach all your design projects with tax-related materials.
2. Build on common themes
You should have a clear theme for your site. This is the colour scheme, font style, and other general design elements that you will use throughout. Building on common themes will make your designs look more cohesive. It also means that you can approach each element with a sense of consistency. However, do not be afraid to mix up the themes for different parts of your site. In fact, sometimes a clean break from the existing theme is what you need to refresh the design and get rid of that “template feel” altogether.
3. Incorporate your personality
Your personality can be anything that you want it to be. Experiment with different colors, fonts, and designs to see what you come up with. Make sure that these elements fit into the overall design of your site and match your brand. You can use color theory to help you decide what colors to use for your site. For example, if you want a yellow website, then use the colors yellow, white, and green to create your web design. You will notice that the color theory links above give you a sense of predictability when choosing colors. Your colors should be simple, but they should pop against a white background or contrasting colors.
4. Start with a clean slate
Your web design should almost be like a blank canvas. Make sure that you have got rid of any elements that are not part of the design process. This includes links to other websites, random images that did not link to anything, and other extraneous elements. It is easy to add these back once you have a design that you like, but starting with a clean slate gives you a better chance of creating a unique masterpiece.
5. Play with typography
Use your chosen typeface, with a selection of weights and styles. Play with ligatures, alternative characters, and other features that will give your text a unique treatment. Experiment with typefaces to see which one you like best. Once you have found one, use it consistently throughout your site.
6. Make sure that your text is easily readable
If you are using a sans-serif typeface, then you should stick with what is known as “regular” or “standard” fonts. These fonts are designed to be used for body copy, and they are usually the default choice for most word processors and websites. In order to create the perfect quirky website, you should use a serif font in addition.
7. Experiment with scale
In the grand design scheme of a website, the elements of typography and color are the most important factors. However, there is another element that you can play with to give your design uniqueness: scale. Each element on your site will have a different scale, so make sure that the elements fit within the context of the website as a whole.
8. Use images that compliment your text
The image above is an example of good alignment between text and image. You can see that there is a clear link between each element, and the whole design looks like it was thought out carefully. As a design technique, aligning text and images is not new, but it is an effective way of making sure that every element of your site is working together for a common goal. If you want a clean break from the existing design, this is one way of creating a unique and memorable experience for your audience.
9. Consistent linking
Your site should be a single, cohesive unit. Everything on one page should have a link to another page, or site element. Consistent linking is an easy way to give your design that “finished” look that makes everything work together. You should include a clear call-to-action at the end of each page. This will help your visitors easily find what they are looking for, and make them want to continue using your site. Linking should be done consistently and with purpose. You should not just throw out a bunch of links willy-nilly, as this will make your site look messy and unprofessional.
10. Clean up after yourself
With all the different elements that you will incorporate into your site, there is no way that you will not leave some “crumbs” behind. These are all the little bits of information that you will accumulate as you use the site. Although this is not a huge deal, it is an essential element of keeping a clean site.
You can leave these crumbs as footnotes or endnotes, or you can delete them. Whatever you do, they are an essential part of making a site “sticky”. These little “burnt remnants” of information are what helps users navigate your site with ease. When users have trouble finding anything, they will often leave a trail of breadcrumbs as they wander through your content, looking for answers. These little breadcrumbs will then lead them back to the point in the text where they left off.
The above tips will help you create the perfect quirky website. You may not end up using all of them, but you should at least know what type of design your website should have. When approaching a design project, make sure that you have all the necessary tools to create the masterpiece that you envision. With Canva, everything is at your fingertips, and you can be sure that you will have all the elements you need in order to make the design process easy and fun.