The logo is a representation of what a company stands for, it’s the backbone of the brand and it portrays its self as a global presence in the marketplace. A well-designed logo is a crucial part of any company’s marketing strategy and it needs to be done right. So I took the liberty of gathering a few examples of some poorly designed logos that should never have made the cut. Take some notes and tel!

I bring my kids here regularly, they have really good prices!

I heard Johnny’s got the best loafs in town!

This one is pretty self-explanatory…

What kind of work are we talking about here?

Not sure, if that’s what I would call winning…

It’s not the same if you don’t take it laying down…

Just keep walking and don’t make eye contact with anyone in the windows…

This one ruined it for everyone…

Is this some sort of clue as to where the food comes from?

Do you think they did it on purpose?

This has to be an online website where librarians get together…

I’d say this one is spot on…

Which one was your favorite and why? If you have any good ones I missed feel free to leave links/comments below so I can check them out! Thanks!

Read More at 12 Poorly Designed Logos

Written by the most creative and innovative minds of our time, these 75 books are must reads for all designers. Get a glimpse into the world of design that you’ve never seen before with these eye-opening notions that will inspire you. Those that have read these books rant and rave about them.

“The author is a very incisive thinker, relaying stunning insight after stunning insight” – The Next 100 Years by George Friedman

“I learned lots more about color and its interaction. I had forgotten the physics of color and the perception of color from my college days” – Interaction of Color by Josef Albers

“Shaughnessy writes so clearly and with such honesty that I found it hard to put the book down.” –How to Be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul by Adrian Shaughnessy

This collection of books for designers will not disappoint you. Skim through and find your next favorite source for inspiration. Keep your pencil sharp and your mind sharper!

The Vignelli Canon

“Beautiful imagery. Vignelli was one of the superstars
of Graphic Design and a big inspiration to me.”

Less But Better

by Dieter Rams

 “It’s a bargain for a design book this specialized.
Fascinating look at Rams’ design process and history.”

Grid Systems in Graphic Design

by Josef Müller-Brockmann

“This is a must for all designers. It is a deep dive into
understanding the grid system and typography and how
to use them effectively to solve mass information layout.
If you’re looking to understand the principles of good
design, it is a perfect.”

Interaction of Color

by Josef Albers

“I learned lots more about color and its interaction. I had
forgotten the physics of color and the perception of color
from my college days. This book brought most of it back
and added to my insight into color interaction.”

Visual History of an Airplane

by Jens Müller

“Worth adding to your library if you are interested in
corporate design generally and in Lufthansa/aerospace
design concerns at least marginally.”

The Graphic Artist and His Design Problems

by Josef Müller-Brockman

“I bought a copy recently and it’s like returning
to an old friend”

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

by Edward R. Tufte

“As a graphic designer and a minimalist, I love the
way this book looks and I love the graphics Tufte’s team has created.”
team has created.”

The Art of Looking Sideways

by Alan Fletcher

“Difficult to tell you what this book actually says,
except that it’s author is a genius.”

The Laws of Simplicity

by John Maeda

“I found the laws themselves to be thought provoking;
my mind immediately engaged the task of relating the
laws to my own work.”

The Elements of Color

by Johannes Itten

“It is not only enriching as a color theory document,
but it helps expand the artist or designers possibility
of using, arranging and conceiving color.”

The Design of Everyday Things

by Don Norman

“Finally, I got a chance to read this amazing book.
Don Norman treats design very methodically and shows
that good design is not a black box but something even
more analytical people can understand and apply.”

TOKUJIN

by Tokujin Yoshioka

“The book editors deserve an award for putting together
a beautiful looking book. Never heard of this guy until I
flipped through the book & was blown away…”

Change by Design

by Tim Brown

“Highly recommend this short text, not only to the
artist, or engineer but to all concerned citizens who
hope to make a contribution to solving the problems
of their own life and those of a global society.”

Thinking, Fast and Slow

by Daniel Kahneman

“Thinking Fast and Slow is a very valuable book by
one of the most creative minds in psychology”

The Monocle Guide to Better Living

by Andrew Tuck

“You won’t find this worldly view about business
and the business of people anywhere else.”

Living with Complexity

by Donald A. Norman

“There’s so much to take away and ponder it’s
difficult to sum up. But one thing’s for sure, after
reading ‘Living With Complexity’ you’ll never look
at those salt and pepper shakers on a restaurant
table quite the same way again.”

The Paradox of Choice

by Barry Schwartz

“This is an eye-opening book — it brings the clarity
and insight into decision-making that The Tipping
Point did for trends.”

Paul Rand: Conversations with Students

by Michael Kroeger

“A wonderful paperback essential for any Paul
Rand student. And by student, I mean one who
appreciates, admires, and learns from one of the
greatest designers of the 20th century.”

Creativity Inc.

by Ed Catmull

“With this book, Ed Catmull has given the world an
amazing gift. Much more than a book for managers,
it contains wisdom and stories that you will carry
into the rest of your life.”

The Geometry of Type

by Erik Spiekermann

“Great Book for reference, and learning the history
of Typefaces.”

Information is Beautiful

by David McCandless

“There is a wonderful almost recursive aspect to
this work- the world we perceive is shaped by
`invisible’ streams of stuff that can be converted
to data and analyzed.”

Steve Jobs

by Walter Isaacson

“This is a gripping journey into the life of an amazing
individual. Despite its girth of nearly 600 pages, the
book zips along at a torrid pace.”

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec

by Ronan Bouroullec

“I bought this for my husband and he loved it and
is frequently pulling it out for inspiration. The colors
and prints, page layouts, (everything!) – are all
gorgeous!”

Visual Grammar

by Christian Leborg

“This is a must-have for anyone studying design.
This book is as simple as a child’s, yet it successfully
relays concepts that I paid $7000 to learn over the
course of two semesters.”

Making Ideas Happen

by Scott Belsky

“Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard. This
book helps you with the hard part.”

100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design

by Steven Heller

“I use it when I’m in the middle of a project and
hit a brick wall. I thumb through this book, find
ideas I like, and either draw inspiration from the
given examples or research it more.”

Start With Why

by Simon Sinek

“Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” is a must read for
any entrepreneur or leader struggling to create a
long-term vision and guiding principles for their
company or cause.”

Naoto Fukasawa

by Bill Moggridge

“Really good book. Perfect balance between text
and images. Like reading his insights on the designs.”

Knowledge Is Beautiful

by David McCandless

“Book does what it says … Amazing amount of
work behind these infographics, there is
something in every visual that makes you think
and the beauty doesn’t detract from the
importance (or fun!). A work of art and passion.”

Design for Hackers: Reverse-Engineering Beauty

by David Kadavy

“Kadavy does a fantastic job taking the
complete design beginner through the
important parts of design. From a hacker’s
point of view, this book is brilliant, and exactly
what I needed.”

Graphics Standard Manual New York City Transit Authority

by Massimo Vignelli

“You will love it, it is everything you would expect.”

Elements of Design

by Gail Greet Hannah

“This book provides a really good way of introducing
basic visual compositional theories to students,
especially for beginning students.”

Geometry of Design

by Kimberly Elam

“Very interesting for anyone who would like to
know more about graphic arts and why some
patterns and object relationships are appealing
and some are not.”

How to Be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul

by Adrian Shaughnessy

“Shaughnessy writes so clearly and with such
honesty that I found it hard to put the book down.”

Information Graphics

by Sandra Rendgen

“This book’s a must have if you consider yourself
a graphic designer data freak”

Graphic Design Manual: Principles and Practice

by Armin Hofmann

“THIS BOOK IS THE BIBLE OF GRAPHIC
DESIGN…FOR ALL OF YOU GRAPHIC
DESIGNERS, YOU NEED TO KEEP THIS
BOOK AS A GUIDE.”

A Designer’s Art

by Paul Rand

“The single greatest book on Graphic Design ever
written. This is not a tutorial or a how-to, but a why.”

Form+Code in Design, Art, and Architecture

by Casey Reas

“Form + Code is a wonderful glimpse of how
computation can be applied as art.”

Visual Miscellaneum

by David McCandless

“Seeing the author on TED, I was intrigued and
bought the book. Then I bought it two more times
to give as a present. Fantastic design, captivating
data, and a pithy humor all thrown together.”

The Next 100 Years

by George Friedman

“The author is a very incisive thinker, relaying stunning
insight after stunning insight in demonstrating how we
arrived at where we are now, with Europe having been
supplanted by America as the world’s focal point.”

Things That Make Us Smart

by Donald A. Norman

“This book is easy to read – and should open most
people’s eyes a bit more…”

Designed for Use

by Lukas Mathis

“A great overview over nearly everything that a UI
or UX Designer needs! to know”

Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things

by Don Norman

“For me, the book was a perfect read. I am always
hunting and gathering for the meaning of art and
design, to push my own work forward, and to gain
an advantage over my competitors in terms of design.”

Glut: Mastering Information Through the Ages

by Alex Wright

“This book is easily the best book I have read in the
course of my research. The style is quick and engaging.”

The Power of Positive Thinking

by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

“It’s such a simple and effective concept, that positive
thinking creates a positive life, yet hard to do at times-
which is a good reason alone to read this book.”

D.I.Y.: Design It Yourself

by Ellen Lupton

“This is a terrific book for ideas all across the board!
I bought this book after flipping through it at a
friends and was excited to see so many hip and
unique ideas.”

Color: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors

by Betty Edwards

“If you have had problems understanding just
what makes up a harmonious color palette, then
this book will help you solve that problem.”

I’m Feeling Lucky: Confessions of Google Employee # 59

by Douglas Edwards

“This book is great! Doug is a fantastic writer and
a compelling story teller.”

Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type

by Kimberly Elam

“The simplicity of presentation and clean design
continue to set Ms. Elam’s educational strategy
above the rest of the publications regarding the
use of compositional layout tools”

Becoming Steve Jobs

by Brent Schlender

“This is the best book I’ve read about Steve Jobs.”

Visual and Statistical Thinking

by Edward R. Tufte

“I found myself slowing down my usual reading
speed to half and doubling my concentration to
follow him, which is a compliment to the depth of
his writing.”

Paul Rand

by Steven Heller

“This is a pretty thorough book on a graphic
design icon. Lots of full-color samples of Rand’s
work to coincide with the text, which is nice.”

Philographics: Big Ideas in Simple Shapes

by Genis Carreras

“Remarkable visual eloquence in his Philographics project.”

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products

by Nir Eyal

“Hooked presents an empowering perspective
that allows us to start looking at building technology
as building habits.”

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

by Peter Thiel

“This book delivers completely new and refreshing
ideas on how to create value in the world.”

Business Adventures

by John Brooks

“This book casts a wide net over the USAmerican
business and investing scene, always with the width
and insight.”

Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams

by Klaus Klemp

“Very detailed account of modern German
design and Dieter Rams. The definitive book
on Dieter Rams.”

Sketching User Experiences

by Bill Buxton

“This is a book that I will read many times. I think
this book will be helpful for many years to come.”

Remote: Office Not Required

by Jason Fried

“What you’ll find in Remote is profound advice from
guys who’ve succeeded in the virtual workforce arena.”

Startup Communities

by Brad Feld

“I think this is very helpful and practical book for
entrepreneurs, government officials, university
leaders, and other entrepreneurial-related fields.”

Startup Life

by Brad Feld

“If I could go back in time and hand this book to my
younger self, it might have saved us much angst.”

Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age

by Paul Graham

“Paul Graham has delivered final proof that he is a
marvelous essayist with his volume of fairly diverse
writings”

Buzzmarketing: Get People to Talk About Your Stuff

by Mark Hughes

“If money is tight and everything to lose, time spent
studying this well-written book could place you and
your product in the forefront of your target buyer’s
mind.”

Connected

by Nicholas A. Christakis

“An entertaining guide to the mechanics and
the importance of human networking.”

Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

by Shunryu Suzuki

“This is a collection of talks by one of the first Zen
teachers in the U.S. If you’re already practicing Zen,
I highly recommend this book”

TM: The Untold Stories Behind 29 Classic Logos

by Mark Sinclair

“If you are interested in logo design, whether or not
you are a designer, chances are that you would want
to get this new book.”

Thinking with Type

by Ellen Lupton

“This book is an excellent resource for anyone who
is serious about a graphic layout. It is not a type book;
it does not review fonts individually. Rather, it
considers type as a visual element.”

Logo Modernism

by Jens Müller

“The quality of the work contained in this book is
simply humbling, this is a great piece for everyone
interested in design, from students to seasoned
professionals.”

Designing Brand Identity

by Alina Wheeler

“As a designer, I’ve had difficulty for years finding a
book that really spoke to me about Identity and
Branding. This book is the perfect solution to the
problem.”

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

by Ashlee Vance

“Exhaustively reported . . . this work will likely serve
as the definitive account of a man whom so far
we’ve seen mostly through caricature.”

The Best American Infographics 2014

by Gareth Cook

“You’ll come away with more than your share of…
mind-bending moments – and a wide-ranging view
of what infographics can do.”

Patterns of the Universe

by Alex Bellos

“Dazzling and calming at the same time.
I’d highly recommend for yourself or as
a gift. So cleverly, artistically, and
creatively done”

Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction

by Philip E. Tetlock

“Superforecasting is the most important scientific study I’ve ever read on prediction
study I’ve ever read on prediction.”

Work Rules!

by Laszlo Bock

“I really like this book because it helps explain why
I felt connected to some companies versus others
regardless of the company size, team dynamic,
or manager style.”
Did you see anything you like? Is there a book we left out? Let us know, and happy readings!

Read More at The Best Books for Designers

When I think of fonts I think of cats, apparently someone else does as well because I found a bunch of cute and ironic cat-font memes online. First, I thought to myself, “You’ve got to be kitten me right meow!” but then I had to share. Take a look at this adorable collection I’ve put together for you.

You know all these cat puns left you feline good! If you were a cat font, which font would you be?

Read More at If Fonts Were Cats

Some are funny, some are bland, and some you may not even understand. We’ve put together a list of 28 CSS puns that we think you’d love, we did. Comment below and let us know which one you like best! Heck, Let us know if you have some that are even funnier than the ones we’ve collected, we’d love to hear em!

Get it? Because you disappear in the Bermuda-triangle…

#BADA55 is a real color!

It’s okay no one is mad about this one…

Wife is always right or else the titanic does not float!

So much padding it broke the internet!

Just keep swimming…

I had to look deep into my morals before adding this one.

Ugh, machines make us do all the work!

What web designing does to us…

Yo mama so fat… This one had us laughing for a while.

Get it? The Wall of China!

Warning: Little people are not leprechauns, do not attempt to capture them!

Never to be found…

You won’t like him when he’s angry…

It doesn’t take much…

Ha! 6ft under.

One of my favorites!

Who doesn’t love good transformer movie?

If you can build it that is!

You know, because it’s leaning…

I think I might be a hobbit… it’s time for an adventure!

And then there was nothing…

Oh, the things I would do with an invisibility cloak…

You know it’s going to be fun debugging when you see that!

Always strive for awesomeness!

This one may take you a minute… it did for me.

If this one doesn’t get you signing then you might be a robot…

Don’t forget to comment below and let us know which one you like best! Share your jokes with us as well, we want to see them!

Read More at 28 CSS Puns to Brighten Your Day

The NBA playoffs are here and everyone is buzzing about their favorite NBA teams. So… we’ve taken it upon ourselves to entertain you with what your favorite team’s logo could look like. Some talented designers put their special touch on these iconic logos redesigned and mastered. Let us know which one is your favorite at the bottom of the article.

Boston Celtics

Brooklyn Nets

New York Knicks

 Philadelphia 76ers

Toronto Raptors

Dallas Mavericks

Houston Rockets

Memphis Grizzlies

New Orleans Pelicans

San Antonio Spurs

Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers

Detroit Pistons

Milwaukee Bucks

Indiana Pacers

Denver Nuggets

Minnesota Timberwolves

Oklahoma City Thunder

Portland Trail Blazers

Utah Jazz

Atlanta Hawks

Charlotte Hornets

Miami Heat

Orlando Magic

Washington Wizards

Golden State Warriors

Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Clippers

Phoenix Suns

Sacramento Kings

Read More at Your Favorite NBA Logos Redesigned

I love me some speed. I can’t drive slowly unless I really have to. I try my best to eat slowly among friends because that is the socially acceptable thing to do, but I fail all the time because nothing gets between me and my food. And as a guy who frequents WordPress theme shop after another, I always have a problem with themes that take forever to load.

Let’s just say patience isn’t my strong suit. I know that patience is a virtue and all that, but tell that to a reader who has to wait an eternity for your site to load. Slow loading websites are an instant deal breaker.

A slow website screams to the entire universe you don’t give a hoot about your web visitors. Guess how they return the favor? They stop caring about you and move on to your immediate competitor. You don’t want that to happen, now do you? You need more people to hang around your site for longer if want to make any moolah.

Running your WordPress website with the best WordPress hosting favors great speeds, but you can get a little more adrenaline rush with a WordPress theme built for supersonic speeds. Keep in mind that fast speeds are great for user experience (UX) as well as your SEO efforts. You can easily get a great WordPress host, but what about a super-fast WordPress theme? – Brandon, OnBlastBlog

In today’s post, I compare a couple of WordPress themes from various theme shops in a bid to score you the best in terms of speed. I will use a tool known as GTmetrix to check two themes from each WordPress theme shop I list.

Still, I will look at the pros and cons of each WordPress theme shop, so you can have an easier time choosing the perfect fit for your business. Towards the end, I will list a couple of tips on how to improve the page load speeds of your WordPress site even further.

Ready? Well, let’s put this baby in fifth gear already.

MyThemeShop

With over 300K happy customers including the likes of ShoeMoney, Matthew Woodward, PackandClick and StudentsFitness among others, MyThemeShop is a revered company in the premium WordPress theme market.

Rated 4.5/5.0 by Athemes, yet another fantastic WordPress theme shop, MyThemeShop is best known for easy-to-manage and responsive WordPress themes suitable for bloggers, magazines, ecommerce and business in general.

Some of their themes, such as TruePixel and SociallyViral have been used by recognizable brands such as ViralNova among others, meaning you are in safe hands with these guys.

They offer 120+ hand-crafted WordPress themes & plugins, some of which are free to download and use. This is definitely great news for those among us on a tight budget but want professionally coded themes that don’t disappoint.

Apart from being fully responsive, all MyThemeShop’s themes are built using the latest HTML5 and CSS3 techniques, which makes each theme future proof. Other than that, all the themes you get from this WordPress theme shop are optimized for amazing speeds, the best SEO, and social media integration.

On top of that, each theme comes with a million and one options allowing you to customize your site to your unique tastes, no matter how diverse the needs. All this you do easily from the an easy-to-use options panel that offers a wide array of interesting options. You also get an advanced options panel that lets you turn your website whichever way using shortcodes.

Additionally, they follow up each WordPress update with theme updates ensuring you are always up to date in terms of functionality and security. That, and every month MyThemeShop releases a new theme, which means they have your back covered should you be bored with your current theme.

In terms of support, MyThemeShop offers adequate customer care depending on the amount of money you spend. If you go for the free WordPress themes, you’re allowed access to the knowledge base, free forum support, FAQ section and video tutorials. With paid membership, you get access to the aforementioned resources plus robust premium video tutorials for most of the themes, customization services, and personalized support. The support reps are ever friendly and quite helpful.

In the pricing department, MyThemeShop doesn’t disappoint either. They offer a rather straightforward tier-based pricing scheme. While you don’t have to pay a dime to access a great deal of free WordPress themes and plugins, you have to shell out just a few bucks to enjoy their premium counterparts.

You can get a top-level premium WordPress theme for as little as $59 bucks, or join the MyThemeShop community and gain access to over 120 themes and plugins for only $167 bucks per year. With all these great features, amazing design concepts, and a supportive team that know and love their job, the price is worth every penny.

On the matters of speed, MyThemeShop understands the place of fast-loading pages in the online landscape of today and tomorrow. Unlike many wordPress themes that use bloated code and what not, the guys at MyThemeShop “…don’t sacrifice code quality for good design that bogs down your site and destroys your search rankings.”

Instead, their themes are designed to load light scripts asynchronously, meaning they are less resource intensive than what the competitors offer. If that isn’t enough, the developers at MyThemeShop don’t overload the themes with useless features and design elements that get in the way and slow down your site. Each line of code that goes into every theme is absolutely necessary.

I tested SociallyViral and Schema using GTmetrix and here are the results:

From the screen grab above, we can establish that SociallyViral has an impressive page load time of 0.8 seconds with 42 server requests. This theme has a PageSpeed score of 89% and a YSlow score of 84%. It has a total page size of 508 KB, which is great. How did Schema fair?

As you can see, Schema scores highly as well with a PageSpeed score of 94% (A), which is a cool A. It has a page load time of 1.3 seconds and a YSlow score of 85% with 36 server requests. Schema has a total page size of 346 KB which is simply awesome! To improve the speeds further, GTmetrix recommends using a CDN and optimizing WordPress.

MyThemeShop Pros & Cons

Pros

• Affordable and convenient pricing scheme
• Great team support
• All themes are beautiful and fully responsive
• A great and easy to use options panel
• SEO-ready WordPress themes
• Extra useful plugins

Cons

• They don’t have a multipurpose WordPress theme
• Almost all their themes have a similar look and feel about them (But that’s because they use the same super-fast foundational framework )

Templatic WordPress Theme Shop

Enters Templatic and you have WordPress theme developers who think out of the box as far as design goes. R. Bhavesh, the founder, established Templatic in March 2008 but officially launched the company in December 2009. This WordPress theme shop specializes in building top of the range WordPress themes for a wide variety of businesses big and small.

Templatic themes boast of typical everyday features such SEO-ready architecture, beautiful and varied designs, social media integration, responsive grids, and plenty of real estate for your advertising endeavors. However, their WordPress themes often come with hard to follow code, which is a stumbling block for beginners and developers alike. For this very reason, you can’t customize the themes easily, which is just sad.

The themes might be plain looking in terms of graphics, but that is because they are designed for professional (read formal) websites. A good example is Directory, their leading WordPress theme. But don’t take my word for it, you might want to check out their other themes for some design inspiration.

Other than that, Templatic serves over 130K customers meaning you will hardly go wrong with these guys. They offer 80+ WordPress themes and 40+ plugins, which is quite impressive. The company offers a Premium Themes club package that costs $399. There is an optional monthly fee of about $20 bucks. You get access to all themes, updates and installation guides among other goodies.

I took two of Templatic’s themes through GTmetrix. Here are my findings:

As you can see from the image above, Villa Rental – a premium WordPress theme by Templatic – has page load time of 3.6 seconds with a total page size of 2.45MB and 93 requests made to the server. Obviously, Bhavesh & Co. need to work on reducing the page size and the number of requests the theme makes to the server. That might reduce the page load time significantly.

Here’s how their flagship theme, Directory, performed:

Well, the page load time sucks big time at a little over 10 seconds! The theme makes 94 requests to the server, and has a total page size of 880 KB, which is a little on the higher side since it’s only 120KB shy of the 1MB mark. Directory has a PageSpeed score of B (88%) and YSlow score of C (73%).

Templatic Pros & Cons

Pros

• Amazing personal support
• Great professional designs
• Feature-rich themes
• Regular updates

Cons

• Membership has become less valuable since some themes require multiple add-ons
• Compatibility issues with other WordPress plugins noted by some users
• There’s a learning curve with some of the themes

ElegantThemes

Brought to us by renowned WordPress developer Nick Roach, and serving over 300K satisfied customers, Elegant Themes has etched a lucrative niche in the premium WordPress theme market, what with flagship products such as the popular DIVI theme.

They offer a wide range of amazing WordPress themes each featuring stellar design, unparalleled support, and advanced features the like of which you have never seen. And at a small price of just $69 bucks per year, you can have over 85 top-of-the-range WordPress themes to use as you will. Whenever it’s appropriate, they also offer generous discounts that save you money.

ElegantThemes’ WordPress themes are built to make you a true winner in whichever niche you choose. The themes are SEO-ready from the ground up and come with lots of customization tools and options. Without breaking a sweat, you can set up your site, manage adverts, and generally have it all with ElegantThemes’ themes.

Every month, the developers at ElegantThemes keep things fresh by releasing one or two WordPress themes. Their premium WordPress themes are stylish and come in so many forms allowing you to excel without trying hard. Most of the themes are fully responsive meaning your site adapts to variable screen sizes without a hassle.

But how does this WordPress theme shop fair in terms of speed? I put two of their themes; DIVI and Nexus, to the test. Here’s what I found out:

As you can tell from the image above, DIVI has a PageSpeed score of 91% (A) with a total page size of 4.05 MB. The theme made 71 requests to the server resulting in a page load time of 2.2 seconds. The theme has a YSlow score of 83%. Nick Roach and team need to do something about that page size, ’cause that’s just not attractive.

And here is how Nexus performed:

What’s the total page size again? A freaking 7.31MB! The theme makes 130 requests to the server earning a lackluster 50% PageSpeed score. It has a page load time of 4.1 seconds, which is above 4 seconds – the average time a user is willing to wait before giving up on your site. It has a YSlow score of 82%.

ElegantThemes Pros & Cons

Pros

• You get 85+ themes for the price of one ($69)
• Awesome and knowledgeable support
• Brand new and unique theme designs
• A couple of interesting plugins

Cons

• Some themes are definitely not user friendly. There’s a learning curve especially if you’re the perfect beginner
• Themes send many requests to the server, which causes slow speeds
• Acute problems with support have been noted by a few customers
• WooThemes WordPress Theme Shop

WooThemes

I don’t want to be a hater but let’s just be honest and call a spade a spade. WooThemes WordPress themes are a tad boring compared to what I have seen from other theme vendors. They are ideal for simple websites that can do without beautiful design and some pizzazz.

In other words, you will find a home at WooThemes if you’re after powerful functionality but don’t care as much about aesthetics. The designs are clean, alright, but they are not beautiful for the beginner looking to start right away without spending hours on fixing appearance.

And if that’s not bad enough, this WordPress theme shop offers about 30 WordPress themes, all of which are built upon the WooFramework. This, however, doesn’t disguise the fact that they have over 50 retired themes that are no longer supported or updated. A single theme costs $39 bucks, and the All Themes Bundle goes for $399.

WooThemes was founded by Adii Pienaar, Magnus Jepson and Mark Forrester back in 2008. Today, the company employs more than 25 employees, which is surprising considering the small number of themes available. This WordPress theme shop is, however, better known for it’s popular and free eCommerce plugin; WooCommerce. They offer five other plugins as well as plenty of extensions for WooCommerce.

On matters support, WooThemes suck big time if the reviews I came across are anything to go by. Here’s one disgruntled customer, for instance:

As David says in the post below this one, support from WooThemes has totally disappeared. They talk a good game on their web site about having responsive customer service, but actions speak louder than words. And of course, like so many of today’s companies, they totally isolate themselves from their customers by not providing a phone number or email method of contact. – RPM, WooThemes Review – Is it Good or Bad?

The above review was posted on ThemeGrade on January 14th, 2016.

But how does this WordPress theme shop perform in terms of speed? I gave two of their themes; Canvas and HomeStore, a test run. This is what I found:

From the image above, we can establish that Canvas by WooThemes is a fast theme, which is probably why it’s their most popular theme. It has, however, 97 requests to the server, which is odd but acceptable. It has a YSlow score of 73% and a PageSpeed score of 90%.

HomeStore’s total page size is 2.53 MB and the number of requests from the server is 118! All the same, this WordPress theme by WooThemes has page load time of 2.6 seconds. GTmetrix recommends using a CDN to accelerate content if you must serve heavy content. The developers need to thin down the page size and reduce the number of server requests to realize faster speeds. In terms of performance, HomeStore has a PageSpeed score of 87% and a YSlow score of 72%.

WooThemes Pros & Cons

Pros

• Themes are easily customizable and feature-rich
• They have community forums where users can interact and help each other out
• Simple and clean design which is great for designers and developers looking to build custom sites using WooThemes themes as foundation

Cons

• A large number of over 50 retired WordPress themes that are no longer supported or updated (why oh why WooThemes?)
• The designs are boring for lack of a better word. They aren’t exciting and don’t use modern design trends
• Themes can be fiddly for new users

Themify

You can feel the energy and vitality as soon as you land on Themify’s homepage. Without a doubt, theirs is a state of the art operation that has served more than 54K souls since inception. Did I just say souls? Ok, moving on swiftly.

Right off the bat, you will notice that their WordPress themes are full of color, cool imagery and great typography. In fact, you don’t need trying hard to see why this WordPress theme shop made this list today.

Their themes use the latest design trend including parallax, varied backgrounds, flat design and CSS3 among others. And since the themes ship packing a lot of features, there is no limit to just how much you can achieve with Themify.

Themify’s support is way above average. You get access to a support forum, automatic updates (whoa), and extensive documentation that help you to hit the ground running.

For just $79 bucks, you get your hands on over 40 beautiful WordPress themes. They are responsive and retina-ready to boot. On top of that, they are currently offering a bonus that gets you an extra theme of your choice for free when you buy any one theme. Buy one get one free per se.

The goodies don’t stop there. If you can tweet a message to @themify, you get an instant 15% coupon. If you would like an extra 10% discount on your first purchase, free feel to subscribe to their newsletter.

If you ask me, these guys are incredibly generous and as equally talented. If you feel the deal is too good to be true, let’s put two of their best themes to the test, and determine if Themify are really worth their salt in terms of speed. Here we go.

First off, we have the Ultra theme:

The PageSpeed score is a weak 64%. Ultra has YSlow score of 76%, page load time of 3.1 seconds, a total page size of 1.87 MB and 38 server requests. The deal was too good to be true, don’t you think? Perhaps it’s just this one theme.

I speed tested yet another theme, the popular Infinite theme, and here are the results:

The scores don’t look good either. The Infinite theme by Themify has a total page size of 1.56 MB and takes 2.8 seconds to load in full. It makes a total of 58 requests to the server. It has a PageSpeed score of 65% and a YSlow score of 68%. What a bummer. Could this be the reason they have many discounts?

Themify Pros & Cons

Pros

• Great support
• Wide variety of themes
• Beautiful theme designs
• Lots of discounts

Cons

• Too many options can confuse beginners
• In terms of speeds, you’re better off with another WordPress theme shop
• No search box on sight (site)
• Marketese galore but their themes don’t live up to the hype. Sorry guys

Bonus: Quick Tips on Increasing Your WordPress Page Speeds

You can buy themes from the fastest WordPress theme shop, but with time, your site might become slow due to multiple reasons. Here are a few quick tips on how to score lightning fast page speeds at any given time:

• First of all, choose the best WordPress hosting. If your web host provides dross service, you will have a slow website even with a fast-loading theme. I recommend managed WordPress hosts such as SiteGround , WPEngine and Kinsta among others.
• Be careful where from you source your WordPress themes and plugins. Some themes and plugins come with useless and bloated code that will only slow down your site. Some of these themes and plugins contain malicious code which is just trouble. Go for reputable vendors only.
• Optimize your images and set image dimensions. I noticed this problem with most WordPress theme shops that scored poorly. If you need a 200 x 300 px image, don’t resize a 400 x 600 px image using HTML or CSS. Use instead a 200 x 300 px and not a pixel more.

• Reduce HTTP requests to the server. It’s pretty obvious the more files you need to create your homepage, the more time it will take to load said files. Minimize the number of files you need to build your website.

• Use a content delivery network (CDN). GTmetrix offered this suggestion for nearly every WordPress theme shop. Popular content delivery networks include MaxCDN and CloudFlare among others. This shouldn’t be a concern though if you use a managed WordPress host as the CDN is more often than not integrated with the hosting service.

• Consider using a caching plugin such as W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache among others. Again, a managed WordPress host takes care of this for you.

• Take advantage of browser level caching
• Turn on GZip compression. It’s easy peasy work to implement. Just navigate to http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin/options.php, and change the value of the gzipcompression from 0 to 1. Remember to replace yourdomain.com with your own domain name. Additionally, you must be logged in to your WordPress Admin dashboard for this to work.
• Limit usage of external scripts including adverts
• Minify HTML, CSS and JavaScript
• Disable Jetpack features that you don’t use (I reduced my page load time by 3 seconds by deactivating all features but comments and social sharing)
• Delete plugins and themes that you don’t use
• Empty your trash regularly
• Check your PageSpeed scores using GTMetrix, Pingdom Tools or Google PageSpeed Insights
• Google: Learn more about increasing page speeds

At the end of the road…

You only need to go for WordPress themes that guarantee fast page speeds from the start, seeing nobody has the time or the patience to wait around. Attention spans on the Internet are short as it is, and with so many alternatives and distractions out there, you cannot afford the snail’s pace. Your readers will thank you for it, and you will notice an increase in your conversion rates.

I hope you have everything you need to choose the fastest WordPress theme shop from my list here today. Which is your favorite WordPress theme shop? Did I miss it, and why would you recommend them to a friend? Please share your thoughts and suggestions in the comment section below. I cannot wait to hear from you. Cheers to faster speeds.

To the stars!

Read More at Using Lean WordPress Themes To Make a Fast Loading Website

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