Variations on a theme

If you haven't noticed already, this site contains an option that allows you to choose one of a number of different themes for this blog. There a few reasons why these themes exist:

1. I value uniqueness and I strive for it. I don't want to be like anyone else and I don't want my blog to be like anyone elses.
2. I like making things and I like to think of myself as a creative person.
3. I'm a terrible show-off at heart.
4. I can never make up my mind.
5. Change is good.

For the most part, all these themes are my own handiwork, although in a couple of instances I have used graphics that I've found on the internet (and subsequently modified). I've tried to make sure I include the proper attributions where possible. I've had to substantially modify the default Movable Type templates to make most of these work so you won't be able to use them easily without doing some work behind the scenes - if you want copies of the templates I changed, feel free to ask.

About the themes themselves (you can click on the name to see the theme in action):

Cardboard

This was my first attempt at a theme and predates Blog by several years. It was originally created when a friend mentioned that he might be interested in starting a blog. I offered to help out with the design and coding of it, and immediately dragged him off to a book shop where we passed a goodly amount of time looking at various design books. After we found some ideas we both liked (or that I liked) I went off and whipped up something that looked a lot like this theme. Nothing ever came of the blog, but I kept the graphics around just in case, and finally put them to use here. It's a very practical, perhaps even utilitarian, theme and so is completely unrepresentative of who I am.

Autumn

Believe it or not, this theme came into existence during Autumn. It served a dual purpose - to celebrate the season on the one hand, and to try out ideas for the colour scheme of my living room on the other (at the time, I was convinced I wanted the living room rendered in rich hues of red and brown, but I since scuppered that notion by purchasing a blue sofa suite). The source graphic I used came from this page

Fluid

Despite their differences, the cardboard and autumn themes are very similar, with each entry being framed in it's own box. I wanted to break away from that mould and do something different. Like Autumn, I came across the source image on Google - a tap from which a stream of water was flowing - although in this case I no longer have a link to it so I can't offer proper attribution. Modifying the image to add the curve, and to make the stream repeat was a torturous experience. This is my favourite theme.

Simple

Simple, as it's name implies, was quick exercise to test out an idea for modifying each entry depending on the day it was created. This is used to add the day "tabs" to the left of each entry. I like the tabs, but overall this is the theme I'm least pleased with. It looked a lot better in my head. I'll probably come back and revisit this one day (when I can be bothered).

Tabula Rasa

The main idea from Simple is put to better use here. This theme is based on my old web site, which is still lurking around (be warned, it only works in Internet Explorer or Netscape 4 - I was young and didn't know any better at the time). It's the only theme I've done so far which has a fixed width (just for the sake of variety). I'm very partial to the progression of colours and shapes seen in this theme. Originally it was a little bland, but I've since tarted it up by adding a colour bar to each entry. It's much prettier now.

Wend

Like Simple, Wend is a test for an idea I hope to put to better use in the future, in this case snaking a graphic around each entry. The colour scheme is a fairly radical departure from anything I've used previously - most people have commented that it's too blue (I realised afterwards that the scheme is very similar to that used by Metafilter, with the background blue being almost identical - this is a coincidence) - but I rather like it. Change is good, remember?