I’m officially announcing Wu Wei, a free, open-source, GPL-licensed WordPress theme I designed over the course of a few months.
I really enjoy web design. The only problem is that I when I’m satisfied with a layout like this, I don’t feel the need to change it (aside from small tweaks), which means I don’t get a chance to come up with something new.
So I decided to create a WordPress theme for the public. That way I can continue to flex my design muscles, and other people can have the benefit of using it.
Wu Wei has been a labour of love. This is the theme I always wanted to create — bold fonts, a clean look, with lots of contrast. The devil is in the details, like the way everything aligns neatly to the grid.
With almost 2000 downloads so far, there’s been some nice buzz:
Someone also sent me this e‑mail:
Hey Jeff, I love the theme. I was casually browsing around for something very clean and modern looking — I saw the name “Wu Wei” and I downloaded it immediately. It turned out to be perfect!
As a practicing young taoist I figured the name was perfect.
Take it easy,
Justin
I love seeing how different people are using the theme, whether they’re bloggers, comedians, photographers, reviewers, or design companies. You can check out the demo page here.
This theme is only the first of a trilogy of WordPress themes I have planned, based on Taoist ideas. Wu Wei is dedicated to my Tai Chi teacher, Michael Babin. And since the concept of wu wei or “effortless action” is important in internal martial arts like Tai Chi Chuan as well, I thought it was only fitting that he should have the honour of the first dedication.