New WordPress themes are released constantly, some free, some premium. And some better than others.

Free themes, especially, tend to have a greater disparity in quality from one another, with some being just as great as the best premium themes, and others being poorly designed or poorly coded (or both).

Below, we’ve collected more than sixty of the best themes released since late summer. Roughly half are premium themes, ranging in price from $35 to $80, with the other half being free.

If you think there are other themes out there released during the same time period that should have been included, let us know in the comments!

Premium Themes

Traverse ($80)

Demo | Details

A Builder child theme with a number of textures and a muted color palette, perfect for a travel blog.

Momento ($50+)

Demo | Details

A responsive theme with a portfolio section, widgetized home page, and feature slider.

Mag.press ($50+)

Demo | Details

A minimalist magazine theme with blue accents and a featured post slider.

LeanBiz ($39 subscription)

Demo | Details

A simple theme with four unique color schemes, optional blog-style structure, ad management, automated thumbnail resizing, and more.

HandHeld Mobile ($39 subscription)

Details

A mobile theme that works alongside your default theme, and includes a gallery section, smooth ajax loading, and more.

Sky ($39 subscription)

Demo | Details

A very pretty theme with five unique color schemes, a gallery section, and ad management.

eList Directory ($39 subscription)

Demo | Details

A directory theme with unlimited custom color schemes, a classic directory structure, a custom form builder, e-commerce integration, and an optional blog-style structure.

Currents ($70+)

Details

Currents is a responsive design with a focus on content, a featured post slider, and custom news areas.

Teamster ($70+)

Details

A modular theme for magazine sites with multiple authors, a featured post slider, author tabber, and custome post types.

Announcement ($70+)

Details

Announcement is a niche theme specially designed for personal announcements, and includes a custom homepage, photograph slider, and custom post layouts.

Buro ($70+)

Details

Buro is a responsive design with atextured background, featured slider, custom home page and custom post types.

Adam & Eve ($49+)

Demo | Details

A responsive design specifically for wedding websites or couple blogs.

Tisa ($39)

Demo | Details

Tisa is a simple theme with a fluid and responsive design, built-in lightbox gallery, feature slider, and welcome message option.

Grido ($39)

Demo | Details

Grido is a Tumblr-like theme with a responsive layout, support for WP post formats, and nine post gradient colors.

Simfo ($39)

Demo | Details

A minimalist responsive theme with some subtle grunge textures, a feature slider, and options for product or service highlights.

onPlay ($69)

Demo | Details

onPlay is a magazine theme with a flexible layout, featured slider, footer carousel, and unlimited tabbed/featured categories.

Pulse ($69)

Demo | Details

A magazine-style theme with a flexible layout and a widgetized home page.

Domestica ($69)

Demo | Details

A real estate based theme with numerous unique features including multiple layouts, integrated Google Maps, an agent template, and a listing template.

Voyage ($69)

Demo | Details

A versatile theme that can be used for a variety of sites, including a portfolio or business site, with custom homepage widgets and custom page templates.

Medica ($49)

Details

A theme specifically for doctor’s websites, health clinics, dentist’s office, or other medical businesses.

Writer ($49)

Details

A stylish premium theme that includes a variety of textured headers (fabric, leather, wood, and grass), as well as shortcodes and one-click auto install.

Brand Crafters ($49)

Demo | Details

A corporate theme with infinite style variations and five different homepage sliders.

Quantum ($48)

Demo | Details

A multipurpose theme that includes an accordion slider, a custom background panel, and featured post images.

Business Theme ($69)

Demo | Details

A simple corporate theme with a fresh design, a page template for job postings, and more.

Tumble Theme ($69)

Demo | Details

A Tumblr-style blogging theme that includes a variety of post styles, including video posts, status updates, quotes, galleries, and more.

Showcase ($69)

Demo | Details

A minimalist portfolio theme great for artists, designers, photographers and other creatives.

Fluid ($59)

Demo | Details

Fluid is a responsive theme with a slideshow feature, galleries, responsive menus, and more.

iLicious ($35)

Demo | Details

A versatile theme that can be used for an app site or a portfolio, with a customizable slideshow.

E-Shopper ($35)

Demo | Details

Create a plugin-free, fully functional online store with this theme, which also includes a flexible home page layout and video documentation.

Sideshow ($40)

Demo | Details

A filterable portfolio theme with post format support, three custom widgets, and more.

Studeo ($40)

Demo | Details

Studeo is a creative agency theme with a filterable portfolio, unlimited colors, four custom widgets, and audio & video support.

Switchblade ($35)

Demo | Details

A simple theme with content composer content manager for posts, three sliders, and eight pre-defined colors.

Architectos ($35)

Demo | Details

A Visual Composer theme with unlimited layouts, jQuery enhancements, and custom widgets.

RT-Theme 15 ($35)

Demo | Details

A premium theme with a product showcase, multiple background options, a tons of shortcodes.

Free Themes

Launch Effect

Details

Launch Effect is a minimal launch page theme with a large photo background and built-in tracking stats.

Basically

Demo | Details

A minimalist theme with seven interchangeable color schemes, custom menu, custom body background, WP thumbnails, and more.

Busby

Demo | Details

A mostly neutral theme with bright yellow accents and stitching details.

Hello Sexy

Demo | Details

A minimalist theme made with HTML5 and CSS3.

Samaraka

Demo | Details

A dark theme customized from the Light Folio theme

Skeleton

Demo | Details

Skeleton is a basic responsive theme that helps you build simple, uncluttered, mobile-friendly WP sites.

Berylliumous

Demo | Details

A simple theme with a featured slideshow, and gray color scheme.

Leadescent

Demo | Details

A detailed but minimalist theme with image borders, monochrome icons, and a feature slider.

Century Club

Demo | Details

A simple theme with a textured background, custom menus, and valid CSS and HTML.

Wood Stair

Demo | Details

A dark theme with a wood-textured background and light orange accents.

OkaSan

Demo | Details

A clean theme with a textured background and accordion featured post section with shadow details.

Black and White

Demo | Details

A black, white, and gray theme with dashed lines and a cloud background.

S Cloud

Demo | Details

A light blue, white, and gold theme with an accordian featured post section and three columns.

Balita

Demo | Details

A free e-commerce theme from Smashing Magazine, aimed at stores that sell products for children.

Time

Demo | Details

A simple theme with a large featured image, two color styles, and ten different layouts.

Feature

Demo | Details

A multi-column theme with a clean and simple design, two color styles, and nine different layouts.

The Blog

Demo | Details

Includes sliders, eleven style variations, and eleven different layouts, as well as automatic thumbnail generation.

Cobera

Demo | Details

A minimalist theme with eight different layouts, two color styles, and automatic thumbnail.

Showcaser

Demo | Details

A minimalist black and white gallery theme.

PhotoClick

Demo | Details

A simple theme well-suited for photo blogs, with two color schemes included. There’s also a premium version for $4.99.

Octopink

Demo | Details

A pink blog design with three different background options. There’s also a premium version with additional options, including a responsive layout, for $4.99.

Mercurable

Demo | Details

A simple theme with an emphasis on post images and a textured background.

Masutoliso Magazine

Demo | Details

A gray, orange, and white theme with a featured news slider.

Chiefly

Demo | Details

A mostly gray and blue theme with a rainbow stripe along the top of the page.

Pongsari Version 1.1

Demo | Details

A clean and simple theme adapted from the TwentyTen theme, with shadow details and lime green accents.

Ghetting

Demo | Details

A detailed theme with multiple textures and a muted color scheme.

Parallax

Demo | Details

An elegant theme designed to show off images with a prominent slider at the top of the page.

Poloniumify

Demo | Details

A clean and modern e-commerce theme with a gray color scheme and featured product slider.

Infinity

Demo | Details

A minimalist responsive theme for portfolio sites.

Magazzino

Demo | Details

A two-column blog layout with both black & white and color versions.

Wootique

Demo | Details

A flexible, highly customizable e-commerce theme for use with the free WooCommerce.

Swatch

Demo | Details

A free business theme from WooThemes, with a featured slider, a custom home page, a portfolio page template, and custom post types.

BonPress

Demo | Details

A personal blog theme with a variety of post formats, custom widgets, and multiple color schemes.

Written exclusively for WDD by Cameron Chapman.

What’s your favorite new theme from the past few months? Did we exclude any you think should have been included? Let us know in the comments!

Complete iOS App Development Course – only $79

Source

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Apple’s mobile operating system has gained a huge following in just a few short years. Although it can take months of dedicated study to even begin programming iOS apps, there still seems to be a solid market of intelligent developers. In the last year alone we’ve witnessed the iPad2 and iPhone 4S releases which have both appeared stunning.

And along with these advances in technology comes a much larger demand for iOS apps. I’d like to go into a few design trends which have become prevalent in mainstream iOS interfaces. Designers have started following innovative and whimsical methods for constructing beautiful app layouts. And there is a lot to be said of this booming mobile industry!

Offset Center Tab Button

Surprisingly I have run into this feature a lot more in the social network-type applications. The offset tab button is generally placed in the center of a series of tab views in the bottom bar. Foursquare and Instagram are two examples, although there are other designers picking up on the trend.

The benefit of this tactic from a metrics perspective is that you’ll see a lot more active sharing using that center button. With Instagram you tap there to snap a new photo, in Foursquare you are sharing a new check-in. This center tab view should represent the key action(s) you’re hoping to get out of each user.

Another cool example can be found in Tumblr’s iOS app. This mobile port of the social blogosphere is using the offset center tab just a few pixels in height. It seems like a small effect, yet your attention is constantly attracted to the “Post” link.

Popup Modal Views

Modal boxes have been popular in both desktop and browser-based applications. When developing for iOS these modal boxes are perfect for quickly gathering some user information. These systems work best in a true/false or yes/no format so the user isn’t flustered in dealing with a whole new window.

In the example above Tweetbot uses a brilliant modal box design with an outer shadow effect. Another point of notice is how the two buttons have been colored differently – this is to imply that you need to make a choice between the two. In this screen I’m being asked to confirm or deny a spam report(which I politely canceled!).

Link Icons

When designing an iOS user interface you want important bits to stand out from the rest. This is worth stressing in preparation so that your layout doesn’t appear bland by design. Things for iPhone uses some really unique icons to label each of their different scheduling areas.

Another one of my favorite examples is Cloudette, an iOS solution for CloudApp. Basically you log in to your account and the home screen displays all your contents in chronological order. The app includes icons next to each file based on the type(URL link, photo, .zip archive).

Even if you aren’t a magnificent designer you should be able to find some awesome freebies throughout the web. Having a few icons sprinkled throughout your menus will help to differentiate the many links listed together. They also add onto the beautiful user experience which you would expect in any mobile app.

User Profile Badges

The most popular example of the social badges group has to be Foursquare. We’ve all caught a glimpse of these badge designs and there are plenty to go around! The site’s founder Dennis Crowley has actually collected over 100 different badges! Talk about some real dedication.

Adding this functionality into your app brings about an entire gaming mechanism. Your members will be constantly working to unlock badges and show off their hip trendy profile. Im Game is another app released in private beta where you check-in to each video game as you play them.

Users who check into specific genres more often can unlock secret badges, along with others means of social gaming. If the badge system doesn’t work in your app I suggest not trying to force it. But collecting user input will keep your member base growing and interested in future products!

Custom Loading Animation

This hasn’t been as popularized as the other trends recently, although there are 2 apps worth noticing. Gowalla’s newest re-design uses a checkered array of moving colors to display when content is being loaded. It’s a really unique animation and certainly along the lines of something I’ve never seen before.

Another great example comes from Kevin Rose’s recent publication of Oink app. The user interface is much smaller this time around, as they focus on a tiny loading bar towards the top of each screen. The animation movement is very fluid and I feel the concept has been implemented brilliantly. Take down a few notes from these guys and see if you can come up with your own unique loader.

Pre-Cropped Images

There is a lot more code required to dynamically pull out images of differing sizes. It takes even more programming to crop and maneuver user uploaded content. As such these trends are still limited to app development teams with enough time and patience to implement them.

Ballin’ is a great example which pulls data out of Dribbble’s network. The shots are updated usually every 24 hours to include both a thumbnail and full-screen view for when the iPhone is in landscape mode. Altogether this technique is more intensive in programming than actual design. Yet it appears very trendy and flashy, and certainly something which I expect to continue in future mobile apps of 2012.

Conclusion

This guide has introduced some of the latest design trends in iPhone/iPad applications. If you’re an aspiring designer I highly recommend skimming through my previous article on iOS user interfaces in Photoshop. There is a lot to study and practice, but the payoff is certainly worth the effort. If you have any questions or comments please share with us in the discussion area below.