Since my latest design refresh, many folks have been asking about the WordPress theme I’m using and how to get it. So, same as before, I’ve made my blog’s theme open source.
Meet Kanso, my best blogging theme yet.
In Japanese, “kanso” means simplicity or plainness, embodying a minimalist aesthetic that emphasizes clarity and the elimination of the unnecessary. I wanted to create a WordPress theme that reflects this philosophy in the design, writing, publishing, and reading.
It’s not about simplicity, but intentionality; and Kanso raises the bar on both.
Customizing Kanso
When you activate Kanso, your blog is ready to go, but it will look just like mine. If you want something that feels more like “you,” the theme is highly customizable.
Colors and fonts
With sixteen beautiful color palettes and three font sets (sans-serif, serif, and monospace), there are plenty of starting points to get just the right vibe you’re going for.
Blog layout
Looking at your blog from the Site Editor, consider changing what your posts look like. When you select a Query loop block, you’ll notice a shuffle control in the toolbar, which provides alternate layouts for your blog posts.
I designed a few, some more like a social feed, others more traditional post like, even a journal entry layout, and a photo grid using your featured images.
This level of customization is one of the marquee benefits of using a block theme. And of course, from any of these, you can add blocks and style them however.
Go ahead, make it yours.
Patterns
Kanso has you covered with a diverse set of patterns to help you quickly build unique and engaging layouts throughout your blog. From specialized designs like a newsletter landing page and the inline subscribe notice I put on every post, to each section I’ve added to my home page—there’s a pattern for it.
Download Kanso today, for free
With color palettes, typesets, section styles, text styles, and patterns, Kanso is best in class.
And if you’re into contributing, the source code is available on Github. So give the theme a go and share a link to your blog below. I’d love to check it out; even subscribe perhaps.
Leave a Reply to Rich Tabor Cancel