While I think that Oliver and the other folks at informationarchitects.jp are incredibly smart, I struggle to see how they think that they are going to be able to sell a WordPress theme for US$1500-2500! I understand they’ve put a lot of hours and sweat into the product – I’ve tried customising WordPress myself and it’s time-consuming. And sure, there are a few other people around selling customised WordPress themes and plugin packages for anything up to a few hundred dollars. But US$2500, that’s a little rich.
Now, Ideal Website is visually excellent, highly readable and supposedly standards compliant (although neither the XHTML or CSS validate based on the current iA.jp site that apparently uses the theme). But US$2500? Sorry, for that I want something that is completely mine and nobody else’s.Here’s a relevant example. At the moment, I am getting some theme/site redesign and some associated help on content focus and pitch for done for acidlabs and thoughtglue. Have a look a sneak preview.
The work consists of:
- production of several variant themes for the site
- a coherent look and feel across all content
- ongoing discussion over focus and feel for content
It should all be up and finished in the next two weeks, after I finish the PHP work. I’m paying a similar price for this work as iA.jp are charging for their theme, but the work I’m paying for will be all mine. For US$2500, I don’t want to share.
