Creating clean, effective themes with a British sensibility, MeanThemes are one of MOJO Marketplace’s most prominent rising stars.
Who is MeanThemes?
We’re a two person UK based team. Chris designs and builds all the themes and runs the support center. Jude does all the business, marketing and finances.
How long have you been developing WordPress themes?
We’ve been using WordPress since 2003 and developing websites for clients since 2010. We started building commercial themes in 2012.
Why did you choose WordPress as your platform?
Partly due to it’s market share, partly due to its ease of use and mainly due to the fact it was the easiest platform to code for. We’d already tried a few including Drupal, Joomla and ModX when we made the decision to go all in on WordPress.
What is your design/development philosophy?
We’re big on both simplicity and impact. We don’t want to be a monster-mega-bundle-
What advice do you have for theme developers just starting out?
Be prepared for battle. It’s hard to get your name out there now compared to 4 or 5 years ago. If you have something good and you like hard work, you’ll be fine.
What’s your favorite theme on the Marketplace? why?
This is a tough one, we think each of our themes gets better and better. Hike is our latest and its a great little theme – really really quick and coded on top of the popular _underscores framework. Itsy has been a big hit though and our biggest seller here on Mojo Marketplace.
What would you say your themes are best used for?
Mainly blogging, that’s our focus really. Obviously they can be used for basic portfolio or photography websites too if you use the posts in a less blog-type fashion.
Do you have any tips for users trying to choose a WP theme for their project?
We’ve written entire blog posts on this exact subject, but here are the main takeaways: Make sure you search for the correct platform/CMS, Is the design what you want? Is the functionality what you want? If the design of functionality isn’t quite what you want, can you change it with built in functionality, plugins or via a Child Theme? Is pre-purchase support responsive to questions, what kind of testimonials/review/ratings does the author have as well as the individual product? What is the support like after purchase and how long does it last? Check your WordPress version and make sure the theme you are planning to buy is compatible, don’t fixate on cost versus features and finally what is the refund policy like.
What do you do when you’re not coding?
We also run a small web company in the UK so when we’re not doing that or working on commercial WordPress themes, we’re spending time with our little family. We’re not only business partners but also husband and wife with two little boys who love having fun!