An example of the effects of BASIC on a fragile young mind.

I’ve heard a lot of complaints that Drupal sites aren’t as pretty as WordPress sites, and I think these complaints are based on the fact that a lot of Drupal themes really are ugly.  But it occurs to me that this may be because there isn’t as large of a market for off-the-shelf premium Drupal themes.  Instead, there is a small pool of a few dozen commonly used themes for Drupal—most of which are hideous, blocky-looking monstrosities—and then there are custom-themed sites that look great that you don’t realize are Drupal sites.

Moral of the story, good Drupal sites don’t look like Drupal sites, because a well-done CMS theme shouldn’t contain clunky elements that tip off the user as to what CMS is being used.

Here are some Drupal sites that are definitely not ugly:

• Ubuntu
• Fox Searchlight
• Amnesty International
• MTV UK

Also, 43 Folders used to have a wonderful theme for Drupal implemented, but has since been sadly stripped down.  See its former glory:

Update 07/02/2009: Young Americans for Liberty, a libertarian political group, just sent me an email about their new site, which happens to be built in Drupal and also not ugly.   In fact, it’s rather awesome looking.

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