As a graphic designer, you can probably dominate complicated creative tools such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. But when it comes to coding a website from scratch, you might find yourself stuck. And using Adobe Dreamweaver isn’t an option.
Luckily, you can easily set up a graphic design website with the WordPress CMS. No need to learn HTML and CSS. If you do know those coding languages, you can customize your site even after installing a premade template.
With so many WordPress themes out there, it’s difficult to choose one that’s modern, elegant, and feature-rich. Most WordPress themes are designed for small businesses and blogs, so the layout isn’t optimized to show off your graphic design work.
We’ve curated the absolute best WordPress themes for graphic designers. These designs feature premade portfolio pages, engaging visual effects, and drag-and-drop editors that allow you to design visually.
WordPress Themes For Designers
- Divi Theme
- Bridge
- The7
- KALLYAS
- Kalium
- Salient
- Uncode
- TheGem
- Perfect Portfolio
- Oshine
- Rhye
- Cygni
1. Divi Theme
Divi Theme is our top choice for graphic designers. Why?
You can build visually as you would on any given graphic design tool. Instead of needing to tinker with code or edit the page on the backend using a block editor, you can see the results of your design as you change the elements. The built-in editor offers features similar to Adobe Illustrator’s, such as global editing and keyboard shortcuts.
Divi has been featured in quite a few of our lists — we even wrote a review — because it’s the most versatile WordPress theme out there. You can use it for an online store, a business website, or a blog. But it offers robust features that make it a great choice for graphic designers.
You can set dynamic page dividers that can give flair to your portfolio. Instead of a straight line, for example, you can create a divider in the shape of a wave. You can also transform elements to show depth like in Photoshop and Sketch.
Highlights
- Powerful drag-and-drop page builder that allows you to design visually
- Dynamic features such as transformations and well-designed page dividers
- 40+ pre-designed modules and 100+ website packs (or demos)
- Global editing available to change one element across the entire website
Recommended Demos for Your Site
Pricing: $89/year; $249 one-time fee
2. Bridge
Bridge is a popular creative theme that offers more than 500 demos. The best part? Most of them are geared toward graphic designers and creative agencies.
Ranging from minimal to bold, from understated to eclectic, you’ll be sure to find a design that successfully showcases your wok. We love this theme for graphic designers because of its strong creative slant. For instance, its Web Design Agency demo features bold neon text and engaging animations. But if you’re looking for a more traditional design, you’ll find it among its wealth of demos, too.
You have two choices for your page builder: WPBakery or Elementor. Elementor is a better choice because its drag-and-drop editor is just like the Divi editor. Instead of editing something first, then clicking “Save Changes,” you can design as you go like you would in a graphic design tool. When you choose a demo, be sure to double-check that it’s compatible with Elementor.
Highlights
- More than 500 demos to choose from, most of which are designed for creatives
- Premium plugins included: Revolution Slider, Timetable, and LayerSlider
- Feature-rich shortcodes for sliders, showcases, infographics, and typographic elements
- Unique header options that allow you to differentiate your portfolio site
Recommended Demos for Your Site
- Portfolio Gallery
- Portfolio Spread
- Horizontal Portfolio
- Design Agency
- Agency Creative
- Web Design Agency
Pricing: $59 one-time fee
3. The7
The7 is a WordPress theme that features more than 60 pre-built demos and more than 50 unique layout elements.
Like Bridge, it allows you to build your website either with Elementor or WPBakery. As a bonus, it’s compatible with WooCommerce, giving you the ability to sell graphic design prints or any other work through an online store.
It doesn’t feature as many creative demos as Bridge or Divi does, but it offers a few that will allow you to showcase your portfolio and grab the attention of potential clients. Elementor Minimal Creative Dark, for example, shows your work in a full-width grid, with a subtle left-hand menu.
Highlights
- One-click demo installer makes it easy for you to set up your creative website
- WooCommerce integration in case you want to sell merchandise
- Ability to mix and match design features from different demos
- Premium plugins included: Slider Revolution, Convert Plus, and GoPricing
Recommended Demos for Your Site
Pricing: $39 one-time fee
4. KALLYAS
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KALLYAS is a creative WordPress theme with over 70 pre-made demos — a good number of which are ideal for graphic design websites.
Like The7, it offers WooCommerce integration, allowing you to set up an online store and sell prints of your graphic design work. It uses the Zion page builder, which is similar to Elementor. Rather than needing to make changes and then saving them, you can see the changes as you make them.
You’ll have access to over 150 elements for building a strong portfolio site. Its smart loader only loads the data and resources your website needs, allowing your images to load more quickly. Don’t forget to compress images beforehand or use an image optimization plugin.
Highlights
- One-click demo installation
- Multiple portfolio layouts such as grids and galleries
- Pricing tables for offering graphic design packages
- WooCommerce integration for setting up an online merchandise store
Recommended Demos for Your Site
Pricing: $69 one-time fee
5. Kalium
Kalium is a premium WordPress theme geared specifically toward creatives. While its list of demos is short, most of them are designed with creative professionals in mind. Even if you choose a non-portfolio theme, you can easily adapt it for your site by adding a portfolio page or section.
Kalium automatically includes the WPBakery page builder, but is compatible with the Elementor drag-and-drop editor. Its portfolio and project layouts can help you design a unique portfolio page: you can choose between 2-, 3-, and 4-column layouts, decide between margins versus no margins, and pick metro or non-metro designs.
As for individual projects, you can choose between a variety of layouts that allow you to show off your work with the attention it deserves. Check out, for instance, a project example in the “Full Screen” view. Another one of interest would be the “Side” view with sticky text.
Highlights
- One-click demo installation
- WooCommerce integration for setting up an online merchandise store
- Diverse portfolio and project layout options for showcasing your work
- Premium plugins included: Slider Revolution, LayerSlider, ACF PRO, and Product Filter for WooCommerce
Recommended Demos for Your Site
Pricing: $59 one-time fee
6. Salient
Salient is a premium WordPress theme that features 18 different portfolio layouts. This theme offers more than 350 section templates and 55 page builder elements so you can create a unique site with case studies, portfolio pages, and more.
Alternatively, you can import one of its fully pre-built creative websites, then go from there. One of the biggest pros for this theme is that you can preview every single one of its elements before downloading. For instance, you can see how you can load custom typography in its Typography preview. Other features you should preview include Image Comparison and Mouse Parallax.
Salient uses a “visually enhanced” version of the WPBakery page builder. So if you’ve used the page builder before and found it unpleasant to look at, this is the theme for you.
Highlights
- One-click demo installation
- “Adaptive image” feature automatically compresses your images based on device
- Ability to load custom typography
- WooCommerce integration for setting up an online print store
Recommended Demos for Your Site
Pricing: $60 one-time fee
7. Uncode
Uncode is a creative WordPress theme that offers a wide range of demos for graphic design freelancers and agencies. Out of all the themes, this one offers the greatest number of creative demos — you’ll see below in our recommended demos list. (Believe it or not, Uncode offers even more creative and portfolio example sites.)
It has over 400 layouts for you to build a unique site, including 49 portfolio layouts. So if you want to have more choices for structuring your portfolio, this is most definitely the theme for you. If you’re unconvinced, you can look through hundreds of websites built with the Uncode theme so you can find inspiration to build your own.
Uncode comes with the WPBakery page builder. While you can’t build and see your results straight away, you can still get a similar experience to a live drag-and-drop editor such as Elementor.
Highlights
- One-click demo installation
- WooCommerce integration for setting up an online print store
- Pricing tables for creating graphic design packages
- Premium plugins included: LayerSlider, Revolution Slider, and Tailored iLightbox
Recommended Demos for Your Site
- Creative Collective
- Creative Digital Agency
- Creative Freelance
- Creative Marketing
- Portfolio Freelance
- Portfolio Agency
- Portfolio Minimal
- Portfolio Metro
- Portfolio Studio
- Portfolio Bureau
Pricing: $59 one-time fee
8. TheGem
TheGem is a premium WordPress theme that offers over 400 demos, over 300 pre-designed section layouts, and over 30 unique elements you can use to build your website. It gives you a choice between the Elementor and WPBakery page builders, allowing you to build visually and see your design as you create it.
TheGem’s demo websites are geared more toward businesses as opposed to freelance creators. It offers five portfolio demos and fifteen agency demos, giving you more options if you run a graphic design agency. If you’re looking for a unique, eclectic design for your portfolio, this isn’t the best theme for you. Consider Bridge (number two in this list) instead.
Still, if you’re a freelance graphic designer, you can start with an agency design, and add a portfolio section from there. Its portfolio options include justified, masonry, metro, list, packery, 100%-width, in-content, and slider layouts.
Highlights
- One-click demo installation
- WooCommerce integration for setting up an online print store
- Its “Interactions” feature allows you to create modern parallax animations
- Premium plugins included: Slider Revolution and LayerSlider
Recommended Demos for Your Site
- Agency Creative Dark
- Agency Full Page
- Agency Media
- Agency Light
- Digital Marketing
- Portfolio Dark
- Portfolio Bright
Pricing: $59 one-time fee
9. Perfect Portfolio
Perfect Portfolio is a great choice for graphic designers on a budget. Available directly on the WordPress theme library, you can easily install it straight from your backend without paying a single cent.
Its offerings are simple but robust, featuring all you need to set up your graphic design portfolio site. It offers a portfolio section, a service section, a call-to-action (CTA) section, and a blog section. You can set up your portfolio so that visitors can filter by discipline, brand, or product type, and you can capture leads by including a CTA immediately below.
The only drawback is that it doesn’t use a drag-and-drop page builder. Instead, you use WordPress’s live customizer to make changes.
You can try out this theme for free, then upgrade to the pro version once you’re ready for more functionalities and capabilities. The pro version offers five portfolio layouts, unlimited colors, more than 600 Google Fonts, and 67 background patterns.
Highlights
- One-click demo installation
- Ability to start for free, then upgrade once you grow
- Uses WordPress’s built-in live customizer (not a drag-and-drop editor)
- WooCommerce integration for setting up an online merchandise store
Recommended Demos for Your Site
Pricing: Free; $59 one-time fee
10. Oshine
Oshine is a premium WordPress theme with a wide range of demos for graphic designers and creatives. Its portfolio feature allows you to choose between 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-column layouts, and you can customize the grid down to its gutter width.
The theme gives you access to over 600 Google Fonts, and if you’re planning to blog regularly, you have six choices to style your blog. Its parallax and full-screen sections also allow you to effectively showcase your work and capture the interest of potential clients.
Its built-in drag-and-drop page builder, Tatsu, operates like Elementor in that you can edit live and see the results right then (no need to click “Save”). The builder comes with keyboard shortcuts that allow you to design more efficiently.
Highlights
- One-click demo installation
- WooCommerce integration for setting up an online graphic design store
- More than 10 CSS animations for creating engaging visual effects
- Full-screen sections that allow you to showcase important projects
Recommended Demos for Your Site
Pricing: $59 one-time fee
11. Rhye
Rhye is a relatively new creative theme that’s built using AJAX. It doesn’t offer different demos, but rather a single design that you can then customize using sliders, masonry grids, blog styles, and more than 10 project templates.
As far as themes go, this is one of the simpler options on this list, which automatically makes it easier to customize. No need to wade through hundreds of section templates and designs that give you decision fatigue.
Rhye uses the Elementor drag-and-drop page builder, allowing you to build visually. Overall, it features a more understated, classic design than some of the other options on this list. If your graphic design practice uses more minimal, muted colors, this is a great theme for you. This is also a great choice if you do photography work in addition to graphic design work.
Highlights
- One-click demo installation
- Well-curated layouts for portfolio pages and project details
- Engaging, modern parallax effects across the entire site
- Minimal, interactive mouse cursor that makes your portfolio more engaging to navigate
Recommended Layouts for Your Site
- Irregular (Portfolio Page)
- Grid with 2 Columns (Portfolio Page)
- Grid with 3 Columns (Portfolio Page)
- Parallax Slider 3 (Project Slider)
- Parallax Slider 4 (Project Slider)
- Parallax Slider with Circle Covers (Project Slider)
- Parallax Slider with Square Covers (Project Slider)
Pricing: $59 one-time fee
12. Cygni
Cygni is a dedicated portfolio theme that is specifically designed for showcasing creative work. It features two demos — Light and Dark — which you can then customize using its eight showcase layouts. This makes it a great choice for designers who want to download a well-designed theme, upload it, and go.
The theme’s most distinctive feature is the three lines that run vertically on the screen. It makes it feel like the web page itself is a graphic design project. Take a look at one of the project examples, Meskalina Studio, to see how the three lines come into play in the structure of the page.
Cygni uses the Elementor page builder for easy and code-free customization. The one drawback of this theme is that it’s not especially optimized for conversion. Neither of the two demos feature CTA buttons — although you may be able to add some using custom HTML and CSS.
Highlights
- One-click demo installation
- Unique design that’s specifically made to showcase creative work
- Pre-packaged theme with minor customization required
- Engaging parallax effects that make your work “pop”
Recommended Layouts for Your Site
- Vertical (Portfolio Page)
- List Carousel (Portfolio Page)
- Detailed (Portfolio Page)
- Grid (Portfolio Page)
- Horizontal (Portfolio Page)
Pricing: $59 one-time fee
Build Your Graphic Design Portfolio Site with WordPress
Building a portfolio site for your graphic design business doesn’t have to be hard. With WordPress, you can design a site that showcases the best of your work, encourages visitors to become your clients, and requires little to no coding. Create a portfolio site with the themes we shared above and watch your graphic design practice grow.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
