So you want to get a new theme for your web site. The blue theme that comes default with Drupal is called Garland. It is a GREAT theme. very well designed. Although, since it is the default theme, it gets very redundant when a lot of web sites use the default theme.

The following are your options for getting a theme for your Drupal-based web site:

Using a free pre-designed default Drupal theme

There are a few default themes that come with Drupal. If you just need to build the web site and dont really care that its using a common theme, then by all means, use one of the defaults.

Downloading a free pre-designed Drupal theme

There are over 750 free pre-designed, ready to go themes for Drupal. Most of them can be found on drupal.org. You can also preview many of them on ThemeGarden. Many of these themes are high quality, while some are not very good. Of course you can always search for free drupal themes and find various sources around the net.

Customizing an existing Drupal theme

If one of the free pre-designed themes is almost right you can always customize it yourself or pay someone to customize it for you. Depending on what changes you want/need this is usually the lowest cost way to get a semi-custom drupal theme. The process is very simple. Find a theme that matches closely with the vision you have for the site and then just customize it.

Creating a theme using a tool that can out put Drupal themes

There are a few tools that can generate a theme for you. They let you somewhat build a theme inside the tool and then export the theme in the format you need. This can be useful for some web sites. Although, there are usually some key parts missing from the theme, as these tools do not necessarily specialize in Drupal.

Purchasing a pre-designed premium theme

There are many premuim pre-designed themes available for Drupal. These themes are usually very well designed with great attention to detail. The price can range from $5 to $1000. The average is around $200-$400 and usually only used by a few sites. Sometimes, you also have the option to buy-out the theme, which means no one else can use it after you buy it out. This is a good way to get a really good theme quick that will stay original to your web site.

Having a Drupal theme custom designed

This is the option you take if you are looking for something specific to your web site. You may want to integrate a certain color scheme or do something that carries your branding. This method does cost the most, but the ones who need it will find it valuable. A good way to gauge the cost is by looking at an normal rate for graphics design of $50 per hour. Drupal themes can take anywahere from 5 to 60 hours. If you have found a good theme designer, the more you spend, the better your theme will be.