Choosing or designing a great blog template is one of the most important factors of creating a successful blog. When designing new blog templates, I tend to look at showcases of the best designs for ideas and inspiration.

Adii (a blog designer himself) has compiled a list of 53 of the best Wordpress blog designs from 2007. There are some real gems to look at in here, so if you're considering a redesign of your own blog, why not take a look at his comprehensive list for some inspirational ideas? All of the 53 blogs he has chosen have previews right on the page, and most of them are also annotated for you to understand what Adii likes best about these designs.

Some of my personal favorites from this list include:

Blog solid

I particularly like the earthliness of this design, which reinforces the metaphor of a solid blogging foundation. The date/category icons with each post really help visitors understand what a post will be about, whilst looking extremely stylish in the process!

Web Designer Wall

This is probably one of the most talked about blog designs of 2007, though I'm sure you can easily understand why! Although the overall design may be too feminine for some tastes (certainly not mine though!), the overall effect is spectacular. I particularly like the tabbed navigation which remind me of the "post-it" notes I used for my files at college.

Jesus Rodriguez Velasco

Believe it or not, this grungy and oh-so-cool blog is owned by a university professor! The grungy theme works wonderfully with his subject theme, and though it's heavy on the imagery it still loads super-fast. This is an inspiring design indeed!

If you're looking for a free Wordpress template as a base for your own design, I would strongly recommend that you take a look at Justin Tadlock's free themes. Justin has created some wonderful and easily customizable themes which are simply excellent in terms of functionality. In fact, Techiboo is based on the Structure theme, though I have heavily customized this design in order to add individuality for my site.

For those of you looking for a unique blog design, I would recommend Adii who works freelance as a designer and has a great portfolio of work on his site. Adii also has some free themes available for download, including the funky Polaroid template which was one of the themes I initially toyed with in the creation of this site.

What are your favorite blog themes of 2007?