theming

We recently redesigned the Growing Venture Solutions site and I was given the task of completing and theming the new design. This was only my second theming assignment and it was a tremendous challenge and learning experience; I'd like to use this post to pass on some of the resources that helped me along the way. Maybe they'll help someone else?

The original GVS site was running the Marvin theme; since we’ve been growing it was time for a custom look. The first passes at the design and new logo were done by Don Hajicek and everyone was pleased with the overall style and particularly the leaves on the logo and on the “more” links. When I joined GVS I continued where Don left off by expanding his design to include more content elements, adding the navigation tabs and the footer area. (I like the little set apart yellow tab, although we're not sure if that color choice will stay.) I then moved on to Adventures in Theming.

Adventures, indeed. This image is a diagram Greg drew for me to explain the roles of the system administrator, site builder, developer, and designer. (“There are these overlapping bubbles, see?”) This pretty much sums up where I was starting from.

About a week in, when I was near the nadir of my learning curve confidence, I found this on Nick Lewis' site and I felt some relief; I was not alone: "When you first start, its going to suck: its going to be both boring, and confusing. Can you endure the unpleasant experience of watching yourself suck, while both confused and bored?"

Hello - I'm Evelyn and I have recently joined GVS as a designer and usability tester. I have been working as a freelancer for the past seven years, and now that my daughter is entering 1st grade I am excited to be spending more face time with grown-ups!

My first task as a designer with GVS was to design a site for Greg's book: "Cracking Drupal". This was also my first real-world experience theming for Drupal and with some help, it was pretty simple.

I began by chatting with Greg about what he wanted the site to do and how it should look. I also gave him a simple design worksheet to complete with questions such as "Who is your target audience?" and "How do you want people to describe your site?" (If I could ask only one question, this last one would be it.) Greg wanted the site to draw on the cover of the book, and wanted it to be elegant, streamlined and easy to navigate.

Book Cover: As a starting point it was an obvious choice to take the book cover and modify it into the header and footer. I pulled the color palette from the cover as well, and added a burnt orange accent to offset the strong blues and blacks. In general I try to avoid black text on white, so the body copy and some headers are actually a dark blue.

Elegant: I always strive for elegance. By elegance I don't mean just "tasteful, refined or dignified" (Oxford American Dictionary.) For me, elegance in web design is integral to good usability. Even grungy, busy sites, when done well, can be described as elegant. So for Cracking Drupal that meant a clear hierarchy and harmonious color scheme taken from the book.