We balk at some of the more uninspired themes seen in everyday Drupal sites. Some sites we can't stand, and some contrib themes we want to bury alive. If you've ever found yourself at a loss as to how designers harness their creativity to produce exceptional designs, this is for you.
Drupal 6 is a powerful system that has a steep learning curve for those new to it. The included theme system is no exception to this. As with any complex system, the key to using it effectively is to understand it. The purpose of this session is to increase your understanding to get you on your way towards creating a look all your own.
One focus of Drupal 7 has been to empower module developers and theme developers to more easily achieve the look the want for their final output. We added hook_page_alter() where a themer or module developer can alter any part of the page just before it is rendered. At this point, the page is still a raw array that can be easily manipulated.
Learn how to theme a site from scratch within about half an hour using the painter module in conjunction with the joker theme - no coding.
Start out with a theme design, cut up the image elements using joker, including logo, page header, footer, blocks, buttons and navigation. Theme page title, primary and secondary links as well as primary and secondary tabs with the painter.
