Implementing designs that are ill-suited or counter-intuitive to Drupal's structure and UI patterns can be frustrating for even the most seasoned Drupal themers. We'll discuss front-end areas that are often overlooked, as well as innocuous design decisions that are nearly impossible to implement for one reason or another, in order to provide suggestions for handling both situations.

More often than not, site designs neglect or disregard certain bits and pieces that are inherent in Drupal, creating visual inconsistencies even in the most thoroughly spec’d projects. With diligence and foresight, themers can specifically address these areas in the theme in order to deliver a robust, polished front-end.

Alternatively, some design decisions are difficult to implement, though they may seem simple enough. Often these types of customization do not merit the extra time and effort required to complete them and can result in brittle styling. We'll highlight a few of these pitfalls and discuss possible workarounds, whether it’s “there's a module for that” or some clever CSS.

The ultimate goal is to build a sturdy yet pliable theme that embraces things that Drupal does well, while achieving the desired appearance. Knowing what to expect from Drupal gives you more control over the process and allows you implement a design successfully.

Session Takeaways:

• Identify Drupal system elements that frequently create “theme-holes”
• Highlight common design requests that are difficult to implement and often don't hold up over time
• Offer suggestions about theming Drupal's front-end nooks and crannies