Don't design websites. Design web SYSTEMS!

Drupal's theme layer is very flexible and can accommodate just about any web design. It's important for designers to remember, however, that they're not really creating a page — they're building a complete system to house the all of the site's content. By creating the sitemaps, wireframes, and mockups, designers are actually outlining a site's feature set. Designers, not developers, determine a site's purpose and functionality.

In this session, we will talk about the importance of understanding a CMS during the initial design phase of a project, as well as how to create a Drupal-optimized design. Standard practices, tools, and Drupal-specific shortcuts will be discussed in detail.

All too often, however, projects begin the design phase prior to choosing a CMS. In these cases, it's important for the stakeholders to understand that their choice of CMS may alter their design. To demonstrate the steps necessary to complete a successful Drupal "conversion," we will present a detailed, real-world case study of the Expeditionary Learning relaunch. Four Kitchens co-founders Todd Nienkerk and Aaron Stanush will describe how they translated a thorough but CMS-unspecific design into Drupalspeak — all while minimizing cost and meeting the client's high expectations.