This article is the first in a series of posts on principles and best practices for the design of the Magento theme. In this one, we are discussing the prerequisites for the design of a custom Magento theme, the distinction between custom and off-the-shelf themes, and the decoupled Magento theme design and creative approach.

Creating a Magento theme design from scratch is not necessarily rocket science, but some prerequisites are required. It’s not as simple and easy as building a showcase for you.

Prerequisites for Creating a Custom Magento Theme Design

1) Know the medium

However, without a doubt, understanding the medium you are developing makes it much easier for you to grasp the technological possibilities and limitations of the medium. This also allows you to plan and interact with the development team who will need to code the design.

2) Know the platform

To build for every particular platform, you need to get acquainted with the framework you’re working on. Read about its strengths, its benefits, and, of course, its weaknesses, as this is where most of the issues come to life.

3) Know the job specifics and the end goal

Last but not least, also you’re going to be familiar with the best design practices and the distinctive features of eCommerce. You’re not making a concept for the sake of concept itself, you’re designing a tangible product that people of different backgrounds will use, and a retailer will make a profit off it.

Ready-Made Themes Vs Custom Theme Design

If you’re wondering why you don’t just buy a ready-made theme – well, you can always go down that path. Many traders might well find a good match for their needs. But bear in mind that ready-made themes are for the masses. It ensures that certain features need to be tailored to suit a number of businesses. You lose much of the opportunity to affect usability, efficiency, and ultimately the whole user experience because these themes are not built specifically for your store and your customer groups. On the other hand, custom theme design allows the entire team more control over any element of a web store.

Magento Decoupled

Magento is a robust and efficient open-source platform with many built-in features that works fairly decently out of the box. To take full advantage of the platform, the best choice is to have a Magento theme template and functionality customized to the company and consumer needs and desires. From the designer’s point of view, it can be decoupled to multiple main pages (such as home page and product page), the number of key components (such as shapes and buttons), and overall typography and general style (such as color scheme, icon).