After installing and configuring many Magento stores, I'm convinced that if you master the process of managing layouts, your stores will produce better sales results and give you better opportunities to customize a visitor's experience based on the needs of both the retailer and the customer.
That being said, the complexity of the Magento architecture demands your dedicated time and effort to achieve a level of true mastery. I suggest you carefully review Chapter 4, Designs and Themes and this chapter, truly examining the examples. As you do that, remember the following keys:
At their core, page layouts are determined by XML files which specify the location of various blocks.
Template files contain the HTML and PHP code that creates the final output of the pages.
The graphic design of pages are greatly influenced by the CSS, JavaScript, and image files located in the
skin/directory. By altering these, you can do quite a lot of brand customization.The Magento...