How We Restyled Our Blog with Two Template Files and Zero Dependencies
Our blog looked fine. Readable, semantic, proper typography. But it didn't have much personality. Code blocks were unstyled. Headings sat flat. The design said "competent" more than "intentional."
Then we looked at our internal team guide — a self-contained HTML doc with gradient titles that clip to transparent, dark code panels, and callout boxes with coloured borders. It radiated a "well-maintained developer doc" energy. We wanted the blog to feel like it came from the same shop.
Two template files, one build step, zero external dependencies. Here's what we changed.
The build system (why it mattered)
The blog is generated by build.js — a zero-dependency Node script that converts markdown to HTML:
posts/*.md + _template.html / _index_template.html → *.htmlThis means we never touch a generated .html file by hand. Every visual change flows through the templates. The site-wide CSS — nav, footer, base typography, brand accent — lives in ../style.css, served by Git Studio from outside the repo. We didn't touch it.
Instead, we injected a self-contained