Editing the way records are shown

[kevinsuave]

I am new to IPB in general but do have some knowledge of HTML and CSS. I'd like to change the way records are shown on my pages, but I feel kind of lost when it comes to templates for blocks, pages and databases. Could someone point me in the right direction where to start when it comes to editing the layout of a page? @Ralf H. managed to turn his frontpage into something beautiful, especially the way featured images are shown (http://typography.guru/). I'd like to create something similar. Any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, I don't want to lose any changes I have made once a patch or update comes out. Would this be the case when Im creating new templates?

(Excuse me for using your website as an example Ralf, but it's simply stunning )

Cheers!