CSS recipe from scratch?

Ok, what am i looking at here = http://blog.nonstep.com/

Is this a totally from scratch site? To date I have only been messing with existing themes and looking for something different that looks different. I have tried static cover pages but this example seems much more than that. Is there a place to go on forum or codex that discusses building your own? Or examples of more image vs text page one’s? I don’t even know how to tag this new topic. Thanks