Pattern Libraries seem to be the province of designers: something that is just handed to developers.
But what if you work more or less alone, having the job of both builder and designer, making decisions about design for clients all on your own? A pattern library can stream-line your process by showing you — and clients — a site-wide system of recurring or common design options: colors, fonts, buttons, testimonials, call outs, etc. Without including distracting content or navigation structure it makes for easier approval of design elements.
Using some standard code, I can tell when I’ve appropriately set the CSS for the styles regularly included in a build. I can add parts as necessary creating a reference for the future. For example: What do buttons look like? What do blockquotes look like? Let’s see all the headings together. Testimonials? How do you style them? What size pictures fit next to each other on one line?
The library does not have to be a sophisticated design system, but it should include the pieces you regularly use in your work. I’ll show you how I use a standardized text file to style the common elements of the sites that I work on.