Service
Custom Shopify themes, built for the people who actually run the store.
Themes that are fast on day one, easy to edit on day fifty, and still in good shape on day five hundred. Online Store 2.0, sections everywhere, performance baked in.
The problem
Most themes were built to look good in screenshots.
Theme-store themes are built for resale, not for your traffic. Your "custom" sections end up living in third-party apps that fight the editor. Page weights creep up every month. Mobile feels like a different store than desktop.
A custom theme isn't about making the homepage prettier. It's about making the next two years cheaper — fewer apps, less Liquid sprawl, faster pages, fewer "can a developer fix this?" tickets.
Deliverables
What you get
- Custom Online Store 2.0 theme — sections everywhere, JSON templates, theme blocks
- Section-based architecture so non-developers can rearrange pages safely
- Performance budget enforced from day one (Lighthouse 90+ baseline on key templates)
- Accessibility to WCAG 2.2 AA — keyboard navigable, screen-reader tested
- Responsive image pipeline (modern formats, srcset, fetchpriority, lazy-loading defaults)
- Theme inspector tuned: deferred app blocks, lazy sections, no Liquid waste
- Internationalization-ready (Shopify Markets, native translations, hreflang)
- Documentation written for your in-house team or next developer
- Staging theme + safe-deploy workflow (Theme CLI, GitHub integration if you want it)
- Coexistence plan for required apps — they shouldn't fight the theme
Process
How it works
- 01
Discovery
Review your brand, current store, conversion goals, and required apps. Output: a one-pager that says yes/no/maybe to every section.
- 02
Information architecture
Map sections, blocks, settings, and templates before any code is written. The merchant editor is part of the design.
- 03
Build
Theme code, design implementation, and integration with the apps that survived discovery. Weekly demos.
- 04
QA & hand-off
Cross-browser, real-device, Lighthouse on every key template, accessibility pass, docs, training.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a custom Shopify theme take? +
Typical engagement is 4–8 weeks from kickoff to launch, depending on number of templates, complexity of sections, and whether design is provided. I quote a fixed timeline after discovery, not before.
Can you work with our designer? +
Yes — most projects work this way. I take Figma (or whatever you have) and build it. I will push back on patterns that hurt performance or merchant editability, but I'm not the designer.
Will my existing apps still work? +
Most will. We audit your installed apps during discovery and flag any that are likely to fight the theme architecture or hurt Core Web Vitals. You decide what stays.
Can you start from a Shopify theme I already own? +
Yes — sometimes a deep refactor of Dawn or a theme-store theme is the right call instead of a full rebuild. We discuss this in discovery.
Do you support Shopify Markets and multiple languages? +
Yes. Markets, currency selectors, native Shopify translations, and hreflang are first-class concerns. International stores need theme decisions made up front.
What happens after launch? +
You can keep me on a light monthly retainer for fixes and small enhancements, or fully hand off to your team with documentation. Your call.
Related
Other things I do.
Shopify Technical SEO
Crawlability, schema, and on-page fundamentals so your store actually ranks.
Learn more
Shopify App Development
Public, custom, and embedded apps — including Functions, Flow, and admin extensions.
Learn more
Shopify Speed Optimization
Lighthouse-driven audits and fixes that move Core Web Vitals into the green.
Learn more
Theme work
Tell me about your theme.
Existing theme to fix? New build? Migration from another platform? Book a free call and we'll figure out the right scope.