Shopify · Custom theme craftsmanship
A gallery-quality Shopify experience the studio can operate itself.
For a fine-art studio, image fidelity is part of the product. Topher Straus needed a gallery-like Shopify experience with precise artwork presentation and a content model the studio could manage without a developer.
Complexity lived between the systems.
The previous site depended on GemPages, limited image quality and zoom, and made routine updates difficult. The new experience had to preserve the character of a gallery while making editions, pricing, availability, artist content, and high-resolution imagery maintainable.
02 · What we delivered
Built around the operating reality.
- Created a native custom Shopify theme using Liquid, metaobjects, and metafields instead of a page-builder dependency.
- Evaluated SmartFrame, Seadragon, Cloudinary, and imgix; then solved TIFF distortion by serving high-resolution assets without transform parameters and adding tap-to-zoom.
- Migrated 13 metaobjects—10 through Matrixify and three nested structures manually—while archiving the legacy site.
- Built dynamic price ranges, edition and size availability, sold-out indicators, painting-only search, Klaviyo integration, and a responsive, accessible gallery experience.
- Delivered a content and metafields guide, Loom training videos, the archive, and hands-on team training.
03 · Outcome
Craftsmanship without operational dependence.
The finished store presents large-format art with the clarity it deserves while giving the studio direct control over structured artwork and artist content. The engagement was completed in roughly five months and handed over with the tools needed for daily operation.
Talk through a similar challenge →“Thank you for all of your hard work on the website. You’ve done an excellent job… we’re ready to consider this project complete.”
Technology stack
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