"i only speak liquid" #96: The Future of Shopify Theme Architecture

Written by Brandon (a Storetasker Expert)

Author

Brandon Landgraff
April 15, 2026

Hey everyone,

Brandon is a talented developer based in Canada. His specialty is in geeking out on the many customisations available via Shopify. When he’s not deep in code, Brandon’s usually solving bouldering problems.

He’s an expert on Storetasker 😉 (apply here) and you can stay in touch with him here.

Let’s dive in 🤿

What I’ve been thinking about:


If you’ve been following along over the past few “i_only_speak_liquid” newsies, you’ll have gathered I’m a huge nerd, always obsessing over sections, and how themes are built. This final post is dedicated to the future of Shopify theme architecture. 

1.) Dawn

Dawn is a beautiful theme because it’s incredibly easy to use. For most users who have never touched Shopify before, they can figure out how to use Dawn because the number of decisions they need to make while using the theme editor is kept to a minimum. However, the downside of Dawn is that it lacks flexibility. 


2.) Horizon

Horizon is meant to be Dawn’s big brother, built for users who have worked in the Shopify theme editor before. It’s complex and comes with a sufficient amount of options to build a store. You can pretty much get by without understanding how to code if you learn how the Horizon system works. Horizon was a solid step in the right direction of giving users control over how they want themes built, but it can be arduous to use (and even for devs to understand).

3.) Future Themes

I’m hoping the future of Shopify themes is a thoughtful combination of Dawn and Horizon. We don’t need infinite settings, five levels of nested blocks, and the theme editor to be a page builder. What we need is a set of sections with opinionated flexibility. Each section should have one singular purpose, and the settings should be intentionally constrained. Not because we want to limit creativity but because constraint is what creates clarity.

When a merchant opens a section, they shouldn’t be faced with 30 decisions. They should understand immediately what the section is meant to do, how it behaves, and what they can safely change.

Conclusion

The future of themes is for us nerds to decide. We get to define the direction, and this next chapter in the Shopify ecosystem. I’m looking forward to seeing what the “i_only_speak_liquid” community builds.

Flexi: An app I’ve been building for almost two years that lets me drop professionally built sections into any client project. I got tired of rebuilding the same sections over and over, so I turned my workflow into a system I can reuse across sites.

One learning as a freelancer:

When I was a kid, my parents always went to the same mechanic, Kirby, because he was transparent. He’d tell them whether their car was worth fixing, if the engine was good or bad, or if a simple repair was all they needed. I’ve tried to treat my freelance business the same way. Clear pricing, honest recommendations, and no upselling just to upsell. That’s my secret to retaining clients long term!