How Puzzleframe built a custom Shopify theme with Instant

Puzzleframe sells magnetic puzzles designed to be displayed as home decor, not stored away after completion. To match their unique product positioning, they needed a store design that went beyond standard Shopify templates.

Using Instant, they built a fully custom theme that positions their puzzles as collectible art pieces, with artist discovery features and a clean aesthetic that lets their colorful products stand out.

The design challenge

Most puzzle brands treat their products as activities. Puzzleframe sees them as an activity turned into beautiful décor. This difference in positioning required a store experience that felt more like browsing an art gallery than shopping for games. Standard Shopify themes weren't built for this approach.

Building a custom theme with a page builder

By building their entire theme in Instant, Puzzleframe created a storefront that reflects their vision. 

"When we first built our Shopify store, we very quickly ran into the limits of what we could customise out of the box. We wanted our website to reflect the same creativity and attention to detail that we put into our products, but it felt like we were constantly fighting an uphill battle against templates and rigid layouts!

Once we started using Instant, everything changed.

The tool gave us the freedom to design and structure our site exactly how we wanted without needing complex workarounds or endless apps. The Instant support team has been incredible, always available, quick to help and full of technical know-how to get the best use out of the platform. We’ve never once felt like we couldn’t do something on Instant, no matter how whacky or impossible it might have seemed on a standard Shopify theme. It finally feels like we could bring our brand to life online in a way that felt natural and engaging!” - Matt Stout, Founder of Puzzleframe

Here's how key sections work together to support their brand positioning:

Homepage:

Their homepage establishes the brand's tone immediately:

• A ticker announcement scrolls across the top with subscription discount and shipping details. This creates a sense of activity without feeling aggressive.
  
  

• An animated hero GIF (visible on the desktop version of their homepage) shows a puzzle assembling itself piece by piece. The animation demonstrates product quality and reinforces that these puzzles are meant to be engaged with visually.
  
  

• Dual CTAs (Shop Puzzles and Shop Framers) sit side by side, giving equal weight to both product categories so shoppers understand the full catalog from the start.
  
  

• Hand cursor icons on the product carousel point left and right. These solve a common UX problem where people don't realize content extends beyond the viewport, making the scrolling behavior clear and inviting.

Navigation (header & footer):

The header and footer work together to provide clear navigation without clutter:

• The header balances product links (Puzzles and Frames) with brand storytelling (Mission page and Instagram), plus quick access icons for account login and cart.
  
  

• The footer mirrors this approach with account management, FAQ, subscription details, and mission page links, alongside social icons and payment badges. Including "my cart" in the footer creates an additional access point for users who scroll through long pages.
  
  

• A currency selector appears in both locations, acknowledging their international audience without cluttering the primary navigation.

Collections:

The collection page groups puzzles by artist rather than by theme or difficulty. 

• Each artist's name links to their Instagram, turning product browsing into artist discovery.
  
  

• This design decision reinforces Puzzleframe's positioning as a curator of independent artwork, not just a puzzle retailer. 
  
  

• This also creates a differentiator: shoppers aren't just buying puzzles, they're supporting artists.

Product pages: 

Puzzleframe created reusable product templates that can be applied across their product catalog:

• A tabbed buy box separates puzzle description, specifications, and artist details into their own spaces without overwhelming the primary view.
  
  

• Icon-based trust signals for shipping, delivery, and return policies sit below the add-to-cart button, positioned to catch the eye right when purchase hesitation typically happens.
  
  

• A smart cross-sell section to make it easy to add the frame to the cart as well, for increased AOV.

In addition to their regular PDP template, they created a subscribe & save PDP template variation, which highlights "20% less" next to the price, making the subscription value clear at the moment of decision.

Cart drawer:

The cart drawer keeps shoppers moving toward checkout. 

• Product thumbnails appear with names, prices, and quantity selectors. 
  
  

• The total cost displays above a single checkout button, with payment icons providing final reassurance. 

No distractions, just the information needed to complete a purchase.

Mission page:

The mission page takes the puzzle metaphor literally, arranging images and text blocks as if they're framed puzzles hanging on a wall. This layout transforms what could be a standard "about us" page into an extension of the product experience itself.

The FAQ and privacy policy pages maintain the same clean typography but focus entirely on readability, since these pages exist to answer specific questions quickly.

Why this approach works

Puzzleframe's store design succeeds because every element reinforces a single idea: these puzzles are art worth displaying. The artist-linked collections, gallery-like layout, and minimal design all work together to support this positioning.

By building their theme in Instant, Puzzleframe was able to move beyond standard templates and create a custom storefront that reflects their vision. The result is a shopping experience that feels handcrafted and intentional, much like the puzzles themselves. It shows that brands can create unique, professional online stores without extensive custom development.