I'm Gary Simmons, a freelance Shopify web designer and developer in Brighton, and I've been building Shopify stores since 2011. I've worked with first-time store owners figuring out their first online sale and with established brands turning over millions, handling design and development under one roof for clients across Brighton and Hove, East Sussex and the wider UK.
Design Superheroes is a Shopify design and development studio in Brighton and Hove, working with retailers across East Sussex, London and the rest of the UK. Gary Simmons is a Shopify Partner, has been building Shopify stores since 2011, and holds dozens of five-star Google reviews.
Recent Shopify work includes Freight HHG – Lewes based shop offering timeless homewares and clothing; Peggs & Son – cutting-edge designer menswear store; Divertimenti – Knightsbridge cookware shop trading for over 60yrs; and Bondi Body – salon-grade IPL laser devices for home use.
A lot of Shopify stores look fine but don't perform: Something in the experience quietly puts customers off before they reach checkout. After 15+ years of Shopify web design and development I know what that something usually is, so every store I build starts with your customers, how they shop, and what your brand needs to feel like. There are two routes to get there, depending on your budget and requirements.
Starting from scratch? Getting the foundations right from the beginning saves a lot of headaches later. I'll help you choose the right approach, configure everything properly, and get payments and shipping working so you're ready to trade from day one. Every new build runs as a Shopify Partner development store with an unlimited free trial, so you pay Shopify nothing until the store is ready to go live.
Your products, customers, current platform and what's working (or isn't). Migrations get a full URL and SEO audit before anything moves.
Store architecture and visual design, reviewed with you at each stage rather than revealed at the end.
Theme development, data migration, redirect mapping, app configuration and cross-device testing.
A monitored go-live, plus training so your team can run the store day-to-day without calling a developer.
Moving from another platform? WooCommerce to Shopify is the migration I handle most often, though I also move stores across from WordPress, Squarespace, Wix and Magento. The concerns are usually the same: Will products transfer properly, will we lose Google rankings, will anything break? None of these need to be a problem when a migration is handled carefully, and I've done enough of them to know exactly where the risks are.
A lot of my clients have been working with me for years. Once I know your store I can turn things around quickly: A new section, a feature request, a bug fix, an app that needs configuring properly. No long briefs, no project kickoffs, no waiting.
Layout changes, restyling and new templates for the theme you already run, done properly.
New sections and functionality built straight into your existing theme, with no extra app to pay for.
Honest recommendations on which apps actually earn their keep, installed and configured properly.
Small jobs and bug fixes, usually turned around the same day. No job too small.
A straight review of your store or theme before you commit to bigger changes or a rebuild.
Some clients send something over every few weeks, others check in a couple of times a year. Either works.
Full website design and UX refresh, designed and built from the ground up. Clean design, smooth user journey (especially on mobile devices) and fast site load speed were the priorities
We added a new Cookery School section to the store to allow customers to browse and book onto a calendar of cookery classes, some run by celebrity chefs, that take place in-store. We’ve also made various upgrades to functionality and UX over the past few years of working together.
For most ecommerce businesses, yes. It's reliable, it scales well, and after working with most of the major platforms over the years it's the one I recommend without hesitation for online retail. It isn't the right tool for everything though, and I'd rather point you in the right direction upfront than build on the wrong platform.
Weighing a freelancer against a Shopify design agency? You get the same specialist skill set here: one senior designer-developer, one point of contact, and no agency margin on top. And because the development side is AI-assisted, with the design and direction still mine, fully bespoke work now lands in budgets that used to buy template tweaks.
I've been doing this since 2011, which in Shopify terms is a long time. I know the platform inside out: not just the design side, but the development underneath it. Liquid templating, theme architecture, and the decisions that affect performance and scalability down the line. I'm a designer and a developer, which is rarer than you might think. Your project doesn't get passed between two people with different interpretations of what was agreed.
Agreed before we start, with no surprise invoices at the end.
Usually the same day. No account managers, no ticket queues.
Realistic timelines agreed upfront, and then kept.
Including when something isn't worth doing. I know everyone says that but 40+ five-star Google reviews suggest it's actually true.
It depends on the route. Theme customisation starts from £2,500, and an AI-assisted bespoke theme from £6,000, which is considerably less than traditional custom development. I quote fixed prices from a clear brief, and I’ve written a full breakdown in my guide to Shopify store costs in the UK.
A fully bespoke Shopify theme designed by me from scratch and built with AI-assisted development tools. All the design thinking, brand decisions and UX work are human-led; the AI assistance happens at the code level, which means a genuinely custom theme at a lower cost than traditional custom development. A unique store designed by a human, built smarter.
Yes, and I’m upfront about it. Design is always human. AI never decides how your brand looks. Development is AI-assisted under my direction, which means bespoke builds take fewer hours and cost less than they used to.
A theme customisation project typically takes three to four weeks. A bespoke AI-assisted theme typically takes four to six weeks depending on complexity, and a migration can add time on top. I’ll give you a realistic timeline before we start and I stick to it.
No. As a Shopify Partner I build every new store as a development store, which comes with an unlimited free trial for the whole build. You only start paying for your Shopify subscription when the store is finished and you’re ready to go live. That’s different from signing up directly, where the trial is limited to a few days. I’ve explained how the Shopify free trial works in more detail.
Yes, and I’d rather be upfront about it. When I transfer a completed store to a client and they move to a paid Shopify plan, Shopify pays me a recurring commission on the subscription fee. It costs you nothing extra; Shopify pays it from their side. It also means I have a genuine interest in recommending Shopify only when it’s actually the right fit.
Yes. Migrations from WooCommerce, WordPress, Squarespace, Wix or Magento include a full URL redirect map, metadata carry-over and structured data setup, so rankings and traffic are protected. I’ve written up the whole process in my WooCommerce to Shopify migration guide.
Yes, and it’s a big part of what I do. A lot of my work is with existing store owners who need ongoing improvements rather than a full rebuild: audits, fixes, new features, speed optimisation and ongoing support. You don’t need to be starting from scratch. If you’re weighing up a rebuild, here’s how to tell whether your Shopify store needs a redesign.
No. I’m based in Brighton and Hove, and I take on Shopify work right across East Sussex, from Lewes to Eastbourne and Hastings, as well as clients across the UK. Most projects run smoothly over email and video call.
Not for most things. Standard Shopify plans cover the vast majority of what growing businesses need. If something you want to do would genuinely benefit from Plus, I’ll tell you, but I won’t push you towards a more expensive plan unless it actually makes sense.
An agency suits very large teams with big retainers. For most growing businesses a senior freelancer gives you the same specialist skills with one point of contact, faster turnaround and a smaller invoice. If you’re not sure you need outside help yet, these are the signs it’s time to hire a Shopify developer.
Still have a question? Book a quick 30-minute call
Shopify is one part of my web design services. If you’re not sure what your project needs yet, start with the bigger picture. As a freelance web designer I work across platforms, plus branding and UX/UI design when the project calls for it.
Tell me a bit about what you’re looking for and I’ll come back to you ASAP, usually the same day. No lengthy forms and no obligation, just a straightforward conversation about whether I’m the right fit. New builds run on an unlimited free Shopify trial, so there’s nothing to pay Shopify until launch.
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