What is Shopify Horizon? The Future of Theme Development

Shopify Horizon represents a fundamental shift in how Shopify themes work. Rather than being a single theme, Horizon is a flexible foundation that powers 10 distinct theme presets, each sharing the same underlying codebase but offering dramatically different visual appearances.

The 10 Horizon Presets

• Atelier: Editorial, magazine-style layouts perfect for content-rich brands

• Fabric: Clean, product-focused design ideal for fashion and lifestyle brands

• Dwell: Warm, homely aesthetic great for home goods and crafts

• Plus 7 additional presets covering various industries and aesthetics

Think of Horizon as a character in a game with 10 different skins—same abilities and power level, but each preset creates a totally different visual experience.

Why Horizon Matters: Dawn's Evolution

Horizon is replacing Dawn as Shopify's default theme. Here's what makes it revolutionary:

The Problems with Traditional Themes

• Rigid structure: Moving elements required code knowledge

• Limited customization: Stuck with predetermined layouts

• Time-consuming changes: Simple modifications took hours

Horizon's Solution

• Complete flexibility: Rearrange any element without code

• AI-powered creation: Generate custom blocks through simple descriptions

• Nested block system: Create complex layouts up to 8 levels deep

• Visual editing: See changes in real-time as you build

Bottom line: The new system eliminates the bottleneck of requiring code changes for smaller layout modifications, speeding up the entire design iteration process.

Understanding Theme Blocks

The Lego Principle

Theme blocks work like digital Lego pieces. Each block serves a specific purpose—headers, product grids, testimonials, banners—but unlike traditional themes, you can combine these in creative ways based on your business needs.

Dawn's accordion was limited to simple text answers. With Horizon, each accordion item can contain a number of different blocks.

Dawn vs Horizon Comparison

Dawn Accordion (Limited)


• Simple text-only answers

• Fixed structure

• No customization options

Horizon FAQ (Flexible)

• Multiple block types within each item

• Unlimited combinations possible

• Can include videos, images, forms, and AI-generated blocks

In the Horizon example, we can see that recommended products have been added into the accordion, but there are unlimited combinations available.

AI Block Generation Explained

The Game-Changing Feature

Horizon includes AI block generation, allowing you to create custom blocks for your specific needs. You describe what you want and AI creates it.

How AI Generation Works

Step 1: Describe Your Vision

• "Create a product comparison table with checkmarks and pricing columns"

• "Build a testimonial slider with star ratings and customer photos"

• "Generate a FAQ section with expandable answers"

Step 2: AI Generates Functional Code

• HTML structure

• CSS styling

• Interactive functionality

• Schema with settings

Step 3: Visual Customization

Use Horizon's visual editor to adjust settings:

• Colors and fonts

• Spacing and sizing

• Layout and positioning

• Content and imagery

Step 4: Iterative Improvements

Send follow-up instructions:

• "Make the buttons larger"

• "Change the color scheme to match my brand"

• "Add animation effects"

AI Prompt Examples

Effective Prompts (Detailed & Specific):

✅ "Create a customer review section with 5-star ratings, customer photos, verified purchase badges, review filtering by star rating, and a prominent 'Write a Review' button with modal popup"

✅ "Build a product grid with 4 columns on desktop, 2 on tablet, hover effects showing quick-view and add-to-cart buttons, sale badges for discounted items, and lazy loading for performance"

✅ "Generate a hero banner with background video, overlay text with fade-in animation, two call-to-action buttons (primary 'Shop Now' and secondary 'Learn More'), and responsive text sizing for mobile"

Less Effective Prompts (Too Basic):

❌ "Create a review section"

❌ "Add a product grid"

❌ "Make a hero banner"

Getting Started with Horizon

Step 1: Shift Your Mindset

Old thinking: "I need to find the perfect theme"

New thinking: "I'll build my perfect store using flexible components"

This mental shift is crucial. You're not shopping for a finished product; you're acquiring building materials.

Step 2: Choose Your Starting Point

Visit the Shopify Theme Store and explore Horizon presets. Don't overthink this choice—you can completely transform any preset using blocks.

Quick Selection Guide:

• E-commerce focused: Start with Fabric

• Content-heavy brands: Try Atelier

• Cozy, personal brands: Consider Dwell

• Unsure: Pick any—you'll customize it anyway

Step 3: Explore Theme Blocks

Get familiar with your building materials:

1. Understand block nesting - See how blocks fit inside other blocks

2. Test block combinations - Try different blocks together on a test page

3. Explore block settings - Check what customization options each block offers

4. Note what's missing - Identify gaps where AI generation might be needed

Step 4: Start with Simple AI Experiments

Begin with basic requests to understand the system:

1. First experiment: "Create a simple banner with my store name and a call-to-action button"

2. Second experiment: "Build a three-column feature section highlighting our top benefits"

3. Third experiment: "Generate a customer review section with star ratings"

Step 5: Learn Through Exploration

Dedicate time to experimentation:

• Try different block combinations

• Test AI generation with various prompts

• Explore nested block possibilities

• Study how successful stores use Horizon

My Recommendation

After exploring Horizon extensively, it's clear this represents the new standard and will be the main supported theme system moving forward. The combination of visual flexibility and AI-powered customization democratizes advanced store design in ways we haven't seen before.

If you're starting a new store or planning a major redesign, Horizon should be your default choice. The initial time investment in learning the system pays dividends in long-term flexibility and reduced dependence on developers.

Need Help with Horizon?

As a Shopify developer who's been working extensively with Horizon, I can help you:

• Set up and customize Horizon themes

• Create custom AI-generated blocks

• Optimize your store's performance

• Train your team on the new system

Need help implementing Horizon for your store? Fill out the form below and I'll get back to you within 24 hours.