The short version
We're a screen print and embroidery shop in Ann Arbor, MI (No Mids, est. 2023) and we need a custom product designer tool built into our Shopify store. Customers pick a blank, upload or choose artwork, see a live mockup on the selected garment/color, and watch pricing update as they adjust quantity, placement, and decoration method. At checkout, Shopify authorizes the card but doesn't capture — we review each order manually before charging.
We already have design direction, architecture decisions, a working React prototype, and a clear data flow mapped out. We're not looking for someone to figure out the problem from scratch — we're looking for someone to execute a well-defined build.
Open to hourly for the right person.
Timeline: 4–6 weeks, ideally starting within the next 2 weeks.
Who we are
No Mids is a small but growing custom apparel studio. We print and embroider for brands, bands, breweries, and businesses that care about how their merch looks. Our aesthetic direction is already locked in — think Off-White meets 90s skate zine.
Platform: Shopify (we're not open to moving off it)
Product import: Supply Master, pulling from SanMar and S&S Activewear APIs
Catalog size: thousands of SKUs across t-shirts, hoodies, crewnecks, polos, caps, and accessories
Theme: [CONFIRM YOUR THEME HERE — Dawn / Impulse / Broadcast / Custom]
Payment capture: will be set to manual (authorization hold, manual capture after review)
What needs to get built
1. A custom Shopify theme section — the "Studio" design tool
Lives on product pages. When a customer lands on any decorated product, they see:
The current variant image (color-specific, already imported by Supply Master)
A canvas overlay where their artwork renders at the correct placement zone
Controls for: decoration method (screen print / DTG / embroidery), number of print colors or stitch count, placement (front center / left chest / back full / sleeve), quantity
Live-updating price display that recalculates on every input change, showing per-piece and total
Artwork upload (accepts PNG, JPG, SVG, PDF, AI — stored in Shopify Files or an S3 bucket you set up)
An "add to cart" button that packages all customization data as Shopify line item properties
2. A template-per-garment-type architecture — NOT per-variant
This is the single most important technical requirement. We previously tried a tool that required us to create a mockup template for every individual product and variant, which was unworkable with thousands of imported SKUs. The right architecture is:
~12 garment templates total (unisex tee, fitted tee, pullover hoodie, zip hoodie, crewneck, polo, trucker cap, dad hat, beanie, tote, etc.)
Each template is a JSON config defining print zones as normalized coordinates (0.0–1.0) relative to the product photo
Products get assigned a template via a Shopify tag (e.g., garment:tee-unisex) applied automatically during Supply Master import based on category
The configurator reads the tag, loads the matching template, and pulls the variant-specific photo from Shopify's product data — no per-SKU setup needed
Brand-level offsets allowed for suppliers whose photography is consistently shifted (e.g., SanMar vs S&S having slightly different chest heights)
If you've done this coordinate-normalization approach before, please mention it. If you haven't, please at least acknowledge in your proposal that you understand why this matters.
3. A live pricing engine
Industry-standard screen print, DTG, and embroidery pricing logic:
Screen print: per-color, per-location charge with quantity tier breaks (12–23, 24–47, 48–71, 72–143, 144–287, 288+) plus per-color setup fees
DTG: per-piece flat rate with quantity tier breaks, no setup
Embroidery: per-1,000-stitches rate with quantity tier breaks plus digitizing setup fee
Blank cost: pulled from the Shopify variant price (which Supply Master keeps synced), with a configurable markup percentage applied
All rates and tiers need to be editable from an admin-accessible config file or settings panel — not hardcoded — because we'll tweak these regularly
The calculator also shows a price-break ladder so customers see how the per-piece price drops at higher quantities — this is a huge conversion tool for our category.
4. Cart handoff via Shopify line item properties
When added to cart, the line item must include (as properties):
Artwork file URL (or array of URLs if multiple placements)
Mockup preview image URL (for admin review)
Placement zone
Decoration method
Color count (for screen print) or stitch count (for embroidery)
Per-piece print charge and setup fee (broken out for admin clarity)
Any customer notes
Properties with an underscore prefix (_artwork_url) to keep them hidden from the customer cart display but visible in admin.
5. Manual capture + admin order view polish
We'll configure Shopify Payments for manual capture ourselves. What we need from you:
Ensure the order admin view cleanly displays all line item properties (artwork preview thumbnail, specs, pricing breakdown) so our team can review quickly
Ideally: a small admin-side helper that generates a print-ready file package (artwork + spec sheet) per order. This is nice-to-have, not required for v1.
What we're providing
A working React prototype demonstrating the full customer flow, aesthetic direction — you can reference it throughout the build
A written build spec with architecture decisions, data flow diagrams, and template config format
All visual design assets — fonts, colors, the NO MIDS wordmark, CSS variables
Template coordinate measurements — we'll measure these ourselves against reference product photos
Clear copy and microcopy — already written
Fast feedback loop — we'll respond to questions within a few hours during business days
Who we're looking for
Required:
3+ years building custom Shopify themes or Shopify apps
Strong JavaScript (vanilla or a framework like Alpine / Lit / React — we have no strong preference)
Comfortable with canvas or SVG rendering for the mockup layer
Experience with Shopify's Storefront API and line item properties
Can work from a written spec and the provided prototype without needing the design re-explained
Strongly preferred:
Prior work on apparel decoration, print-on-demand, or product customizer tools
Familiarity with the screen print / embroidery industry's pricing models
Experience with SanMar, S&S, or similar wholesale supplier catalog structures
Portfolio links to a live Shopify product customizer you've built
Not required but nice:
Experience with Supply Master or similar Shopify catalog sync tools
Design sensibility strong enough to catch aesthetic details the spec doesn't explicitly call out
How to apply
Please include the following in your proposal — applications missing these will be skipped:
Links to 2 or 3 live product customizer tools you've built (Shopify preferred, other platforms acceptable if the work is comparable)
A brief description of how you'd architect the garment template system — specifically how you'd avoid the per-variant setup problem. One or two paragraphs is plenty.
Your proposed stack — what JS framework/libraries you'd use and why, where artwork files would be stored, how you'd structure the admin-editable pricing config
A realistic timeline estimate broken into milestones
Whether you prefer fixed price or hourly, with your rate or quote
Your availability — how many hours per week you can commit and when you can start
One question you have about the project — this tells us how carefully you read the brief
Skip generic cover letters. We'd rather see a short, specific proposal than a polished template.
We'll give clear feedback and won't scope-creep mid-build. If we want something not in the original spec, we'll treat it as a change order.
Final payment happens after the tool is live on our store and handling real customer orders successfully for 7 days — not at code delivery. Milestones before that can be structured however works for you.
Look forward to seeing your proposal.