Block themes your team can actually edit.
We design and build custom WordPress block themes: full site editing, your brand’s design system turned into reusable blocks, and an editor experience your team can use without calling a developer.
The problem
Classic themes lock your team out.
A lot of WordPress themes still work the old way: a header file, a footer file and a handful of page templates that only a developer can touch. Your team can edit text, but the moment they want to rearrange a section, add a new layout or try a different homepage, they’re stuck waiting on someone with access to the code.
A page builder is one good answer to that, and we build plenty of sites that way. It hands your team layout control immediately, which is exactly right when the site changes often and the budget is better spent elsewhere.
A block theme answers it differently. It runs on WordPress’s own full site editor, so your team edits headers, footers and layouts the same way they already edit a paragraph, with no separate tool and no separate subscription. It suits sites that need to be fast and to look exactly like the brand.
The result is a site that looks considered because it was designed as a system, not a collection of one-off pages, and stays that way as new people join your team and start building pages themselves.
What you get
What’s included in a theme build.
Adobe XD to WordPress
We translate your design, or a design we build with you, into a working block theme, matching spacing, type and colour precisely instead of approximating it in a generic builder.
Design tokens
Colours, type scales and spacing set up as theme.json settings, so your brand stays consistent everywhere the editor is used, and updates happen in one place instead of twenty separate templates.
Reusable patterns
Common sections, like a hero, a team grid, a pricing table or a testimonial block, built once as patterns your team can drop into any page and fill with their own content.
Editor experience
We test the theme from inside the block editor, not just the front end, so adding a page feels obvious rather than fragile, even for someone who has never touched WordPress before.
Performance and accessibility
Semantic markup, sensible image handling, proper heading structure and keyboard-friendly navigation built in from the start, not patched on after a launch deadline has already passed.
Native editor first
A block theme runs on WordPress’s own editor, so your layout doesn’t depend on a separate plugin. Where a builder suits the project better, we’ll say so and build it that way.
Process
How a theme build runs.
Audit and scope
We look at your brand, your content types and, if you have one, your existing theme, then agree which templates and patterns the project actually needs.
Design or design handoff
We build the design with you, or take a finished Adobe XD file and turn it into a working design system inside WordPress.
Build the theme
Templates, patterns and theme.json settings get built and tested against your real content, not against filler text that always fits.
Editor testing
We test every pattern from inside the block editor, checking that your team can actually build pages with it, not just that it looks right.
Handover
A short walkthrough of the editor and the patterns available, so your team can start building pages on day one.
Why Maku
When a child theme is enough, and when it isn’t.
Not every site needs a full custom theme. If your brand and layout are already close to right, a child theme or a targeted redesign might get you there for less. We’ll tell you which one your site actually needs, even if the honest answer is the cheaper option.
- We build block themes as standard, so full site editing is available from day one, not bolted on later.
- Design tokens mean your brand stays consistent as the site grows, without a developer checking every new page.
- Repetitive markup and pattern variants get drafted by AI, so our hours go into the editor experience instead of typing out templates.
- If your project needs custom functionality beyond the theme, see our plugin development page, or start with our custom development page for a full build.
Deciding
Deciding what your site actually needs.
Before we recommend a full theme build, we look at three things: how close your current design is to your brand today, how much the layout needs to change to support what you’re trying to do, and whether your team is fighting the editor or just wants more pages. A tired colour palette on a sound structure might only need new design tokens applied to the existing theme. A layout that can’t support the content you actually publish usually needs a proper rebuild, and we’ll say so plainly either way.
What’s the difference between a block theme and a classic theme?
A block theme is built for WordPress’s full site editor, so every part of the page, not just the content, is editable with blocks. A classic theme locks the header, footer and layout into template files that only a developer can change. We build block themes by default because they hand your team more control.
Can my team actually edit the site themselves?
Yes, that’s the point. We design the theme around a set of blocks and patterns your team can reuse, so adding a page or updating a section doesn’t need a developer. We’ll walk your team through the editor at handover.
What about my existing theme? Do we have to start over?
Not always. If your current theme is a well-built classic theme, a child theme or design refresh might be enough. We’ll tell you honestly which one your site needs during discovery, on our custom development page you can read more about full builds.
Does a custom block theme work with page builders like Elementor?
It can, though running both means two editing systems on one site, which is worth doing deliberately rather than by accident. We build with page builders too, so the real question is which approach suits your team. We’ll recommend one and explain why before the project starts.
How long does a theme build take?
It depends on how many templates and patterns the design needs. A theme built from an existing brand and a small set of page types is usually a shorter project than a full custom build with new content and integrations. We’ll give you a timeline once we’ve seen the scope.
Do you work from Adobe XD files, or do we need finished designs first?
Either works. We can build from an Adobe XD file your designer hands us, or design the theme ourselves as part of the project. Either way, we translate the design into reusable blocks and patterns, not a one-off template.