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[Example] Design system component library
AstroPerformanceThemes

Building Performant Astro Themes for Sale

[Example] Lessons from shipping premium Astro themes — configuration-driven design, animation budgets, and mobile-first QA.

By Alex Mercer

Shipping a theme others will pay for demands a different mindset than building a one-off portfolio. Every decision must be configurable, documented, and bulletproof on mobile.

Configuration Over Hardcoding

The single best investment is a site.ts config file. Buyers change their name, email, and social links in one place — not across 30 files.

Animation Budget

Lenis smooth scroll, GSAP ScrollTrigger, Motion, anime.js, and Three.js can coexist — but only with guardrails:

  1. Respect prefers-reduced-motion
  2. Lazy-load Three.js on the hero only
  3. Kill GSAP contexts on page navigation

Mobile QA Checklist

Before every release, I verify:

  • Line-height ≥ 1.5 on body text
  • Descenders fully visible (no overflow: hidden on text containers)
  • Icons centered in circular containers (flex items-center justify-center)
  • Mobile menu is opaque and readable
  • No horizontal overflow at 320px width

The Business Case

Premium themes sell when they look premium and feel effortless to customize. Documentation is part of the product.