This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through my Northfolk link or use my discount code, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I genuinely love and use myself.
When people hear about Showit and Northfolk, they often think:
“Oh, that’s just for wedding photographers and fine art brands.” And yes, Northfolk does serve photographers beautifully. But they’re also very intentional about helping creative entrepreneurs, coaches, and small businesses get high-converting, drag-and-drop websites that actually work in real life — from designers and agencies to wellness pros and service-based businesses.
In this post, I’m sharing my personal experience with Northfolk and specifically the two Showit templates I purchased for my own brands:
- Crestone – which I use for my Showit website template shop, and
- Heirloom – which I use for a separate, more story-driven brand
These are simply the designs that felt right for me.
Your perfect match might be a completely different Northfolk template — and that’s a good thing.
I’ll walk you through:
- Why I chose Northfolk in the first place
- How Crestone supports my template shop
- How Heirloom supports my more emotive, elevated brand
- What my experience with both says about Northfolk templates overall
- How to pick a Northfolk template that feels like you (including their handy quiz)
And of course, I’ll share where you can use my Northfolk discount code if you decide to grab a template for yourself.
Why I Chose Northfolk for My Showit Websites
There are a lot of Showit template shops out there, so why Northfolk?
A few things stood out to me right away:
1. Built for real businesses (not just pretty portfolios)
Northfolk doesn’t just design “pretty” templates. Their layouts are intentionally built to help creative entrepreneurs, coaches, and small businesses book clients, sell offers, and grow online. They openly describe their templates as high-converting designs built for business, not just aesthetics.
You’ll see this in things like:
- Clear service pages
- Space for packages, FAQs, and client journeys
- Flexible sections you can turn into sales pages, resources, or digital product showcases
2. Strategic, modern design
Northfolk’s style lands in a sweet spot between:
- Editorial and modern
- Minimal and warm
- Stylish and still very usable
Their templates look like something you’d get from a custom designer — but you can launch much faster and for a fraction of a custom project.
3. Templates that can grow with you
Crestone, for example, includes 30+ pages and is intentionally built to adapt to portfolios, services, digital products, education, and more.
That matters if:
- Your offers might change
- You want to start “simple” and expand later
- You plan to layer in things like a blog, shop, VIP days, or education
That combination of strategy + style + flexibility is what sold me on Northfolk — and why I felt confident buying two templates from them.
Template #1: Crestone – The Minimal Powerhouse Behind My Showit Template Shop
Crestone isn’t just a template I admire from afar — it’s the one I chose for my own Showit website template shop.
When I was shopping for a Northfolk template for that business, I knew I needed:
- A minimal, clean layout where my products could be the star
- A structure that felt product- and offer-focused, not just “pretty pages”
- Room to highlight things like collections, features, and calls-to-action
- Flexibility to expand into more products, resources, and content over time
Crestone checked every one of those boxes for me.
How Northfolk describes Crestone (in my own words)
Crestone is a refined, organic Showit template originally crafted with graphic designers in mind. It’s built to showcase portfolios, services, and digital offerings in a polished, approachable way — with over 30 pages you can mix and match as your business grows. Northfolk+1
It’s especially strong at:
- Presenting your services and packages
- Featuring client work, case studies, or past projects
- Highlighting digital products, resources, and education
Why Crestone is a perfect fit for my template shop
For my own use, Crestone has become the front door of my digital product world.
It lets me:
- Lead with my main templates and collections in a clean, uncluttered way
- Explain who my products are for and what’s included
- Add sections for FAQs, customer love, and additional offers without everything feeling crowded
The overall vibe is:
- Minimal but not boring
- Modern but still warm and approachable
- Strategic without feeling salesy
Even though Northfolk originally positions Crestone toward graphic designers, bloggers, and small business owners, I’ve found it works beautifully as a template shop / digital product hub — and that’s exactly how I use it. Northfolk+2Pinterest+2
Template #2: Heirloom – A Story-Driven, Elevated Home for My Other Brand
Heirloom is the second Northfolk template I purchased, and it powers a very different side of my business.
If Crestone is my minimal, product-forward storefront, Heirloom is my storytelling, connection-focused space.
How Northfolk describes Heirloom (in my own words)
Heirloom is designed as a beautifully crafted Showit template for fine art photographers who want to present their work with depth and intention. It leans into emotive storytelling, timeless imagery, and elegant typography, with space to showcase galleries, “love notes,” and services in a very elevated way. Northfolk+1
But while it’s marketed primarily toward photographers, the underlying structure is incredibly powerful for any brand that wants to feel:
- Romantic
- Editorial
- Warm and welcoming
- High-touch and experience-driven
Why Heirloom works so well for my other brand
For my other business, I wanted my website to feel like more than a brochure. I wanted it to feel like stepping into a carefully curated experience.
Heirloom gives me:
- Long-form sections where I can tell the story behind the brand, the work, and the transformation I offer
- Beautiful places for imagery, galleries, and client experiences
- A layout that naturally supports deeper connection, not just quick scanning
Even though it’s “supposed” to be for fine art photographers, I use Heirloom for a more emotive, elevated, story-driven brand — and it fits perfectly.
What My Experience With Crestone & Heirloom Says About Northfolk Templates
The most important thing I want you to take away from my experience is this:
Crestone and Heirloom were the right choices for me. They don’t have to be the right choices for you.
I chose:
- Crestone because I needed a minimal, product-focused, conversion-minded layout for my Showit template shop.
- Heirloom because I needed a romantic, editorial, story-driven layout for a separate brand with a completely different vibe.
Your brand might be:
- Wellness or coaching
- Social media management or marketing
- Copywriting or content strategy
- Interior design or a boutique service business
- Photography or another creative field
…and your “perfect” template might be a completely different Northfolk design.
That’s the beauty of their shop:
The templates definitely have flavored niches (“for designers,” “for photographers,” “for creative businesses”), but they are not locked there. With your own:
- Brand photos
- Colors and fonts
- Copy and offers
…you can absolutely reshape a template to fit your specific industry and personality.
My two sites are proof that:
- One person can use two very different templates for two very different brands
- A template’s label (like “for photographers”) doesn’t limit how you can use it
- Northfolk’s designs are flexible enough to support everything from product shops to service-based brands and more
How to Pick a Northfolk Template That Feels Like You
Let’s be honest: choosing a template can feel a little overwhelming. Northfolk even acknowledges this and created a 2-minute quiz to help you find your brand and website aesthetic, then recommends templates that match that style. Northfolk+3Northfolk+3Northfolk+3
Here’s how I’d approach picking a template, step by step:
1. Start with your business model
Before you even look at colors and fonts, think about what your website actually needs to do:
- Are you mainly selling services (coaching, SMM, design, copywriting, legal, etc.)?
- Are you planning to sell digital products or templates?
- Do you need a portfolio to showcase client work?
- Will you be blogging or creating long-form content regularly?
Look for templates whose layouts naturally support your main goals — strong service pages, shop infrastructure, blog layouts, etc.
2. Then think about your vibe
Next, think about how you want your brand to feel online:
- Minimal + modern + clean → something in the Crestone world
- Romantic + editorial + emotive → something in the Heirloom world
- Bold + playful + high-energy → one of their more expressive, personality-driven designs
You don’t have to know the exact template yet. Just get clear on whether you’re more:
- Soft vs bold
- Minimal vs detailed
- Modern vs classic
3. Take Northfolk’s website aesthetic quiz
Once you’ve thought through your business model and vibe, I highly recommend taking Northfolk’s quick quiz:
“What’s Your Website Aesthetic?”
It’s designed to help you:
- Discover your website + brand style
- Get curated inspiration
- See which templates they recommend based on your answers Northfolk+2Pinterest+2
You can find the quiz directly on their site under “Take the Quiz” or their main navigation.
Use the quiz results as a starting point — you’re allowed to trust your gut if you fall in love with something outside the suggestions.
4. Look at the structure, not the stock photos
When you’re scrolling through template demos, try to ignore the stock photos and sample text as much as possible.
Instead, ask:
- Do I like how the home page flows?
- Are the services or product sections laid out in a way that makes sense for my offers?
- Is there enough room on the page for the kind of copy I like to write (short and punchy vs long and detailed)?
- Does the blog, portfolio, or sales page structure feel like it could work for me?
Remember: you’ll be replacing all of the demo photos and copy with your own. The bones of the template are what matter most.
5. Imagine your future offers
Finally, think about where your business is going:
- Do you plan to add a shop, VIP days, or courses later on?
- Might you expand your services or niches over time?
Because Northfolk templates are built to grow and adapt, it’s smart to choose something that can evolve with you — even if you don’t plan to use every page right away.
Using My Northfolk Discount Code
If you’ve gone through the quiz, browsed the template shop, and found “the one” (or the two 😉), here’s how to use my affiliate link and discount code:
- Click my Northfolk affiliate link:
👉[KNDL] - Browse the templates and open the demos for anything that catches your eye — including, if you’d like, the two I personally use:
- Crestone
- Heirloom
- When you’re ready to purchase, enter my Northfolk discount code at checkout:
👉Use code [KNDL] for [15%] off your purchase - Complete your purchase and follow Northfolk’s instructions to connect your new template to your Showit account and start customizing.
Final Thoughts
Northfolk templates made a huge difference in how my businesses show up online:
- Crestone gave my Showit template shop a clean, minimal, product-forward home.
- Heirloom gave my more emotive brand a romantic, editorial, story-driven home.
Same person. Two very different brands. Two very different templates — both from the same shop.
If you’re a wellness provider, SMM or marketing pro, copywriter, interior designer, service-based business owner, or creative of any kind, I don’t think you have to wait for a template that’s labeled exactly for your niche.
Instead:
- Get clear on your business model
- Decide how you want your site to feel
- Take Northfolk’s quiz
- Choose the template that feels like home
- Make it yours with your own visuals, copy, and offers
And if you decide to purchase through my link and use my discount code — thank you. It genuinely supports my work and lets me keep creating resources like this to help you show up online with a website you’re proud of. 💻✨
👉Use the liner HERE to get your 15% off your order.
Get your Showit 1 MONTH FREE trial as a new subscriber RIGHT HERE
