Superpowers
We’re not a one-trick studio. Over more than two decades we’ve picked up a pretty wide toolkit, and we like to use the right one for your job and your needs. Here’s a look at what we can do.
Custom Websites & Web Apps
On the front end, our focus is on building responsive, well-crafted interfaces that hold up across devices and don’t get in the way of the content. This may include React for complex, interactive interfaces or vanilla JavaScript and html/css when a lighter touch is the smarter call.
Our backend team are experienced in Java, Ruby, PHP, Python, Node, Postgres, MySql, MongoDB, Bash, Apache, Tomcat, Nginx and many other technologies. We deploy to our own infrastructure, AWS, Azure or whatever might be needed.
We are wizards at hooking into third-party systems and APIs, connecting sites and apps to payment gateways, CRMs, booking systems, and other services you already rely on.
Supermodel CMS
We are experts at designing and building sites on Java and Supermodel, our own in-house content management system that has had ongoing development and improvements over more than 20 years.
Supermodel gives clients a platform built around their desired content structures and workflows, rather than being shoehorned into a generic off-the-shelf CMS where you may be forced to compromise between design and function. It allows clients to manage content themselves without having to worry about affecting the design.
Supermodel can integrate cleanly with almost any API or third-party system. Supermodel has powered projects including NZ Funds’ Digital Wallet client portal, Honda New Zealand’s end-to-end vehicle purchasing flow and sites with millions of users like Letterboxd.
Mobile Apps
Our mobile team builds native and hybrid mobile apps for iOS and Android. Our work includes the Letterboxd app, the Barfoot & Thompson agent app, the Parentland app, and ongoing development for ride-hailing platform YourRide.
UX/UI Design
Our design team takes a typographically driven, user-centred approach to UX/UI, working across research, wireframing, and interface design so content is clear and usable on every device.
WordPress
We build WordPress sites two ways: traditional custom theming coded from scratch for full control, and builds using Breakdance for clients who want a fast, visual page-building workflow without losing performance or code quality. We have staff with plenty of knowledge and experience with all Wordpress has to offer including WooCommerce.
Shopify
We build custom Shopify storefronts, including custom theming and integrations, for clients who need an online store that fits their brand rather than a generic template.
Ventures
Alongside client projects, we’ve created and grown our own products including Letterboxd, Appropo, Gin, Parentland and Verifi Cloudcheck. Check out our Ventures for more information.
Maintenance & Ongoing Support
Launch day isn’t the finish line. We stick around for updates, fixes, security patches, and the small tweaks that keep a site or app running well as a business grows and changes. Many of our client relationships go back years, and we like it that way. We’d rather be a steady, dependable partner for your business than a studio you hear from once and never again.
Why Cactuslab
We choose the right technology for each project, whether that’s a bespoke Java and Supermodel platform, a native mobile app, WordPress, or Shopify, and that same expertise has led us to build and grow our own products too. We’ve been doing this for over two decades, earning recognition along the way in New Zealand’s Best Awards and international design press.