About
Who We Are
We're genuine, down to earth kiwis that love the web and have a long history of strong work behind us.
We're also qualified to do what we do.
- Our engineers have Computer Science majors from internationally respected universities.
- Our engineers have over a decade of experience.
While you assume your dentist has a qualification, the same assumption can’t be made for web professionals! You are putting a lot of faith in your web providers to do the best for you and using qualified professionals is a great start.
Darkside Media is easily the best web development provider I have worked with and I would happily recommend them.
We Are Different
The client comes first, the code comes second.
Our job is to build projects that tick your boxes, not to over-engineer hyper-complex solutions to imaginary problems. We'll take your project, break it down into its most fundamental components, and deliver a no-nonsense, straight forward and highly effective end product.
Our engineers have been forced (largely against their will) to figure out how to talk to other human beings. The huge advantage is that you'll talk to the people actually solving your problems, not middle management.
Key Staff
Chris Rae
Senior Engineer
Chris started playing with computers from an early age and never really grew up.
He holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Computer Science from Otago University and has been building software for the web since he first got access to a dial-up modem.
Chris is about as client focused as an engineer gets. His ability to break down complex problems in a way that allows all parties to engage in decision making has always been a key skill.
He holds down a long list of hobbies, which include being an avid martial artist.
"A happy client is a job well done."
Sarah Fredric
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING
Sarah came to Queenstown for the skiing (like most people) and never managed successfully to leave.
The one time she did leave, was to get a Bachelors of Tourism (BTour) and a Masters in Entrepreneurship (MEntr) from The University of Otago. These degrees were put to great use when she came back to manage a Skydiving operation before moving into the realm of Marketing.
Sarah has worked in the advertising and wine industries, as well as assisting a number of small businesses and charities with their marketing. She's watched our town grow from a place that relied on word-of-mouth advertising, to somewhere that companies need to market themselves to ensure they're front of mind for their customers.
She's always keen to discuss different marketing ideas, from effective free options to cost effective paid options and will happily help any business or charity maximise their marketing.
She (sadly) has no interest in martial arts, but loves being out riding her mountain bike, skiing, crafting and being involved in a range of community groups.
Who Have We Worked With?
FAQ's
That's a great question! It's highly variable. It could be anywhere from a few weeks to a multiple months. A straight forward website you'd expect to have delivered inside of 4-6 weeks assuming you have content (text/images/branding) ready to go and things get signed off promptly.
The age old question, we're not the cheapest outfit on the planet but we're miles from the most expensive. A nice happy medium whereby you're paying enough to get actual qualified professionals to handle your business requirements (so you can rest easy) - but nothing like what you'd pay to a big city agency.
Isn't the the "dark side" a bad thing from that weird space movie? I mean, yeah. It is.
Naming a business from scratch is a total rabbit hole! we already owned the darkside.co.nz domain (who knows why) and figured that that'd do!
We own lightside.co.nz as well so I guess that's a bit of balance!
Convinced?
Give us a call or flick us an email, we'd love to hear from you!