Paragon Design · Whangaparāoa, New Zealand
Websites, apps, AI and search for New Zealand businesses — designed, built and looked after by one person, start to finish. For more than 25 years.
Most of what a business needs online doesn’t need an agency. It needs one experienced person who understands the whole picture — design, code, search, words and now AI — and who picks up the phone. I’ve been that person for New Zealand businesses for more than 25 years. You deal with me from the first conversation to launch day, and every year after.
I build the website your customers use and the tools your team works with behind it. Both deserve the same care.
Bespoke ecommerce, tailored websites and custom backend systems. Give customers a quick, clear experience and staff tools that are straightforward and enjoyable to use, with less copying between systems.
Explore bespoke systemsAsk a question or request a website change in everyday language, any time of day or night. Nova is an optional ongoing service for Paragon clients, with me still involved when a request needs human judgement.
AI help and requests are available 24/7. Changes follow our agreed scope and support arrangements.
How Nova worksSelected work
Real websites, shops and digital products for real organisations. Keep scrolling to fly through them.
Services
Start wherever the problem is. Everything below is done by the same person, so it all fits together.
Build it
Custom-designed around how your business actually works, and built to turn visitors into enquiries — not a template stretched to fit.
Build it
Bespoke ecommerce, staff tools and connected systems that make everyday work easier.
Build it
Logos, brand refreshes, print and social — consistent everywhere, because one person designs all of it.
Build it
Web copy, articles, social posts and short-form video, written for the questions your customers actually ask — in your voice.
Get found
The right pages targeting the right searches, and a business AI answers can find and quote, measured against your competitors and explained in plain English.
Get found
Posts, photos, review replies and accurate details, so you look open and worth calling when locals search.
Get found
Every customer automatically asked for a review, with one polite reminder if life gets in the way.
Keep it sharp
Updates, backups, security and improvements for the site you already have. One person, not a ticket queue.
AI, in practice
I build with it every day — AI features inside client apps, and AI running my own studio. It’s the biggest jump in what one person can deliver that I’ve seen in twenty-five years of doing this.
Re-entering details, sorting documents and assembling the same output every week are the fastest wins.
An assistant grounded in your services, manuals or policies answers in seconds and shows where each answer came from.
Drafting and triage close the gap between an enquiry landing and a useful human reply going back.
Often the strongest use sits inside an ordinary app, doing the one job rules were never going to handle well.
Built and used, not just demonstrated: Oona, my own live family app, runs an AI assistant with real users every day.
How it works
Tell me what you’re trying to do and what’s getting in the way. No pitch deck, and no obligation.
The goals, pages, features, content and handover — agreed in writing before any work starts.
You see real progress early, and every question goes to the person actually doing the work.
Launch isn’t goodbye. Some of my clients have been with me for more than fifteen years.
A working demo of the private page Mark can set up for your project: progress, decisions waiting on you, updates and time spent, as it happens.
About
I’m Mark Steven, founder of Paragon Design. I started over 25 years ago with one question — how do websites actually work? — and I’ve never really stopped asking the next version of it.
That curiosity took me from the early web through custom content systems, e-commerce and search, and now into real-time applications and useful AI tools.
You work with me directly, from the first call to launch and long after. No account managers, and no juniors learning on your project.
Based in Whangaparāoa on the Hibiscus Coast. Working with businesses across Auckland and New Zealand.
Clients
Mark was able to quickly assess our website upgrade needs and efficiently produce a result far exceeding what we thought possible. Highly recommended!
Mark has the ability to translate an idea for a web design and make it better than you can imagine. His creativity is astounding.
Mark has been our website advisor for over 10 years through three different businesses. We highly recommend his services to anyone looking for a reliable web partner.
Have used Mark for 15 years plus for my business, great skills, awesome knowledge. Highly Recommended.
Mark is highly professional and an amazing website designer. Would recommend his services to any new business.
Mark at Paragon Design is just a great guy to work with. He thinks outside the box, is super efficient and has been with us from day 1.
We have worked with Paragon Design over a good number of years. Professional, knowledgeable and attentive to our specific needs. Our e-commerce websites work well.
I’m a professional singer and Mark made me a website to promote my singing career. The whole process was so easy and the result was beautiful.
Contact
The first conversation is no-obligation. You’ll get straight answers either way, from a local you can actually ring.
