Ako Playrooms

Shopify Design & Development for a Creative Children's Brand

A full website refresh and Shopify store build that helps Ako Playrooms showcase their playroom design services and sell directly to customers across New Zealand.

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Ako Playrooms Shopify web design and development project by Chaotic Good Creations showing homepage on laptop and shop page on mobile

Project Overview

Ako Playrooms are a New Zealand–based studio designing inspiring children's play spaces for homes and businesses. They approached Chaotic Good Creations looking for a website that could better reflect their brand, attract new design clients, and launch their new e-commerce offering.

Their previous site, built on Squarespace, wasn't structured to drive enquiries or handle online sales. Together we planned a full redesign that balanced storytelling, functionality, and conversion.

Ako Playrooms homepage design in browser mockup

The Challenge

The key challenge was blending two distinct goals within one site:

  • Positioning Ako Playrooms as trusted interior playroom designers, and
  • Creating a seamless online store experience for direct-to-customer product sales.

Each audience needed clear pathways — service-based visitors toward consultation, and retail customers toward the shop — without either experience competing for attention.

Ako Playrooms services page design Services
Ako Playrooms product page design Shop

Our Approach

We migrated the site from Squarespace to Shopify, giving Ako Playrooms a scalable platform for both service promotion and online sales. Using their established brand colours and playful design language, I rebuilt the information architecture to guide visitors smoothly from inspiration to action.

Through workshops and milestone feedback loops, we refined layout flow, SEO-driven page structure, and mobile responsiveness. The design focuses on warmth, simplicity, and a calm sense of creativity that reflects Ako Playrooms' physical spaces.

Design process and mockups for Ako Playrooms website

Design & Development

Platform

Shopify (customised base theme with bespoke Liquid code)

Integrations

Standard Shopify apps for forms, product discovery, and site search

Design

Built from existing brand palette and typography for continuity

Performance

Optimised image sizes, responsive layouts, and improved load speed across devices

SEO

Structured headers, refined meta descriptions, and optimised service-page keywords

Ako Playrooms website displayed on laptop and tablet devices

Collaboration & Process

This project was a close collaboration between Chaotic Good Creations and the Ako Playrooms team. They provided most of the copywriting and insight into their target audience, while I focused on layout strategy, UX, and technical implementation.

We held milestone workshops at key stages — from initial wireframes through to testing — ensuring every decision supported both their business goals and their customer journey.

Discovery

Understanding goals, audience, and requirements

Wireframes

Mapping site structure and user flows

Design

Visual design and branding application

Build

Development and Shopify implementation

Launch

Testing, refinement, and go-live

Outcome

The redesigned website launched in August '25, with the new Shopify store following in November '25. Early feedback from Ako Playrooms has been highly positive, and the new structure now gives them a clear foundation for marketing and growth.

"I worked with Chaotic Good Creations on a full website redesign and Shopify build for my business, and the experience was exceptional from start to finish. Harry has a rare ability to balance creative design with clear strategic thinking. He didn’t just “make the site look better”, he restructured it so it actually works harder for the business.

What stood out most was his process. Every stage was thoughtful and collaborative, from the initial workshops to the final launch. He took the time to understand our audiences, mapped out user flows, refined the content structure, and guided the project with clarity. The result is a site that not only reflects our brand, but moves visitors toward the right actions, whether that’s enquiring about services or shopping online.

The Shopify store setup was seamless, and the transition from Squarespace was handled with zero disruption. The new site is fast, mobile-optimised, and set up for long-term growth. We’ve already seen stronger engagement, clearer enquiries, and a much more intuitive customer journey.

If you’re looking for someone who can turn a creative vision into a functional, conversion-focused website — without losing the personality of the brand — I can’t recommend Chaotic Good Creations highly enough. Professional, detail-driven, and genuinely invested in results."

Steven de Bruin — Founder & Lead Designer, Ako Playrooms

This project demonstrates how Chaotic Good Creations partners with New Zealand businesses to turn creative vision into functional digital design — always with an eye toward clarity, conversion, and brand integrity.

Key Takeaways

Balanced dual goals of service promotion and e-commerce

Elevated the brand's online presence through design and structure

Delivered a fast, mobile-optimised site ready for future growth

Reinforced my commitment to collaborative, purpose-driven design

Interested in working together?

Let's create a site that showcases your brand and drives real results.

Contact Chaotic Good Creations