Urban List's original website was built by an external agency and launched with significant scaling issues. Within days of launch, the platform was struggling under traffic demand. We were engaged to stabilise and recover.
We conducted a deep dive into the platform's architecture, codebase, and infrastructure. We identified the issues and fixed what needed to be fixed. Over the years that followed, we've continued to help the platform remain reliable and scale as Urban List's audience and editorial ambitions have grown.
That experience reinforced something we believe strongly: choosing the right partner matters. We've been that partner for ten years, and we're ready to continue.
Urban List partnership at a glance
Our ongoing work has focused evolving the platform while maintaining reliability as Urban List’s editorial and commercial needs have grown. This has included:
Over ten years we've developed deep familiarity with the platform, its integrations, and the operational realities of running Urban List day-to-day. Long-running platforms accumulate hidden complexity: edge cases, legacy decisions, and constraints across publishing, SEO, and performance. Knowing where those are lets us move faster and reduces transition risk. A new supplier would need months to learn what we already know.
Newism is an experienced specialist web team focused on content-rich platforms that need to remain fast, sustainable, and adaptable as requirements evolve.
We take an engineering-led approach to CMS delivery. We design the content model, workflows, integrations, and governance structures so the platform works the way Urban List operates.
We don't just click and configure. We're not limited to core CMS (or plugin) functionality. We build custom integrations, automate manual processes, and engineer performance across the stack.
What we bring:
We prioritise clear communication and direct access to the people doing the work. We recommend the approach that best fits Urban List's objectives.
We are a small senior team. The same people you meet are the people doing the work.
Founder / Technical Director
With Urban List since the beginning of the partnership. Provides long-term continuity, accountability, and deep platform knowledge.
Partner / Account Manager
Responsible for analytics, reporting, insights, project management, and governance. Keeps delivery structured and transparent (and keeps Leevi on track).
Creative Director
Brings branding, design systems, and UI expertise, working with the team to ensure design intent carries cleanly through implementation.
Developer
Focuses on integrations, performance, and server-side work, bridging delivery with operational reliability.
Raz is our new Creative Director, bringing over 20 years of experience in branding, design systems, and user-centric design.
Before joining Newism, Raz co-founded Ronnoco, a Newcastle-based design studio where he led creative strategy for clients ranging from startups to established brands across arts, healthcare, and hospitality. He cut his teeth at London agencies before going freelance in 2006, building a reputation for work that balances business objectives with compelling visual storytelling.
Raz's background spans both print and digital, blending traditional editorial design principles with modern digital execution. For a brand like Urban List that sees itself as a cultural guide, that combination matters. Strong typography, considered layout hierarchy, and contemporary visual culture are central to how audiences perceive the brand.
For Urban List, Raz also brings fresh perspective. After ten years of partnership, it's easy for design thinking to become incremental. Raz sees the brand with new eyes while respecting what makes it work. He'll lead the design system, UI, and visual direction for this project, working closely with Leevi to ensure design intent carries through to implementation.
The projects below are a selection of recent work that demonstrates the range of our experience and capabilities. They include content-rich sites, custom integrations, membership platforms, and campaign delivery.
Multi-site CMS, Content + design
Content + design
Content + design
Content + integrations
Content + integrations
Craft CMS and search at scale
A passion project that grew into a platform. What started as a community for tiki culture collectors now runs at serious scale.
Microsite Landing Page
Campaign Landing Page
Further details on these projects and others can be provided on request. We're happy to demonstrate our work and discuss how our experience can support Urban List's objectives.
The table below provides a record of Urban List engagements across the partnership, including project keys, delivery periods, and support request volumes that collectively exceed 2,300 requests.
| Name | Start | End | Tickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban List Performance Audit | 2015-04-29 | 2015-05-12 | 3 |
| Urban List Performance Updates | 2015-05-13 | 2015-06-10 | 14 |
| Urban List Logo Replacement | 2015-06-22 | 2015-06-24 | 3 |
| Urban List NewRelicPro Review | 2015-06-24 | 2015-06-24 | 1 |
| Urban List Error Page [0137] | 2015-06-25 | 2015-06-25 | 2 |
| Urban List Performance Updates - Round 2 | 2015-06-25 | 2015-06-26 | 6 |
| Urban List - Prepaid Support | 2015-06-26 | 2026-03-10 | 1,939 |
| Urban List Fix Form Validation #00000850 | 2015-06-30 | 2015-06-30 | 1 |
| Urban List Restore Unshortened URLs | 2015-07-02 | 2015-07-02 | 1 |
| Urban List Load Testing Report | 2015-08-03 | 2015-08-06 | 4 |
| Urban List Search Rebuild Design | 2015-08-06 | 2015-09-30 | 29 |
| Urban List Search Rebuild Implementation | 2015-09-09 | 2016-01-07 | 29 |
| Urban List Peroni Campaign | 2016-10-07 | 2016-11-17 | 7 |
| Urban List - Metropolist Migration | 2017-04-05 | 2017-06-02 | 20 |
| Urban List - SEO | 2017-06-30 | 2018-06-13 | 7 |
| Urban List Ad Serving Updates | 2017-07-31 | 2017-08-01 | 2 |
| Urban List - Template Updates | 2017-08-25 | 2017-10-10 | 15 |
| Urban List - Amex Landing Page | 2017-10-05 | 2017-10-17 | 9 |
| Urban List - September Updates | 2018-09-24 | 2018-10-23 | 10 |
| Urban List - Content Series | 2018-10-29 | 2018-11-01 | 3 |
| Urban List - Change Auckland to NZ | 2018-10-31 | 2018-10-31 | 1 |
| Urban List - Global Scope | 2018-10-31 | 2018-10-31 | 1 |
| Urban List - Commercial | 2018-11-28 | 2024-09-27 | 175 |
| Urban List - Branding Update | 2018-11-29 | 2018-12-10 | 4 |
| Urban List - Pure Imagination | 2019-01-14 | 2019-01-17 | 5 |
| Urban List - PHP7 Upgrade | 2019-03-08 | 2019-04-18 | 14 |
| Urban List - hosting & server maint | 2024-10-14 | 2025-07-18 | 10 |
