About
The people behind HumanKind
We help funeral homes get found and trusted online
Through websites, search and the digital tools families now expect.
Families still need to find a funeral director, understand their options and feel they are in good hands, and they increasingly do all three online before they ever pick up the phone. We make sure that first encounter is calm, clear and worthy of the care you give in person.
Where we came from
Born from Weave Digital Studio
Weave Digital Studio has designed and built websites in Christchurch, New Zealand since 2008. Funeral homes became part of that work over ten years ago, one referral at a time, until we were looking after more funeral websites than any other kind, 80+ of them today, including the New Zealand sites of the country’s largest funeral group. We created HumanKind because that work deserves a dedicated name, a dedicated team, and tools built specifically for it. Same people, same studio, one focus. We do not hide the relationship. It is where the experience comes from.
Why this sector
Why we chose funeral homes
Not because it is a niche. Because the work matters and most of the industry is poorly served online.
The work matters
A funeral website is used by people on the worst day of their lives. Getting it right is a form of care.
We know the workflows
Notices, tributes, livestreams, pricing, CRMs, crematoria, associations. We have built for all of them.
The sector deserves better than templates
Most funeral websites are a rented template from a large vendor. We build sites funeral homes own.
Digital is changing how families choose
Search, AI assistants and price transparency are reshaping the first contact. Someone has to help funeral homes keep up, calmly.
Recognised for funeral websites
Awards are not why we do it, and they are useful evidence that the work holds up against the world.
International Web Marketing Awards
Best Family Website 2024
Gee & Hickton Funeral Directors
International web award
Recognised in 2026
Pellow & Hill Funerals
The people you will work with
You work directly with the partners who own the studio and the developer who builds your site. No account managers, no hand-offs.
Liz Bissland
Creative Director
Liz believes good design should feel effortless, because the best solutions are the ones that just work.
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With experience at agencies in London, Sydney and New Zealand, she brings big-agency thinking with a down-to-earth approach. She founded Weave in 2008 and leads the design of every HumanKind site: calm, clear, and built around the family’s experience. An International Effie Award winner and three-time Web Marketing Award recipient.
Manu Soyer
Senior Developer
Manu builds and maintains the sites and the plugins, and is usually the person who makes a tricky integration simply work.
Gareth Bissland
Digital Strategy and Technical Lead
Gareth has been building for the web since the mid-1990s, from hand-coded pages to leading technology for ISPs and telcos.
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At HumanKind he leads strategy, integrations and search: FireHawk, OneRoom, Funeral Estimator Pro, the visibility audit, and the hosting stack that runs 100s of sites across New Zealand and Australia. He translates the technical into plain English and is honest about trade-offs.
Based in New Zealand, working where you are
We are in Christchurch, New Zealand. Our clients are in New Zealand, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, and we schedule calls to suit their working day, not ours.
Being a day ahead has a quiet advantage: work you brief in your afternoon is often done by your next morning.
No pressure. Just a clear next step.