Jessica Nicolosi
Jessica Nicolosi is the talent behind the lens at Jessica Nicolosi Photography, a boutique studio she launched in 2025 to help small businesses get the assets they need to connect with their online audience. She offers headshots, brand photography, and custom stock image libraries.
When Jessica came to me, it was as she was getting ready to launch her business to the world. She’d been working with the Greater Buffalo Small Business Development Center and had taken their Marketing Solutions and Contract Readiness workshop series. She was ready with a business plan, a capabilities statement, and a pitch deck.
A new website? Icing on the cake. She needed a website that would spotlight her talent, help her stand out from the competition, and show off her dramatic brand to perfection.
Done and done. I absolutely love giving women business owners the website they deserve!
Kind words
“I had been working toward launching my photography business throughout 2025, and one of the final pieces I needed was a website. An acquaintance of mine had a wonderful experience working with Kristen and highly recommended for me to work with her. I had also met Kristen previously while taking a Marketing and Contracts class through Buffalo State’s Small Business Department. After hearing her present and witnessing firsthand both her knowledge and skill in website design, I knew I wanted to work with her.
Kristen’s process begins with a thoughtful, detailed questionnaire that made it easy to communicate my vision. By the time we met, she already had a strong understanding of what I was looking for. One of her suggestions was to feature my photos in black and white on the homepage and services page, with full color reserved for my portfolio. I loved this idea and its subtle nod to black-and-white film, paired with the impact of color in the portfolio. Kristen created a website that not only represents me as a photographer and business owner, but also showcases my work in a way that truly highlights its beauty and the people within it.
Beyond her design skills, what truly sets Kristen apart is her process. Website design can feel overwhelming, but she makes it seamless and easy to follow. She goes above and beyond to stay organized and ensures her clients have all the information and resources they need at every step. I especially appreciated how involved she kept me throughout the process. Even though I wasn’t doing the actual design, I still felt a strong sense of ownership in the decision making and with the final result.
Kristen was also incredibly thoughtful and accommodating. She understood that I have an Auditory Processing Disorder and made sure to provide reasonable accommodations while patiently answering all my questions. She also prioritized my interest in accessibility, ensuring my website is welcoming and usable for people with a variety of needs. Working with Kristen was a genuinely positive experience, and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”
Jessica Nicolosi, Owner
Jessica Nicolosi Photography
The web design process
Jessica already had a logo and a color palette. We went with a classic serif and sans serif font pairing, using Times New Roman and Helvetica Neue to create a fresh, unexpected look. And being a photographer, she had an embarrassment of riches when it came to gorgeous pics to use throughout her site.
Like I do with all my clients, I gave Jessica a custom wording outline so she could brain dump and refine her headlines, paragraphs, and button labels.
From there, we were off to the races!
Jessica wanted a minimalist site with a clean aesthetic, but she also wanted something bold with lots of personality baked in. I had a blast playing with her design! In addition to white and black, I brought in a silver and a charcoal to soften the color palette, then went bold with a deep purple accent. Some dark color washes and strategic use of background shapes and motion made the site dramatic and visually interesting.
Where I had the most fun was in creating the contrast between her site and her portfolio. I wanted the site to feel like the Wizard of Oz—you know, where Dorothy is trapped in a black-and-white world until the tornado comes along and whisks her away to the Land of Oz in all its technicolor glory. The main part of Jessica’s site leverages black-and-white photos. But the portfolio? Full, bold color, baby.
Along the way, I added some custom code to create button hover effects and a few other nifty bells-and-whistles.
To top it off, we grabbed a couple of domain names for her: jessicanicolosiphotography.com and a custom, premium domain: jessicanicolosi.photography. Then, I created a custom email address for her using Google Workspace.
I built Jessica’s new website with the future in mind. She’s using Squarespace’s built-in Invoicing functionality to manage clients and projects, send contracts and invoices, and accept payment—all as part of her website’s subscription plan. No need to pay for a clunky CRM with features she’ll never use! And her website will give her a ton of elbow room to grow as her business evolves.
Take a look at her new website home page!
