Ann Abdella

Ann Abdella is the mastermind behind A2 Associates and someone I’m proud to count as a friend. Based in Jamestown, NY, she offers consulting and management services to help her clients meet the challenges of building rural community health. She’s got a real passion for helping rural communities survive and thrive by improving community health and access for all residents. She has extensive expertise to working collaboratively to reduce disparities, improve equity, and better manage population health.

When Ann came to me, it was after she’d begun working with a different developer who had built a prototype site in WordPress that didn’t match her brand’s look and feel or convey her more than 30 years of expertise in a brand-aligned way. She wanted to go in a different direction with a clean, compact, uncluttered design.

What a pleasure it was to give her the web presence she deserves!

Kind words

“No cookie cutters here! Kristen is intuitive and has a range of features in her design toolbox. She really listens to help you create a unique site that projects the professional image you are hoping to convey. I cannot tell you how pleased I am with the work she did and the relief it has brought me... it truly is a gift 😊”

— Ann Abdella

A look at the process

I knew Squarespace was the perfect home for Ann’s new website. WordPress is great and all, and it’s a platform I enjoy working with. But WordPress is basically the Lamborghini of website design… and if you’re just going to Wegmans to grab a gallon of milk, do you really need a souped-up sports car? For the vast majority of my clients, WordPress is “too much website”—it’s too complicated, comes with an exhaustive and intimidating array of options, requires development knowledge to maintain, and can be difficult to update.

Squarespace, on the other hand, is so easy to use that I knew Ann would have no problem dipping in to make updates here and there as her business evolves.

Ann chose to start from scratch. She worked with a talented copywriter I adore, Marty Haumesser, to convey her expertise and passion for the work. She also connected with a graphic designer, Wendy Gollnitz, to create a logo and some brand-aligned background images that we could use throughout her site.

With approved content in hand, I was off to the races on design. Ann wanted a minimalist, uncluttered design without lots of photos or funky design touches, and I was happy to give it to her. She’s now got a modern, mobile-responsive website that’s 100% on-brand and gives her expertise the platform it deserves.

Here’s a look at a few of the pages: