Our Mission:
Improve human experiences through web, digital, & creative media

Since 2003, our award-winning team has helped hundreds of organizations serve millions of users. Our work brings new leads, clients, sales, calls, orders, appointments, new team members, new product lines, mergers,  acquisitions and more.

About Web Design Firm Syracuse NY

Our Impact

6.4M+

Projected Users Visiting Our Work in 2022

400+

400+ Successful Web Projects

110+ Years

Collective Years In the Business

8

Team Members

13

Websites Donated to
Local Charities

4,000

Meals Made & Served
to the Homeless

4:1

Average Client ROI Within First Year

2.5 Months

Average time our work takes to pay for itself

1.75 / Day

Average cups of coffee / tea / mud water per person

Our Values

Web Design Values - Impact

Impact = Empathy + Expertise

We believe true impact is a result of endeavoring to better understand your audience (and their problems), and then creating a unique offering that solves them.

Web Design Values - Simple

Simple is the most powerful. 

The hardest thing in life, business, marketing, branding, and web is to remain simple, but it is simultaneously the most effective.

Web Design Values - Time

Always build to last.

Our work continues to prove that data-backed, well-researched, well-built strategy, web, and digital work withstands the test of time, every time.

Web Design Values - Awards

Leave things better than you found them. 

Whether it’s cleaning your place at the table, or updating a client website, we believe in improving life for the next person.

Web Design Values - Sustainable

Sustainability - Reduce, remove, recycle wherever possible.

The perfection of nature’s ecosystem is no accident.  It is both simple, and complex.  Nothing is wasted.  We are constantly working to reduce our carbon footprint, removing unnecessary processes, code, things, recycling and giving back to the environment however we can.

Web Design Values - People

People First

This means we value relationships, team members, family, and community over sales, leads, traffic and everything else. For our work, this means prioritizing honesty, trust, integrity, privacy, personal data safety, and accessibility.

Web Design Values - Helping Those

Helping those who need it.

Not for a corporate statement, not to “feel better” about our work, not to win a project, but because we believe in making the world a better place, and it starts with the person next to us.

In the Community

Non-Profit Web Projects / SUNY Upstate Hospital

Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital opened in 2009, with the mission to provide safe, effective, innovative, and family-centered care for children in the Central New York region. Today we serve children and families across 17 counties and treat over 100,000 pediatric encounters per year. Breakthrough supports the hospital's ongoing mission.

Non-Profit Web Project in the Community

Breakthrough donated web, digital, and communication platform assistance to this small but fervent community dedicated to service, radical inclusion, and helping those less fortunate.

Non-Profit Web Design FrancisCorps

Breakthrough Design helped plan, execute, and achieve the largest volunteer class in FrancisCorp's history this year (2021) despite the pandemic and reduced volunteering worldwide. For a year, these volunteers will help run homeless shelters, soup kitchens, refugee programs, pre-school programs, child services and more throughout the Syracuse community.

Executive Team Members

Tison Kelley Web Design Strategist

Tison Kelley


Founder, Digital Experience Architect

Kelley, B.S., specializes in Human Experience in enterprise architectures. He has worked with the US Navy, Federal Aviation Administration, Higher Education Institutions, Commercial Real Estate, Financial Planning firms, and hundreds public and private organizations around the world... (Continued)

Ari Kaplan Web Creative Direction

Ari Kaplan


Creative Extraordinaire

Kaplan, B.A. graduated from Rutgers University in Graphic Design in 2004 and has worked for a finance-based agency for 8 years prior to building Breakthrough. Whether working in the wee hours on a project with the close-knit crew at Breakthrough or enjoying time in the great outdoors, Ari draws inspiration from his beautiful family and amazing friends.

Ron Griffel Web Creative Director

Ron Griffel

Creative and Strategic Jedi

Sara Pierson Web Content Director

Sara Peirson

Content & WordPress Director

Peirson, B.S. has over 12 years experience in a variety of enterprise-level clients, including one of the largest, oldest Fortune 100 financial institutions in the world. Sara has a BS in Communications from the State University of New York Brockport. She was awarded the Junior League of Syracuse's New Member of the Year award for her efforts assisting charities throughout the CNY region.

Devon Beard Web Development Director

Devon Beard

Master Front End Developer

Beard, B.S., focuses in front-end web design & development including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, & custom WordPress theme development. Beard has worked for small outfits like Twitter, Omada Health (voted the #1 most effective way to treat Diabetes), McDonalds, and more. When not making the web a more user-friendly place, Beard can be found helping save our forests, or riding his motorcycle on the coast of California.

Tatiana Spears

Tatiana Spears

Social Media Maven

Spears, holds an MBA in Finance & Marketing and is experienced in the banking, healthcare, and tech sectors. Tatiana has worked with top brands such as Nintendo, Whole Foods, General Electric, SAP and Coinbase. When she's not working on social strategy, she's baking to French music, hiking with her family, or fawning over her overworked Nespresso machine.

Mike Curry Web Design Lead

Mike Curry


Web Design Lead

Curry, BFA, specializes in brand and UI design. His work spans across several industries including medical, hospitality and blockchain technology. Mike graduated from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 2018 with a BFA in Graphic and Interactive Design. With a passion for art and design he enjoys refining his skills across all mediums.

Join our team. Seal

Help revolutionize how organizations communicate, and the impact they can make for the world.

News