JESSAMYN DODD | Staff Writer
Dec 6, 2025 Updated Dec 8, 2025
EL CENTRO — The Cancer Resource Center of The Desert has been awarded the Best Website Design in the 2025 Health and Wellness Design Awards, surpassing over 6,000 applicants.
The website is ADA-compliant and is designed for accessibility.
Ariel Freaner, President and Creative Director, and Adrien Kwiatkowski, Associate Principal of Freaner Creative, the design firm that constructed the website, spoke to Imperial Valley Press about their roles and the creative process behind the development of the site.
“I do all the creative development. I do all the graphic design, all the illustration, coding, programming, and animation,” Freaner explained.
The firm was referred to the Center as the organization was reviving its operations.
“We basically took their colors, took their logo, and then recreated everything from zero,” Freaner said. The previous site, he explained, was “basically just a very old blog.”
Freaner said the design reflects hope and accessibility. He noted that the awards are hosted by a national and international design association in New York.
“The Cancer Resource Center of the Desert is honored to have received the Best Website Design Award of 2025,” Helen Palomino, CEO of the Center, said. “The website built by Freaner Creative is an integral component of our ongoing commitment to quality services for Imperial Valley.
The Cancer Research Center of the Desert, a support nonprofit in the Valley, has been serving cancer patients and their families through their “cancer journeys.”
More campaigns coming
Kwiatkowski said the website is only the first phase. “We’re launching into other campaign components, such as an email blast campaign and also a social media campaign to continue to promote the good work that the Cancer Resource Center does for the community.”
Those campaigns will target all of Imperial Valley and Coachella.
About the Firm
Freaner Creative provides a wide range of services to both public and private clients across California.
Kwiatkowski explained, “We do creative design. We do public relations. We do media and social media campaigns. We do email blasting campaigns. We do additional media campaigns like billboards, trade advertising,” he said.
Freaner said the company is expanding its work locally. “We work for San Diego County, and we work for different counties in California. And now, we’re working a lot in Imperial Valley. We’re always innovating in new things. Right now we’re working a lot with AI.”
Both said they were grateful to win the award on behalf of the Center. “We’re just very honored and happy,” said Freaner.
