Keith Helmetag

Keith Helmetag

Partner

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As one of the founders of the firm, Keith offers creative and management direction to a talented team involved in sign and wayfinding as well as exhibit and environment commissions.

Keith is currently working on global and local as well as virtual and actual projects for the U.S. State Department’s new American Embassy in London; the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s National Opera & Library of Greece; Scenic Hudson’s West Point Foundry Preserve; the 9/11 Memorial; Nemours Hospital and Philadelphia Center City District’s Dilworth Plaza at City Hall. Keith continues to develop seasonal displays for the New York Yankees’ museum expanding on the firm’s creation of signs, interpretive graphics and exhibits at the new Stadium.

Keith recently completed interpretive graphics for One Bryant Park (Manhattan’s first LEED-platinum skyscraper); an award-winning tour experience of the Good Housekeeping Institute at the Hearst Building (NYC’s first LEED gold tower), exhibits for the duPont Nemours Mansion & Gardens Visitor Center, Buffalo’s Erie Canal Waterfront District and a major sign program for Rensselear Polytechnic Institute’s new Experimental Media Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) as well as themed interiors for Major League Baseball Headquarters and GE Energy Financial Services. His designs for NYC’s Flushing Freedom Mile, which brought themes of religious asylum and social tolerance to the sidewalks of the world’s most ethnically diverse neighborhood. Keith’s innovative approach for the U.S. Patent & Trademark Museum’s display system was recently awarded its own patent from the Office.

While a principal at Chermayeff & Geismar Inc., Keith designed exhibits for The Money Museum at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Automobile & Culture at MoCA Los Angeles; Science City and kidpower! for the New York Hall of Science, the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration’s Rookery Bay Reserve, and the JFK Presidential Library, as well as signage and environmental design for Lincoln Center, Terminal 4 at Kennedy Airport, and Gannett/USA Today’s Headquarters. A Heritage Trails New York kiosk designed by Keith for the World Trade Center that survived 9/11 has recently been included in the Memorial’s collection for display.

Keith received a sappi Ideas That Matter grant promoting literacy and lemur conservation in Madagascar. He is a recipient of the American Institute of Architect’s Committee On The Environment (COTE) award for Philadelphia’s Heinz Tinicum Nature Reserve, and was the graphic designer of The New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Keith was educated as an architect (B.Arch.,UC/Berkeley), graphic designer (Philadelphia’s University of the Arts) and business manager (M.B.A., New York University’s Stern School of Management).

Jonathan Alger

Partner

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Jonathan Alger is a founding partner of C&G Partners, active in all forms of communication design, especially exhibitions, interactive environments and public spaces. He is a dedicated advocate of strategic thinking and the thoughtful use of technology. He served two years as national President (2006-2007) of SEGD, the Society for Environmental Graphic Design.

Jonathan’s work includes the Star-Spangled Banner experience at the National Museum of American History and the Museum of American Finance on Wall Street. He also led the planning and design team responsible for all new visitor experiences at the dramatically expanded Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, the most popular observatory in America.

He has conceived and designed interactive, educational experiences for the Holocaust Museum, the Bronx Zoo, the New York Hall of Science, the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City, Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), American Express, Nasdaq and Sports Illustrated, among others. His projects include a visitor center for USAID, a public history installation for TIAA/CREF, two award-winning exhibits for the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), a studio tour at the Voice of America, and educational environments for the Japanese American National Museum.

He is currently working on interactive visitor experience projects for the National Museum of Natural History and the US Department of State, among others.

Jonathan is dedicated to expanding visitor experiences beyond the museum: he has done award-winning work for many libraries, including the Los Angeles Public Library, the Bobst Library of NYU, the Library of Congress and the Boston Public Library.

In other areas of communication design, he has created signage and wayfinding programs for many national organizations including Dulles International Airport, the Birmingham Museum of Art and the National Museum of American History. He has also created brand identities for a number of cultural institutions and exhibitions. His interactive design work includes a brand identity and website for the celebrated online journal FEED that was nominated for a Webby, the “online Oscar” of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

He has received numerous design awards from the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the Art Director’s Club and the Society for Environmental Graphic Design. His work has also been honored multiple times by the American Association for State and Local History. He has written for, and been featured in, various magazines and journals. In 2004, he was featured on the cover of Graphic Design USA’s “People to Watch” issue. In 2008, he was profiled in Interior Design magazine.

Jonathan graduated from Yale University, B.A. with honors and distinction in Architecture, magna cum laude.

Maya Kopytman

Partner

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Maya has more than two decades of design experience, and is internationally recognized for pioneering work in interface design for websites, software, and location-based experiences. She has received numerous awards, among them the “Gold Pencil” from One Show Interactive and the Webby “People’s Voice” Award. Her work has appeared in many industry publications, including Graphis Interactive and Communications Arts. In 2006 Maya joined C&G as an Associate Partner, heading the firm’s interactive design practice.

She has led numerous projects, including websites for the Low Income Investment Fund, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, AIGA, Riverkeeper, Samuel H. Kress Foundation, ARTstor, JSTOR, Kaplan Thaler Group, NYU Wagner School of Public Service, FujiFilm, and the American Institute of Architects. Her location-based interactive projects include exhibit software for the Museum of Jewish Heritage, document exploration systems for the Museum of American Finance, interactive orchestral visuals for Caminos del Inka and interactive kiosks for the Mashantucket Pequot Museum.

Maya holds a BFA from Bezalel Academy of Art in Jerusalem and an MFA from Pratt Institute. She has been a visiting instructor in Pratt’s Department of Computer Graphics and Interactive Multimedia, and is currently a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. From 1994 until 2006 she was a principal member of IconNicholson in New York, and a Senior Vice President there since 2004.

Amy Siegel

Partner

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Amy Siegel brings over two decades of experience to the design of environmental and print graphics. Since joining C&G in 1998, Amy has planned, designed and managed large as well as small-scale signage and wayfinding programs for institutional, corporate and public clients.

She has recently completed an award winning sign program for Hearst Tower in addition to sign programs for the new Yankee Stadium, Bank of America Tower and Stephen Sondheim Theatre, all in New York City. She is currently working on the National September 11th Memorial and Museum at Ground Zero and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, Greece. She has completed several large transportation projects including new International Terminals at Logan Airport in Boston and JFK International Airport in New York.

Other noteworthy signage and architectural graphics projects include EMPAC (Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY; the McNay Museum of Art in San Antonio, Texas; Gannett/USA Today Headquarters, McLean VA; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH; Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, CA; Times Square Subway Station, New York; Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore; Landman Library at Arcadia University, PA; Jacob Javits Federal Building, New York; a branding program for GSA buildings nationwide; Flushing Freedom Mile, Flushing, NY; Baruch College, City University of New York; and The University Club, New York.

Amy studied Fine Art at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and the New York Studio School and has a B.F.A. from Pratt Institute. She is a member of the Society of Environmental Graphic Designers and the American Institute of Graphic Arts.

Scott Plunkett

Associate Partner

Scott Plunkett is an Associate Partner at C&G Partners, where he is responsible for the firm’s operations, including oversight of finances, physical operations, human resources and project management. He is also an integral part of C&G’s business development endeavors.

Scott comes from a fine arts background, and a long tenure in the fashion industry at French design company Agnes B.  Scott has worked with the leaders of C&G Partners since 1993. He has proven effective at merging creativity and business, keeping the firm operationally sophisticated.  His focus on art, people and finance enable him to assist the firm in developing and managing new opportunities.

He received a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in 2001, with a focus on painting and photography, and was the recipient of The Rhodes Family Award for Outstanding Students. He is a member of AIGA.

Steff Geissbuhler

Senior Consultant

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Steff Geissbuhler, a co-founder of the firm, is among America’s most celebrated designers of integrated brand and corporate identity programs. His work for a broad spectrum of international and national clients includes identity systems for NBC, Merck, Time Warner Cable, Telemundo, Voice of America, Toledo Museum of Art, National Parks of New York Harbor, Crane & Co., Calamos Investments, Conrad Hotels and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Prior to forming C&G Partners, he was a partner at Chermayeff & Geismar Inc. for 30 years.

Steff has designed architectural graphics for the IBM building in New York City; a complete sign system for the Universities of Pennsylvania; and Connecticut; printed materials for the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Mobil, Philip Morris, Cummins Engines and Union Pacific. Other commissions include graphics for the Smithsonian Institution’s Bicentennial exhibition; the “Sports Illustrated at the Olympics” exhibit; a new identity and graphics for the New York Public Library; the New Victory Theater; and a series of posters for New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs. In 2005 Mr. Geissbuhler’s work was honored with the American Institute of Graphic Arts Medal for his sustained contribution to design excellence and the development of the profession. He is also the recipient of the U.S. Federal Achievement Design Award, and several awards from the Art Director’s Clubs and the International Poster Biennales. Steff served as the U.S. president of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and has been a member of the board of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. He is past president of AIGA’s New York chapter.

Steff Geissbuhler received his diploma in graphic design from the School of Art and Design, Basel, Switzerland. He has taught at the Philadelphia College of Art, Cooper Union, Yale University and lectures throughout the country.

T. Kevin Sayama

Senior Consultant

T. Kevin Sayama is a senior consultant at C&G Partners, where he works on museum and exhibition projects. Trained as an architect, Kevin has been involved in the design of major exhibitions throughout the United States for nearly a decade. He is presently serving as senior designer and project manager for new exhibits the firm is planning at the Griffith Planetarium in Los Angeles and a series of interpretive stations for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Birmingham branch.

Before joining the firm in 2000, Kevin worked as an exhibition designer and project manager at Ralph Appelbaum Associates. He designed the What Price Freedom and Global Library temporary exhibitions at The New York Public Library and America’s Concentration Camps, a temporary exhibition at The Japanese American National Museum, which was later converted into a traveling show and featured at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. He also designed Fighting for Tomorrow, a temporary exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum that focused on Japanese American servicemen during World War II. Kevin managed the architectural integration and exhibition design for the Art and History and Steuben galleries at the new Corning Museum of Glass in upstate New York. He also participated in the design of the Corning Museum’s new Glass Innovation Center and Steuben Gallery. He was a project manager and designer for the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City.

Additional work includes schematic planning and design of permanent exhibitions at FIRST Place in Manchester, New Hampshire, the Utah Museum of Natural History, the Museum of the City of New York, the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey, and the Hall of Planet Earth and the Rose Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History.

Kevin was born in Los Angeles and earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley in 1983. In 1988, he received a Master of Architecture from Berkeley. He has been a registered architect in California since 1990, and worked with a number of California architects on renovation, restoration and new construction projects before moving to New York City in 1994.

Leslie Hayden Sherr

Brand Strategy and Business Development

Leslie Hayden Sherr fulfills a hybrid role at C&G Partners defining brand strategy, cultivating new business, and consulting on marketing and communications. She draws on a background as a marketing consultant and design writer to support cultural brands and institutions seeking to differentiate themselves and define a clear positioning in the marketplace. She joined C&G Partners in 2003 and has been the strategic lead for such clients as Signature Theatre Company, Calamos Investments, New York City Office of Emergency Management, Vornado Realty Trust and Darien Library.

Her past work has included strategy, naming, copywriting, brand voice and media relations for such clients as Chandelier; YARD; Stone Architecture; Material ConneXion; Hoefler & Frere-Jones; Sullivan & Company; Assouline; The 7th Art; FMBranding; and Fountainhead Construction, among others. Her architecture-related project work includes positioning, naming and copywriting for Beacon Court, a luxury mixed-use real estate property designed by Cesar Pelli with interiors by Jacques Grange. A Vornado Real Estate property, Beacon Court includes the New York headquarters for Bloomberg Financial Network and an exclusive 55-story residential tower. A comprehensive property launch resulted in the creation of a positioning, name, sales collateral and print advertising, streetbridge signage, website and video. Other recent Manhattan real estate projects include the sales collateral and websites for 200 Fifth Avenue, 34 Leonard, W Hoboken, Morton Square, The Hubert Townhouses, and 59E57.

Leslie is a former Director of Marketing and Communications at the Carbone Smolan, Agency whose client roster includes work for such significant cultural institutions as The Louvre, The Jewish Museum, The American Craft Museum, Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Sesame Workshop, among others. She was also Director of Communications for Desgrippes Gobé Group, an international branding agency whose clients include Coca-Cola, Gillette, Godiva, Ann Taylor and Air France.

Leslie has written on topics ranging from annual reports and graphic design to architecture for a broad range of design-focused publications. She is the co-author of Design for Response: Creative Direct Marketing that Works. Leslie has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from SUNY Purchase, a Master of Arts from Parsons School of Design in Critical Writing on Architecture and Design, and is currently pursuing a Masters of Science in Landscape Design from Columbia University.