C&G Partners
About
Studio Size
Large (21+)
Year founded
2005
Borough
Manhattan
Studio Bio/Philosophy
C&G Partners is an award-winning, multi-specialty design studio. With deep expertise in branding, exhibits, infographics, interactives, motion, print, strategy, wayfinding and web, we are uniquely organized to deliver multiple disciplines for the same client. This approach is simpler, more effective and more innovative.
The Team
C&G Partners has 30 people. Of those, 4 are studio heads and 6 are managerial.
15% of studios are large-sized (21+ people).
Gender Breakdown
47% male
53% female
Average height
5’4”-5’6”
Shortest: 5’2”
Tallest: 6’6”
Average age
30-35
Youngest: 20
Oldest: 59
Studio Disciplines
Breakdown of Work
Number of studio projects
100+
Pro-bono projects
21+
Strategy/Execution
25% Strategy
75% Execution
Primary Specialties
- Art Direction (58)
- Books (52)
- Brand Strategy (42)
- Branding & Identity (77)
- Broadcast Graphics (18)
- Editorial/Publication Design (51)
- Environmental Design (38)
- Exhibition Design (33)
- Experience Design (33)
- Illustration (45)
- Industrial Design (4)
- Information Graphics (41)
- Interaction Design (36)
- Mobile Design (30)
- Motion (29)
- Packaging (45)
- Print (75)
- Product (23)
- Sound Design (6)
- Typeface Design (25)
- Web Design (59)
- Web Development (25)
Clients’ Industries
- Education (40)
- Finance & Investment (26)
- Healthcare (18)
- Local & community organizations (41)
- Media & Publishing (58)
- Real Estate (24)
- Sports (22)
- Technology (37)
- The Arts/Cultural Institutions (71)
- Transportation (9)
C&G Partners’s Clients
- Federal Reserve Bank
- Hearst
- Holocaust Museum
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- MasterCard
- MoMA (6)
- Nasdaq
- National Museum of American History
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- New York Stock Exchange
- New York University
- Smithsonian Institution (3)
- World Trade Center Memorial Foundation
- Yankee Stadium
Amy Siegel, Partner
Demographics
Female, from Bronx, New York, United States, now lives in Chelsea, New York, NY. Formal education is undergraduate degree, primary design education is school (Pratt Institute).
What’s been the biggest influence on your design career?
I come from a family of artists. (My uncle bought me my first set of paints when I was eight. My grandmother and aunt also painted.) Since I began with painting my earliest influences were painters. The natural world and music have been major influences on my design work, as well as the talented people I have had the pleasure to work with over the years, most recently at Chermayeff & Geismar Inc., and C&G Partners.
Years in Design Industry
30 years
Average: 17 years
Previous Design Employment
- Chermayeff & Geismar (4)
- Ralph Appelbaum Associates
- Ehrenkrantz & Eckstut
Jonathan Alger, Partner
Demographics
Age 45, Male, from Bridgewater, Maine, United States, now lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York. Formal education is undergraduate degree, primary design education is school (Yale University).
What’s been the biggest influence on your design career?
Well, everything, really. My wife. Blogs. Partners. Supportive clients. Things I notice out of the corner of my eye. My children. Listening carefully to people I don't agree with. Friends. My staff. The city. Other designers I've never met. Reading. More reading. Collaborators. Growing up on a farm. Seeing Star Wars in a theater in 1977. More reading. Espresso. My children's friends. My children's teachers. Writing and performing music. The history of wristwatches. Did I mention my wife? My professors. Architects who gave me a chance as a kid. People on the subway. Interns. Projects I didn't get. Old animated series on Netflix. Lego. Past colleagues. Lillet. And ... everything, really.
Years in Design Industry
22 years
Previous Design Employment
Teaching Design
- Parsons The New School for Design — 1 years
Board Member on Professional Design Organizations
- Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD) — 5 years
Keith Helmetag, Partner
Demographics
Age 59, Male, from Philadelphia, PA, United States, now lives in Gowanus / Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, NY. Formal education is graduate degree, primary design education is school (University of California Berkeley).
What’s been the biggest influence on your design career?
My mother was a devoted guide at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, who traveled worldwide to add to her research for her tours. Seeing this from an early age conveyed the worth of hard work and informed content. My father wrote briefs as a railroad lawyer and restored furniture in our home shop after work, imparting the value and joy of handcraft. Professors allowed me to write studies of my neighborhood buildings, to animate films, to sketch architecture as I pleased, and to undertake lengthy critiques of contemporary placemaking. Chermayeff & Geismar designers introduced me to the design profession over many decades of collaboration. My current partners have helped guide me through my most revered recent and future commissions.
Years in Design Industry
35 years
Industry before design
Ocean lifeguard; catamaran sailboat builder; typographer / paste-up artist
Previous Design Employment
- Chermayeff & Geismar (4)
- GAF Corporation
Teaching Design
- Parsons The New School for Design — 2 years
- New York University — 8 years
Board Member on Professional Design Organizations
- Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD) — 4 years
Kieran Lynn, Associate Partner
Demographics
Age 30, Male, from Portland, OR, United States, now lives in Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY. Formal education is undergraduate degree, primary design education is school (University of Oregon).
What’s been the biggest influence on your design career?
A major part of my design education centered around the idea of intermedia – blending mediums and designing experiences to create aesthetic experiences. It's a recurring theme in our work, we design experiences to engage independent of a medium.
Years in Design Industry
8 years
Previous Design Employment
- Octothorp Studios
- Second Story Interactive Studios (2)
Maya Kopytman, Partner
Demographics
Age 50, Female, from Jerusalem, Israel, now lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY. Formal education is graduate degree, primary design education is school (Pratt Institute).
What’s been the biggest influence on your design career?
In 1991 I enrolled in Pratt Institute’s Interactive Multimedia MFA program. We had to write a paper using a piece of software called Hypercard. I'm sure I'm not the only early Mac user that still has a soft spot for its endearing 2-bit display and dithered images along its terrifying, omnipresent bomb icon. Yet, the concept of selecting a word and hyperlinking it to another index card via motion blew my mind at the time, and still does in some ways. I've created more than a hundred interactive experiences in the years since — from CD-ROMs, kiosks, and apps, to websites — but nothing has yet reproduced that initial thrill of seeing that first card gracefully flip over to display another card.
Years in Design Industry
26 years
Previous Design Employment
- IconNicholson
Teaching Design
- Pratt Institute — 3 years
Location
The Space
The studio is about 4500 square feet. They’ve been there for 8 years.
Number of times moved
0
Total people in space
30
Amenities
- Bike storage (26)
- Coffee maker (53)
- Dishwasher (24)
- Doorman (23)
- Elevator (54)
- Free drinks (27)
- Free snacks (27)
- Freezer (43)
- Garden (8)
- Large format printer (19)
- Library/book collection (67)
- Photo/video equipment (45)
- Pin-up board (43)
- Private bathrooms (34)
- Waiting area / reception (26)
- Whiteboard (23)
Number of conference rooms
3
Client meetings held in studio: Less than half
Number of plants
21-25
Decorations
Books and bookshelves, Massive murals, Our friends' artwork, Our work, Photos, Process materials for ongoing projects
Desk Policy
To each their own: some keep their desks tidy, while others like it messier.
Space Satisfaction
We like it, but plan to make some changes to the space
Working Days
Working week
The work week is 40-49 hours/week, core hours are 9:00-6:00, with the first in at 8:00am and the last out at 8:00pm.
50% of studios work 40-49 hours/week.
The average is 40-49 hours/week.
Paid Vacation
6-10 days
26% of studios in this range
Paid Holidays
10 days
Average: 7
Work Weekends?
A couple times/month
Take Summer Fridays?
No
Busiest Time of day?
It’s high intensity all day
Favorite Typefaces:
Culture
Biking to work
8
127 bikers across all studios
Pick your poison
Tequila
Overall Noise Level
Average
59% of studios are average
Studio pets
1 dog
32% have pets at the studio
Working groups
Encourage freelance work?
No
Internal studio meetings
Every day
Lunch Habits
Eats in small groups
Favorite delivery/take-out: Republic, Dig Inn, Piccolo Cafe, Pret, everywhere
Eat out for lunch?
A couple times/week
Favorite sit-down lunch: Everywhere around Union Square
Critiquing Process
Studio Outings
Attend conferences, Day trips to museums, Dinner, Drinks after work
Favorite Place(s): Chelsea galleries, Revival, Headlesshorseman, Union Square Green Market