Our company was founded in New York City in 1995 and has built a solid reputation for working closely with each client to develop the best creative direction, then follow through from conception to completion, integrating design with a strong focus on project details, realistic planning, concise management and servicing client needs. 

We are now based in Kansas City and along with our design services, offer the integration of media in all aspects of our project work.  As media is now part of our everyday life it is best planned for in personal and public areas of corporate, commercial, multi-use and residential settings.

We team with architectural firms, business owners, club managers, real estate executives, property developers, facility departments and private homeowners and work effectively with boards and committees in both private and public organizations.

cds design media is interior design, planning and project management for today.

"Gustie"

Karen Gustafson Herman

Design Director & Founder

Karen has nearly three decades of professional design experience in the areas of interior design, planning, project management, corporate communications and business writing.

Prior to founding CDS, she worked on the in-house design team of a Long Island, NY developer building the Wyndham East and West Condiminiums and Club House in Garden City, New York.  Her career advanced to senior design and project management positions with Cannon Architects, Mancini-Duffy Architects and Orsini Design Associates, all located in New York City.  Her projects included TCW offices in New York, Washington, DC, Houston, TX and San Francisco, CA; KPMG offices in Stamford, CT and Providence, RI;  NOAA site offices across the U.S. and Chanel, Inc. in New York City.

After founding CDS, Karen completed projects that include The New York Palace Hotel, The New York Athletic Club and Calvin Klein, Inc., all in New York City.  She also completed numerous projects with real estate developers and private homeowners in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.  In 2001, CDS was selected from a group of nine candidates to design, plan, and manage interior programming, design, finishes, furnishings, signage and custom millwork for The Ledges in Groton, CT.  Karen's work has been published in the following:  NYAC Wingfoot, Connecticut Parent, Norwalk Lifestyles and MEDIA.

Karen has a Bachelors in Fine Arts in Interior Design from the University of Kansas with concentrations in Architecture and Journalism.  She was a varsity member of the KU Women's golf team. 

Adam is a seasoned media executive with over twenty years of diverse account and client management experience in advertising, marketing, online media, emerging technologies, and publishing.

Currently, he is Senior Vice President, Director of Media Services at Barkley, the largest advertising agency in Kansas City. In this role, he oversees the agency's media planning, buying and research offering across all media including emerging media, broadcast, interactive, print and out-of-home. Key clients include Sonic Drive-In, Build-A-Bear Workshop, 24 Hour Fitness, and Blue Bunny Ice Cream.

Just prior to this, Adam was Vice President, Director/Media at Digitas, the leading digital agency in the country. In this unique position, he was strategically embedded at MediaVest as the Digital Sector Director on Kraft Beverages.

For three years prior to that,  Adam was Senior Partner, Integrated Media Director of Mediacom and directed four planning teams on over $150MM in offline, online and direct response media for such prestigious brands as Orbitz, Hasbro, Century 21 and Wyndham Worldwide Hotels.

Prior to joining MediaCom, he was Marketing Director and Vice President, Operations of MediaPost Communications and Managing Editor of MEDIA magazine, the first monthly publication to address online marketing and digital media from a planning and buying perspective. He spearheaded the design of MediaPost's advertising-specific directories, MPlanner,  the first interactive web-based flowchart tool, and immediabuy,  an innovative bidding system for buying online advertising online.

Additonally, Adam's senior media management positions included Vice President, Media Director of The Romann Group, Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning, Database and Media Services for Warren/Kremer/CMP Advertising, and Media Director for Marti Flores Prieto & Wachtel, focusing on travel and tourism to Puerto Rico.  He also worked in the media departments of Waring & LaRosa, Grey and Macy's.