A Jessica Walsh Biography.
About.
Early Years:
In such an uncertain economy with a landscape of unpaid graduate labor, it is a rule of thumb for art school graduates that if someone offers you a job that’s even remotely decent, you take it. For example, regarding the rule of thumb, it would be an immediate yes for any art graduate student to work at Apple in order to make a proper annual income of $100,000. However, not for everyone: for Jessica Walsh, fresh out of earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts from an outstanding and distinguished university -Rhode Island School of Design, she was offered a position to work for Apple and had declined the position. Walsh perceived the opportunity with Apple as a limitation and restraint for her creative outlook, where she says, “But I also would’ve only been doing one thing: working on a specific section of their website or a specific area of branding. I wanted variety and challenge, not safety.”
At Pentagram
Walsh ended up moving to New York in 2008, interning at Pentagram which marked the beginning of her career that spurred and ultimately rose her to being one of the 36 female-led creative, respected, and successful graphic designers in the industry in America. Working alongside Paula Scher, a principal at the design firm Pentagram and one of the pillars of the graphic industry for nearly a year, she worked on a range of projects as opposed to being under the thumb of a single brand. Pentagram was a highly competitive position to attain and maintain, however “She was a talented, standout intern,” Ms. Scher said. “Jessica had energy, determination and great skill, and all three of those things are needed for success.”
At Print:
After Pentagram, she was offered a position at Print which she was hesitant to accept at first, but while at Print she stated that,
"
In the end, taking the job at Print was the best thing that happened in my career as it allowed me the space to develop my personal style."
In 2008, Walsh worked as an associate art director at Print, further refining and improving her colourful photo illustration style and ultimately creating a name for herself in the industry through online press and awards. Her work was featured in various books, magazines, and newspapers, including the New York Times.
At Sagmeister:
Walsh grew out her interests working for Print and crossed paths with a notable individual, Stefan Sagmeister, who soon had a major impact on her career, shaping her into the distinguished designer she is today. “When I first met Jessica three years ago, I did not plan to hire anybody,” Sagmeister recounts. “But I was immediately impressed by her [and] found myself offering her a job.” At 25, Walsh worked under Sagmeister on curating ideas and numerous projects. After two years of working under Sagmeister, she was ready to move onto bigger things. However, Mr. Sagmeister promoted her as a partner instead and stated that, “I knew and suspected that someone as talented and ambitious as her would ultimately want to try it on her own”. She then curated works for clients including Levi's, Aizone, Adobe, and Colab Eyewear, and rebranding efforts for The Jewish Museum of New York and the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Connecticut. (About Jessica Walsh, 2020)
Today:
Figure 6: (In the Luupe, 2020)
&Walsh:
After working and partnering with Sagmeister for seven years, Walsh followed her dreams from her teenage years of forming her own business and studio, presently known as &Walsh. Jessica's Walsh’s individual business and studio provides a range of services, from advertising, art direction, target audience, to website design, and helps companies both big and small. The &Walsh team of creatives share core values of creating dialogue that initiates change. By creating change, they represent and curate projects relating to social causes they care about; for example, Supershe was a project the &Walsh team curated branding, strategy and merch for, taking inspiration from women’s marches throughout history. (Brewer, 2020)
