Jessica Walsh has been called one of the most inspiring artists of our century. You may have heard of her through her work in her design firm Sagmeister & Walsh or her personal projects that have become viral. She has an award-winning portfolio that ranges from campaigns to books. This creative mind has even got her own following.
How did she become an inspiration?
Daughter of two entrepreneurs she was an outsider with her creative mind. When she was twelve she got a taste for graphic and software. She taught herself how to code and how she could make them look more appealing. In high school, she became a freelancer for startups and individual companies. Her confidence to pursue her dream came with a project. Deciding she wanted to create a site to offer a free graphic template for kids and earing well financially from advertising it gave her the boost to pursue her dream. The rest is history.
The project that had a following
In 2013 Jessica and her friend Timothy Goodman decided to face their commitment problems by experimenting with dating each other. They dated for 40 days, recording every moment with writing, video, and souvenirs. They completed a questionnaire every day and took us on a journey of the heart. Their blog went viral and got more than 10 million unique visitors. Their journey was different than what people were used to seeing they went from a trip to Disney to therapy together. “I’m interested in creating work that connects to people outside of the design community, and that can be a challenge. I’ve always leaned toward creating work with a personal angle that evoked emotion–even in our client work, I wanted to make someone laugh or think or feel. This project took it to a whole new personal level–mashing design with our personal lives. It created a unique storytelling platform.” – Jessica Walsh
Her advice to artists
“Do work that feeds your soul, not your ego.” – Jessica Walsh
