Jessica Walsh (born 1986) is a highly acclaimed American designer, art director, and the founder of &Walsh, a distinctive design studio entirely owned by women.
Jessica Walsh. Photo courtesy of &Walsh.
A self-starter by nature, Jessica started coding and designing websites when she was 11. To hone her skills, she went to the Rhode Island School of Design. Walsh completed her education in 2008, and afterward went to New York to become an intern at Pentagram. She soon landed a job as an art director at Print magazine.
Image for Aizone’s campaign. Photo courtesy of &Walsh.
Self-taught in photography and set design, she embarked on creating cover and interior artworks for a magazine, developing her distinctive, colorful handcrafted set design style. Unconventional techniques, including body painting, added a surreal touch to her work rarely seen in the design world. In 2010, Walsh gained widespread recognition for her collaboration with Stefan Sagmeister, leading to the establishment of the design firm Sagmeister & Walsh in 2012. After dreaming of her own studio, she founded &Walsh in 2019. Aside from working with high-profile clients (Levi’s, Snapchat), Jessica Walsh has a passion for social impact projects. One of them is the “40 Days of Dating” social experiment, where she and Timothy Goodman documented their dating experience in a visually captivating online format to explore whether 40 days are enough to change both a habit and a person. Other projects include a platform for supporting women “Ladies, Wine & Design” and “Let’s Talk About Mental Health,” a website and Instagram aiming at ending the stigma of mental health problems.
Image for Aïshti’s Under the Sea campaign. Photo courtesy of &Walsh.
40 Days of Dating by Timothy Goodman and Jessica Walsh. Photo courtesy of &Walsh.
Stefanie Posavec (born 1981) is an information designer and artist living in London.
Stefanie Posavec. Courtesy of Stefanie Prosavec.
She loves turning data and information into pictures and art by showing how art and data can come together in a special way. Her works have been shown in lots of different places, such as hospitals, museums, and on TV.
Gallery view of Dear Data project in MoMA’s Search Engines exhibition. Courtesy of Stefanie Prosavec.
In 2016, Stefanie worked with Giorgia Lupi to write a book called “Dear Data.” They spent a year making hand-drawn pictures out of their own personal data. It won the “Most Beautiful” project award at the Information is Beautiful Awards in 2015. It was even up for a big award at the Design Museum in 2016. The Museum of Modern Art decided to keep “Dear Data” forever as part of their collection. In collaboration with Miriam Quick, Stefanie authored another book titled “I am a book. I am a portal to the universe,” which is filled with interactive pictures and charts that make learning about science exciting. The book was recognized by the Financial Times in 2020 as one of its best books and also received an award from the Royal Society in 2021. Stefanie has worked with famous people such as Yayoi Kusama, Greta Thunberg, and Haruki Murakami, creating color books that blend data with art in a unique and visually appealing way. Stefanie’s art has been shown in MoMA, the Centre Pompidou, the V&A, and elsewhere. She also runs workshops that are easy for everyone, no matter how much they know about art or data.
Cover and text layout designed by Stefanie Posavec. Courtesy of Stefanie Prosavec.
“I am a book. I am a portal to the universe.” Courtesy of Stefanie Prosavec.
Data drawing class. Courtesy of Stefanie Prosavec.