Date: 07-05-2020
Student name: DHRITI BHATIA
Student ID number: 1528554
Research task sheet
To complete this research task sheet, you are required to
included:
· Answers to the inquiry questions of ONE artist / designer
· 3 quotes from the artist / designer or from a person who has
commented on their work
· 6 images of the artist / designer’s work
· Minimum three different sources (E.g. Artist websites, videos
on YouTube, journal articles, interviews on blogs)
· Correct APA referencing in bibliography
Inquiry questions (Minimum 3 sentences for each point)
1. What is the name of the artist / designer?
Jessica Walsh is an American graphic designer, art director and
illustrator, and founder of creative agency “& Walsh”.
2. What is their website or social media handle?
Website of the creative agency owned by Jessica Walsh -
https://andwalsh.com/
Jessica Walsh instagram handle - JESSICAVWALSH
(@jessicavwalsh)
3. What is some general information about them? E.g. Where they
are based, age, or artistic experience…
Walsh is an American graphic designer born on October 30, 1986,
raised in nearby Connecticut and now based in Newyork city. She
began coding and designing websites at 11 years old and went on to
study graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design before
landing an internship at Pentagram. After two years of working
experience at ‘Sagmeister Inc.’, at the age of 25 Walsh became a
partner with Stefan Sagmeister and the firm was renamed as
“Sagmeister & Walsh'' in 2012. Walsh and Sagmeister
collaborated on “Six Things: Sagmeister & Walsh”, an exhibition
that opened at the Jewish Museum in March 2013, and ran for five
months for which they created a sound-activated sculpture and five
short films. In July 2019 Walsh left the partnership with
Sagmeister and formed her own studio called “& Walsh”.
4. How would you describe their practice?
Works of Walsh usually include Blending handcraft, photography
and painting with digital design. She primarily works on branding,
typography, website design and art installations. Her signature
style has been described as "bold, emotional and provocative".
5. Using keywords, what are some themes that they explore in
their work?
Bold, Emotional, Provocative, Daring, Sometimes handmade, has
occasional surrealistic flourish
6. What cultural references or influences does the artist /
designer draw from?
Doing fine arts classes and working with hands on sculpture,
paintings, woodworking became one of the biggest inspirations for
Walsh as it made her realise her potential to merge analogue work
with digital and make it look more interesting. Also, her mother
being an entrepreneur had a strong influence on Walsh’s
professional life and a big impact on her works. Her mother taught
her - “things don’t necessarily come easy in life. It's not just
about being smart or talented, the key is persistence and hard
work.”
7. How would you describe their approach to color?
Walsh’s approach to color is very bold and playful at the same
time. Her works are a combination of illustrations, graphics,
photography and typography using bold and ablaze colors. She
manages to create fresh works with deep meanings and appropriate
colors to suit the brand.
8. What mediums / materials are used to create the work?
Walsh mostly prefers to work with technology rather than using
hands, though her style to combine graphics and illustrations with
analogue work has made her very famous. She tries to use various
mediums in her works like spray paints and stencils, painted human
bodies, computer softwares for graphics and digital
illustrations.
9. What context are the artworks seen and how does it affect how
we interpret or value their work? E.g. Gallery, advertisements, or
in public spaces…
Works of Walsh are seen in advertisements to promote various
brands, exhibitions, posters for various campaigns, magazine and
book covers. Attractive colors grab the attention of viewers. Also
the audience interprets the image of Walsh’s character as a bold,
passionate and a successful artist.
10. Why have you chosen this particular artist / designer?
Jessica Walsh is an amazing graphic designer, a great human
being and an inspiration to all the women who wish to accomplish
their childhood dreams. She stands out in the crowd as her works
speak all about her achievements. I admire her works, her attitude
towards professional life and I appreciate her efforts to encourage
women to work together rather than to compete. I like her works as
they are attractive and out of the box and probably that’s one of
the reasons why I have chosen her.
11. Is the person you have researched an artist or designer and
how have you come to this conclusion?
Jessica Walsh is a designer as she researches and plans the
looks of her works by preparing drawings and rough sketches before
it is being finally made. Making illustrations and graphic designs
is not just her passion but a profession and a source of income.
She doesn’t make the artworks for self satisfaction or for her own
desire but to fulfil the requirements and to match the ideas of her
clients. To create artworks she uses various computer softwares and
hires people who have knowledge in this field, and all of them as a
team work together to accomplish the task.
12. What have you learned about their creative processes /
practice and how might you apply their ideas to your own work?
In terms of creativity, Walsh helps me learn how to balance the
artwork including bright colors, patterns and typography and not
missing out on the ideal message behind the work. Walsh as a
professionalist has made me realise the importance of research
before getting to the main conclusion, the importance of having a
specific style/twist in your craft and the importance of
appreciating the time and efforts being put in a particular work
even if the end result is not satisfactory.
Quotes (Verbatim E.g. word for word)
1. “Get comfortable with the uncomfortable” - by Jessica
Walsh
2. “Do the work that feeds your soul, not your ego.” - by
Jessica Walsh
3. “A lot of the hate I got in the design world was from other
women”, Jessica Walsh said in an interview
Images (Include title of work, date of creation, and medium)
1. TITLE OF WORK - Fall/Winter 2015 Campaign for Aizone, a
department store in the middle eastDATE OF CREATION - September
2015MEDIUM - Analogue and Digital Illustrations in a quirky,
cartoon-like style using Pop colors
2. TITLE OF WORK - Graphic Animation for Frooti, a mango juice
brand in India
DATE OF CREATION - March 2015
MEDIUM - Graphic designing
3. TITLE OF WORK - By The Sea Campaign for Aishti Foundation
DATE OF CREATION - December 2015
MEDIUM - Photography, Digital Illustrations
4. TITLE OF WORK - Psychedelic and constructivist worlds for
Aizone
DATE OF CREATION - 2012
MEDIUM - Photography, Body painting, 3D and 2D environments
created using pop art paintings, Animations
5. TITLE OF WORK - Flower by Kenzo campaign
DATE OF CREATION - 2018
MEDIUM - Digital Illustrations, Graphic designing,
Photograph
6. TITLE OF WORK - Vilcek Prize for Excellence
DATE OF CREATION - 2019
MEDIUM - Illustrations, Typography
Bibliography (Correctly referenced sources using APA.
https://guides.unitec.ac.nz/apareferencing )
1. Scott, R. (2014). Font of Youth: Jessica Walsh, Graphic
Design’s ‘It’ Girl. Retrieved from
https://observer.com/2014/04/jessica-walsh-graphic-designer-profile/#axzz324bfL7ST
2. Azzarello, N. (2016). Interview with Jessica Walsh, Partner
at Sagmeister & Walsh. Retrieved from
https://www.designboom.com/design/interview-jessica-walsh-sagmeister-walsh-graphic-design-01-07-2015/
3. Cowan, K. (2019). Jessica Walsh on gratitude, avoiding
comfort and why career advancement shouldn’t be a goal for
everyone. Retrieved from
https://www.creativeboom.com/features/jessica-walsh/
4. Cogley, B. (2019). “A lot of the hate I got in the design
world was from other women", says Jessica Walsh. Retrieved from
https://www.dezeen.com/2019/09/27/jessica-walsh-design-interview/
5. Gennaio. (2016). By The Sea Campaign | Sagmeister & Walsh
for The Aishti Foundation. Retrieved from
https://www.feeldesain.com/by-the-sea-campaign-sagmeister-walsh-for-the-aishti-foundation.html
