Sagmeister says "In the two and a half years she has been here Jessica has really shown she can do the entire thing - from ideas to execution to being responsible for the studio. [Making her a partner] just seemed the right thing to do. She's only 24 but she is an exceptional person."
"The hope is that both if us will be involved in everything with perhaps me more involved in the self-generated projects and Jessica more in client-based work," Sagmeister says, although he insists that he has no plans to move away from client-based work entirely: "I have no desire to wander off and become an artist. I am very happy to be in the world of design," he says. Sagmeister will oversee larger corporate projects in a creative director role with Walsh managing the studio.
The work of Sagmeister Inc has always had such a strong personal tone of voice, how will Walsh's status as equal partner influence the work itself? "That is yet to be seen," Sagmeister says. "Sometimes in the past two years the credit for work went to me because my name is on the studio but on things like EDP or Levi's Jessica's contribution was gigantic."
For her part, Walsh says "I don't think the work will change too much. Stefan has always been very open to ideas from anyone in the studio. It has never been all about him and his ego as it is in some design studios, all he is interested in is in what's best for the client."
The organisational change came about, Walsh says, as a result of a series of conversations between herself and Sagmeister about both his and her future plans. As Sagmeister says "I'm very aware that somebody who is young and ambitious normally can only stay at the studio for a couple of years because the studio is small and there is no way for them to move up." Making Walsh partner was a way of allowing her to take on a more senior role.
So what will happen next time Sagmeister takes one of his famous sabbaticals? "We haven't really discussed that," Walsh says, laughing. "He was away for about three months last time and I ran the studio so I guess we will do something similar. Wherever he is, we always manage to keep in contact.