We recently highlighted Sagmeister & Walsh, a design boutique in New York, in a gallery of crazy, beautiful ad agency staff photos.
Their image was arguably the most unforgettable of the set, because the entire staff — from the CEO down to the interns — posed naked.
Not just a little bit naked, either.
The full monty.
It turns out there's a reason the agency does this, and partner Jessica Walsh explained it in a video series called The Creative Influence.
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in.Here's the two-decade history of S&W's staff photos, which — obviously — are graphic.
They're not gratuitously sexual, but they're not safe for conservative workplaces either.
Nineteen years ago, founder Stefan Sagmeister decided to give up his job designing at big agencies like Leo Burnett and TBWA, and start his own firm, Sagmeister Inc.
To publicize his new shop, he sent out a picture of himself naked except for socks and a black redaction bar.
It must have worked, because today Sagmeister's clients have included Levi's, HBO and Standard Chartered.
In June 2012, Sagmeister took on Jessica Walsh, 25, as a partner.
"We decided to make a re-make of that original mailer," Walsh says. "Within an hour of sending out that email blast we were getting thousands of blogs and retweets." (We blurred parts of the image after some readers complained.)
"In that aspect it was quite a functional piece of design," Walsh says.
S&W has a small staff. Here they are — interns included — in their space suits ...
And here they are in their birthday suits ...
Formal ...
Not so formal ...
You get the picture.
Now see ...
24 Crazy, Beautiful Ad Agency Staff Photos >
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