Why This New York Design Agency Makes Its Employees Pose Naked For Official Staff Photos

Jessica Walsh of Sagmeister & Walsh

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.

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.

It must have worked, because today Sagmeister's clients have included Levi's, HBO and Standard Chartered.

S&W has a small staff. Here they are — interns included — in their space suits ...

"In that aspect it was quite a functional piece of design," Walsh says.

Formal ...

You get the picture.