ASK STUPID QUESTIONS

Details

Thirty 1 x 1 in individual button designs (60 produced)

Overview

The Ask Stupid Questions campaign is designed to reduce the stigma and fear of looking stupid when asking for more information. Rather than insisting that "there are no stupid questions," the project embraces the idea that asking obvious, uninformed, or poorly phrased questions are an essential part of learning and fighting ignorance. The campaign reframes "stupid questions" as evidence of curiosity rather than incompetence, and encourages people to recieve that curiosity with patience and humility.

Ideation

The campaign began as a response to the phrase that “There are no stupid questions.” While intended to be reassuring, I felt that denying the existence of “stupid” questions still implies something inherently bad about a question being stupid. Instead, I wanted to embrace that discomfort of not knowing something that other people do.

This led me to researching the concept of psychological safety: creating an environment where people feel comfortable admitting uncertainty without fear of embarrassment or ridicule. From there, the campaign developed in two directions: encouraging people to ask without fear of judgment, while also asking others to actively create spaces where curiosity is met without judgement.

When thinking about what form this campaign should take and what outcomes I should design for it, I wanted to create something that complimented the topic itself. I was very inspired by the history of pin culture as a way to communicate identity and group affiliation. The campaign could also translate into a digital format through collaborations with platforms like Reddit, including a rebrand of r/stupidquestions to directly link the audience to online resources and forums.