To be silly is to be joyful. To square something is to multiply it. WashU student group Silly Squared combines the two, transforming student artwork into lighthearted stickers that are distributed across campus.
Silly Squared founder Omeed Moshirfar launched Silly Squared in 2023 to highlight the diversity and talent of WashU artists. He calls stickers a new way to appreciate art.
“I think stickers are a really cool medium because they last a long time, they’re easily accessible, and they go on personal items. You see them every day,” said Moshirfar, who is studying communication design at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts; supply chain, operations and technology at Olin Business School; and computer science at the McKelvey School of Engineering.
Silly Squared hosts a biannual design competition from which the curatorial team —themselves previous Silly Squared artists — selects 10 designs to be turned into stickers. Every Thursday, Silly Squared prints thousands of stickers of a winning design and hands them out to students for free. The stickers are also sold at Bear Necessities and online.
Ben Eskenazi, a senior who is also studying communication design at the Sam Fox School, as well as art history in Arts & Sciences, was the first Silly Squared artist. His design is an abstract piece in the style of many doodles he has created.
“I see people around campus that have my sticker, my other friends’ stickers, on their laptops or water bottles,” Eskenazi said. “I think in terms of displaying (our work), there’s no means that has been as public as this. A lot of times, if you want to display your art, you have to go to a specific venue or location, get permission, this and that.”
As a Silly Squared artist, Eskenazi is one of the students who helps select designs for the next collection. Judging is based on criteria such as creativity, story and suitability.
“It’s nice because it’s not just, ‘Do I like the sticker?’ It gets me thinking more about their designs,” he said. “I think a good sticker is something that’s bold and easily recognizable not just from a distance, but also at the scale a sticker is made.”
In addition to distributing stickers, Silly Squared produces a podcast, where Moshirfar interviews student artists about their interest in art, their creative processes and the story behind their stickers.
“Every single artist has a completely different approach to their work, has a completely different perspective and philosophy on what it means to be an artist, how they create things,” Moshirfar said. “It’s just so cool to learn about the things that inspired them.”
Silly Squared also has offered Moshirfar the opportunity to translate his education into hands-on practice.
“As a communication design student, I’m learning how to communicate things well, visually, simply. With the supply chain management major, I’m learning how to get things done efficiently. And with computer science, it’s, ‘How do I put those things into the digital world?’” Moshirfar said. “I see WashU, or any college community, as a sandbox or a playground to learn about how people interact with your ideas and your products. It’s a precursor to when you enter the real world and want to start something that makes an impact.”
To learn more, visit the Silly Squared website or Instagram account.
