CASE STUDY
Dinner Party Questions
the ask
When we met the trio behind Dinner Party Questions (DPQ), we met a group of young friends who love hosting, chit chatting, and getting to the heart of things. They believe there's nothing better than watching a table full of people slowly drop their guard. They found that the best nights didn't need much structure - just good food, good company, and one prompt that gets everyone talking.
Founder Madison and her college friends had spent years hosting dinner parties together, and along the way they started asking each other questions to keep the table alive. These prompts pushed past small talk and into the kind of conversation that makes a night memorable. Over time, that habit turned into a running list of favorites: questions for old friends and questions for total strangers, ones that spark connection no matter who's sitting at the table. What started as a list in the Notes app was ready to take physical form, so DPQ was born. A simple and playful deck of cards perfect for passing around at any table.
The founders came to us with a clear point of view. They wanted to lean into a Southern Belle-meets-retro-dinery world. Ribbons and bows alongside dark maroons and matchbook details, and they'd already gathered a set of Pinterest boards that captured exactly the feeling they were after. Our job was to take that mood and turn it into a full visual system that felt as fun and approachable as the game itself, while still carrying some elegance at the edges.
The idea of a mascot was theirs from the start, and it was an easy yes. The brand needed a character who could carry all that whimsy without losing its poise. Our designer brought that character to life, and through the process of naming and refining him, he became the Silly Goose. The founders had a few specific notes on how he should look and feel, and once we landed on the right version of him, we didn't stop at one. Since the deck itself is split into appetizer, dinner, and dessert sections, with the questions growing more personal as the "meal" goes on, we created a different Silly Goose for each course. It gave the deck a sense of progression, a little character to look forward to as the conversation deepens.
Since the founders arrived with their questions already written and organized, this was a leaner project than a typical brand build. There was no long strategy phase, just a focused sprint to design the system around content that was already strong. We designed the cards, the Silly Goose family, and the card container, and then helped shape the menu that ships inside the box. That menu explains how to play, walks through what's inside, and carries a short note from the founders sharing the story behind the questions. We wanted to have the same warmth that started it all around their own dinner tables. What we first imagined as a folded paper insert eventually found a simpler, better home as its own card in the deck.
Our Approach
the results
Once the project was printed and in hand, the founders came to our studio for a shoot that doubled as exactly what the product is meant to inspire - we hosted a handful of dinner parties over the course of one day, each staged a different way, to show DPQ doing what it does best.
At its core, DPQ is built to travel with you. It can be found tucked in a bag for a night out, pulled out at a friend's house, or set on the table to open a party. It's a conversation starter and a keepsake in one: something worth gifting, something worth keeping on a shelf, and something that quietly does the work of helping people know each other a little better.
