Let’s Go On An Adventure
Six months ago, I spent a few days at Birmingham Design Festival. While watching a talk by multi-disciplinary designer and magazine enthusiast Nicola Hamilton, the seed of an idea was planted in my head (yes, despite being headless by name, I do have one).
Nicola delivered an incredibly insightful talk which centred around the importance of personal projects. I was riveted; frantically scribbling down notes to capture as many of the wise words being shared as possible. When the talk ended, I raved about how inspired I felt and realised I desperately needed a personal project to reinvigorate my creativity.
Over the following weeks, the seed began to grow. I pondered over what I wanted to achieve with this new project. At the time, I was preparing to relaunch Headless Greg, the creative studio that houses all of the work I do as a freelance illustrator, designer, and journalist. While I was excited to take on new client work, I was also itching for a space where I could create freely without the restraints of a brief written by someone else. I wanted a project which encouraged me to delve deeper into queer culture and mental health, the two topics I am most passionate about, and experiment with new design styles.
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I wanted a project which encouraged me to delve deeper into queer culture and mental health, the two topics I am most passionate about, and experiment with new design styles.
Headless Greg
Before long, I had a proper idea that I could explain to other people: I am starting an online journal which will explore the intersections of creativity, queer culture and mental health. New issues will be released every few months and include a collection of articles linked by a theme. I am going to call it Headless Friends because I am Headless Greg and the whole thing is inspired by the conversations I have with my friends.
I had an explainable idea and even a name. All that was left to do was to turn this concept into a fully realised project. It was time to start writing.
Since I relocated from my hometown of Glasgow to the criminally underrated city of Birmingham in the Autumn of 2023, my life has felt like one big adventure full of new places, new experiences and new friends. Inspired by all of this newness, adventure felt like an obvious theme for the debut issue of Headless Friends.
Once I had a theme, the contents came together quite quickly…
Conversations With Headless Friends: Rosa Simonet
Rosa Simonet is a writer, artist and activist who recently set off on an adventure to South America. Before she left, we sat down to discuss looking after your mental health while travelling and the importance of queer friendship.
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You Take The Same Brain With You Wherever You Go
Whatever adventure you embark on or the city you move to, the ‘bad wolf’ will still be able to find you. You take the same brain with you wherever you go. This personal essay explores why that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
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Why Birmingham?
I have explained my reasons for moving to the big, fun, creative, friendly, wonderful city that is Birmingham so many times that I thought I might as well write them down.
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My First Day At Art School
I’ve unearthed a fittingly adventurous article from the Headless archives. Let’s go back to the beginning of the best chapters of my life of my life so far as we revisit my first day at art school.
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Queer Film Club: Conclave
In the spirit of adventure, I wanted to try write about something I hadn’t covered before: film. Conclave is a religious romp which turned out to be much queerer than I expected a film about picking a pope to be.
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The Headless Gift Guide 2024
Finally, an article that has nothing to do with the theme of adventure but is super festive. Christmas is the wonderful time of year to support independent businesses so here is a gift guide to help you shop small.
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If we always let fear stop us, we might not find out what is on the other side.
Nicola Hamilton
The idea has grown. The name has been chosen. The articles have been written. The visuals have been created. Phase one of my brand new project, the first issue of Headless Friends, is complete.
Now it’s time for the scary bit - sharing it online.
I’ve had lots of fun dreaming up this new journal and am pleased with how the first edition has turned out but the idea of other people seeing it makes me seize up a little. Headless Friends is the most personal of all of the personal projects I have embarked on. It includes stories from my real life, glimpses inside my mind, conversations with my dear friends and celebrations of queerness. These are vulnerable things and sharing them feels scary.
However, as Nicola Hamiton said in the talk which put this project in motion: if we always let fear stop us, we might not find out what is on the other side.
With this in mind, I’m pushing past the fear and releasing Headless Friends into the world. Let’s go on an adventure and see what’s on the other side.