Thoughts About Making It Happen.
And a small (big) PSA.
Echoing the sentiment of my friends over at Common Discourse, for the past two weeks, I have been feeling like I was never going to write my newsletter again. A funny feeling to have given that both my index fingers have become numb from all the key tapping I have been doing.
As I mentioned last month, what was supposed to be my most prolific literary season (I was really working hard to continue with my book) has quickly been subsidized by an intense business uptick.
With the launch of two (TWO!) projects of my own and a plethora of commissions, the 16 hours/day (not counting sleeping time. Yes, I sleep 8h a night) I have at my disposal have been entirely vacuumed up—early mornings and weekends included.
On the days I am free from external work, I feel too exhausted to open my notebook and scribble my personal material.
Juggling my calendar has been a real chore too: not only do clients demand impossible delivery times, they want to schedule check-ins along the progress too.
Last but not least, I have been on the road filming a docu-series which is scheduled to come out in September, and while the process has been fun and educational, it has definitely contributed to heightening an overwhelming sensation of not having agency over my own body. Some mornings it’s so intense, I wake up with vertigo.
But as I sit at the most uncomfortable tiny desk, made of plastic-coated plywood, inside the cheap hotel room I had the luck to score on this round of filming, I can’t help but feel elated about the steps I am taking to do things my way.
For 12 long years—my first internship was in mid-2011—I have dreamed of building something of my own.
Initially, I didn’t really know what it was or what it was going to look like. I knew it was going to be an interdisciplinary platform spanning themes and subjects as I was always interested in community, culture, food, and sports. But I definitely had no knowledge or perception of what shape it could take.
Would it be a physical space? A creative agency? A magazine? Why the boundaries? I didn’t want to feel boxed in by my projects—my disheveled career is the testimony.
Through the years, I prepared plenty of documents outlining what NAOMI’s project would entail. First, I had come up with a multi-level concept space revolving around conviviality, food, and community—essentially the esprit of Italy—with “Nao’s” (self-referential much?)as the working title. Quite straightforward. Then, I planned a football-focused creative agency, way before whatever was going on in that space nowadays was even imaginable.
After I quit my last corporate job and left Dubai, I put down the concept for something called INTERNAOTIONAL. I had a logo and all, but I never went through with it. Instead, I began contracting as a freelance consultant within the realm of marketing and editorial.
In 2023, though, I am pleased to announce that—after acknowledging that the right people to accompany me on this quest were there already—I partnered up with Volele Talleyrand and Federico Paviani to launch NONSENSE PROJECTS.
Born from the need to create a hybrid space to manifest our creative ideas while also documenting the lives of people who inspire us to keep experimenting, NONSENSE PROJECTS is a place to discover, connect and eventually shop.
Existing in the form of an editorial platform (launching later this year) and a service studio, the idea draws upon collectives and networks rather than agency work itself.
While the founding team is composed of three people, we want to continuously expand our reach and capabilities by tapping into different talents based on the project.
Our service offer spans design, editorial, and technology intending to help small businesses and people express themselves in the best possible way—while, at the same time, empowering us to continue experimenting and developing our own metaphysical products.
Too many agencies focus on the big buck. Of course, we too want to be a profitable business, however, we want to focus on those people who are not necessarily under the spotlight but still make ish happen.
NONSENSE PROJECTS is three things:
— A curated editorial platform amplifying the stories of outstanding individuals who have yet to break through in the mainstream sense of the word. Our subjects are small businesses, artists, artisans, farmers & makers that contribute to the world in various ways—from neighborhood flower shops to creatives who quit the city, NONSENSE is a destination for anybody who wants to find magic in the mundane.
— A creative studio providing the tools for brand building (brand identity, tone of voice, and web development). We can build a beautiful digital home for your work/brand.
— An idea incubator that allows us to flex our creative muscles, challenge what’s already available and make (fun) mistakes along the way. Expect a lot of interesting things to come out of this!
Obviously, I come in as the lead editorial wizard and co-founder of the venture but I’d like to break free from the boundaries of having a title. That was always a goal of mine even when I had a fancy corporate job.
NONSENSE doesn’t aim to be a corporation. Instead, we want to act like a cooperative in the sense that we want to associate with like-minded people to make innovative ideas happen.
Instead of trying to take the competition out by outbidding them or accepting lower wages, we want to collaborate and uplift our peers by building a network that can support each other.
One thing I was always great at was connecting talent and hosting space for constructive conversations. As a result, with this endeavor, I want to keep the same approach and address service work through a community-building lens.
After all, wouldn’t it be better if creative people stuck together instead of competing for the same low-paying, high-stress commissions?
While I know the road to creative freedom is an uphill one, I’d like to think that what I am doing is bringing me one step closer to where I’d like to be: on my terrace in Palermo, planning my next residency program.
Sharing is caring:
1. Lieu Migrante’s new website is finally up—developed (not designed) by NONSENSE PROJECTS.
A reminder to buy Santi De Hita’s book, Saluti Da Palermo.
352 FOOTBALL FESTIVAL, a 2-day festival dedicated to football in Luxembourg. I will be talking at two of their panels this upcoming weekend.
If you find yourself in Locarno, Switzerland, visit POST ACTION—an art project by Federico Paviani and Joshua Althaus (I wrote the exhibition text).
If you are on the market for art festivals this summer and find yourself in Sicily, check out MOSAICO.
Whooop congrats! <33333
This is so exciting, Naomi! Congratulations 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻