Photos by Queering Beauty

Project H3RM3S is a queer arts and nightlife platform created in 2025 by @i0shua 🪽

Through live events, written dispatches, and digital art exhibitions, it connects & amplifies emerging queer voices, creating new spaces for expression, connection, and culture-making in our community.

Launching initially in San Francisco, CA.

Always a little subversive, the hermes.party website concept is a parody on Grindr culture. I casually include a mention of this project in my personal profile to spread the word at no cost.

About the Project

Project H3RM3S is member supported & creator led.

🦉 The Platform

• 📖 Hermes’ Diaries (Substack) — Stories and poems from discrete queer voices— documenting the beauty, chaos, and mythology of the underground.
• 🪩 Hermes’ Party (Partiful) — Events delivered by the Messenger—queer gatherings, galleries, and curated nights produced, hosted, or promoted by Hermes.
• 🔊 Hermes’ Radio (Website) — A simple feature curating music, mixes, and playlists shared by the community. Posts are often connected to Diaries or DJs at forthcoming parties.
• 💪🏻 Hermes’ Torso (Are.na) — An experimental, open-source channel for visitors to ‘upload a torso’ and introduce themselves.
• 💬 Hermes’ Chat (Telegram) — A member & contributor-only private Telegram group for exclusive event promotions and announcements.

💰 How the platform works:

1. Hermes gets a share of ticket revenue for events hosted/promoted.
2. Hermes offers subscriptions to the publication & pays artists honorariums.
3. Hermes earns from sales of digital works (anthologies, limited releases, etc.)

Brand Strategy

The Messenger brand archetype is a conceptual extension of the classic 12 brand archetypes from Carl Jung. It turns community into the medium—inviting people to participate, remix, and carry the story forward. Instead of speaking at the world, the Messenger amplifies the voices of others, transforming them into the brand’s collective message.

The stylized ‘H3RMES’ name was chosen to evade the Hermès international brand trademark. Shh, don’t tell! 🤭

Legion of Honor, Halloween 2025

Origin Story

Landing at Grand Central

Project H3RM3S began in 2025 with a Halloween costume concept and a quest to meet new people in a new city. As a conversation starter—I have a message for you!—I printed 200 “Boon of Hermes” business cards to connect with the San Franciscans I encountered.

Though, the Diaries started to take shape years before. Inspired by the writings of my mother’s popular internet fetish blog, I felt called to describe my queer experience since the day I grew my wings. Now It’s my mission to help others do the same.

All in good fun, -diariesofhermes [at] gmail.com