(8/1/2026)

Volume 6 brought a lot of changes. Time to be honest, this one was just plain fun to make. Like all our discussions, long walks and conversations about art and life led us here. More like it hit us.

We decided to go back to basics and shake things up. We introduced a cover contest, created a flip book style magazine with two sets of curations, arranged it in a salon style format, and gave it away for free, about 300 copies. Overall, the magazine and its team felt free flowing, slipping into the void and coming out the other side. With that being said, let’s dissect this one a bit more.

The cover contest. First off, we want to shout out everyone who submitted. We especially want to highlight Gabriela Cortez and Erica May, the two winners of the magazine’s first cover contest. We spent a lot of time talking through each submission, but these two pieces stood out. We walked around this quad for at least an hour, going back and forth on who should win, how themes and curations might grow from these pieces, and even placing logos and text on top of different entries.

Ultimately, we could not decide which one to pick, so we chose both. That decision ended up shaping everything else that followed.

With two covers, we had a clear direction. We wanted to make this a flip book. Technically, after doing some research, it would be called a tête bêche, or head to tail magazine, but flip book felt right at the time. Both sides of this magazine are Part 6. Internally, they exist as one volume, but with two different experiences shaped through curation. For simplicity, we refer to them as the white side and the black side.

One concern early on was whether this would feel intuitive for the reader. We came to realize that not knowing how to read the object actually adds to the experience. It became important that people physically held this volume. The act of flipping it, turning it, and reorienting it became part of how the work is experienced.

This idea carried into the layout itself. The curation leans more toward a salon style, a maximalist way of presenting a large amount of work. With that came new ways of orienting pages. When a page is turned sideways, it is intentional. It creates a shift, changes the grip, and interrupts the flow just enough to make the viewer aware of how they are engaging with the magazine.

We also debated whether or not to include Instagram handles. Since artists can change how they present themselves online, we talked about using QR codes instead, allowing that information to stay fluid and up to date. In the end, we decided to keep the focus on the physical experience. We wanted the reader’s eyes and hands on the magazine as much as possible.

We are honestly very grateful that we were able to make this one free. That was important to us. We wanted to remove as many barriers as possible and make the magazine easy to access. The way we saw it, access to the magazine is access to a portable gallery. It felt incredible to give these away and leave them wherever we went.

We only have a few left, so keep an eye out for when we restock.