On Friday, April 17, UNI student fashion magazine “Uprising” will release their ninth issue in celebration of their five-year anniversary as an organization. Due to the COVID-19 crisis and subsequent campus closure, this issue’s release will be solely digital until physical copies are printed next semester.

“The theme of this semester’s magazine is minimalism. We wanted to focus on how to find peace and happiness through simplicity in a world that seems to be packed with overstimulation,” Sarah Ritondale, senior Digital Journalism major and “Uprising” co-editor-in-chief said.

Lillian Teater, senior textiles and apparel major and “Uprising” co-editor-in-chief and co-editorial director, added, “I think [the minimalism theme] is very fitting for the overwhelming pandemic the world is facing right now. Not only did we want to explore the surface level definition of minimalism with white spaces and clean lines, [but also] we wanted to dive a little deeper defining minimalism as returning to the essence of who you are and your most impactful experiences.”

While “Uprising” has always been digitally accessible through UNI ScholarWorks and the organization’s website, for their past eight issues, the magazine has distributed free copies on campus. While the campus remains closed, “Uprising” plans to circulate the fifth-anniversary issue solely digitally. Issue 9 will be available in print format in August of this year and Issue 10 will be distributed as usual in November.

In digital instructions, Teater explained the options readers have to access “Uprising” Issue 9 online: 

“1. Follow ‘Uprising Magazine’ on Instagram at @uprisingmagazineuni or Facebook at @uprisingmagazine. There will be opportunities to comment your email address on our posts this week to get signed up for our email release. The link to Issue 9 will be directly emailed to you if you comment your email. 

2. Check out our website (http://www.jointheuprisingmagazine.com). This website showcases all our previous issues, so Issue 9 will also be available here. 
3. On Friday, the link to the magazine will be directly posted on FB and in our Instagram bio. Check these places to also view the issue if you do not sign up for the email release.”

Ritondale and Teater, both graduating seniors, have different favorite features in their final issue on the “Uprising” editorial team.

“I am really excited about our cover shoot ‘Retrograde’ because I was sifting through ‘Vogue’ magazine this past winter break and thought doing a vintage photoshoot would look really great in this issue,” Ritondale said. “We were able to capture that in an original yet stunning way. I am also really excited about the article ‘The Rise of Uprising,’ as we had the opportunity to interview former editors and really capture what made ‘Uprising Magazine’ what it is today, celebrating our five-year anniversary.”

“I am super excited about our photoshoot entitled ‘Proximity,’” Teater said. “This photoshoot plays with both the standard and deeper definition of minimalism by laying different photos atop others and adjusting the transparency. From a concept perspective, this shoot was so fun to plan and I am so happy with the final product. In regards to articles, I absolutely love our ‘Speak Up’ article this semester. Each semester, we highlight a different topic that we feel needs to be shared; we have discussed things such as the #MeToo Movement, Humanize My Hoodie, College Cancer Survivors and more. This semester, we did an article about inclusivity and accessibility when it comes to designing spaces. I would really encourage everyone to read it because it gives such a great perspective on how we need to frame our thoughts to include everyone when creating a public space.”

Ritondale, Teater and the “Uprising” editorial team have been working hard to promote Friday’s release while the student body is spread further apart than usual. 

“Social media will be our best friend for this [release] and we are hoping to get a mass email sent out to several different departments to really reach as many readers as possible,” Ritondale said. “I don’t think this [digital issue] was more difficult or simple, just different. As an organization we are passionate about sustainability, so releasing digitally is something that we had been looking into, this just sort of pushed us there.”

Teater, who is graduating with a certificate in sustainability, said, “This digital release will give ‘Uprising Magazine’ a chance to explore the best ways to reach an audience using only online methods. Though we will still be printing magazines in the fall, this could be a great learning experience for how we can have a greater digital impact with the goal to one day reduce the amount printed as we strive to implement more sustainable practices within our own organization.”