This week marks the release of Uprising Magazine’s 18th issue, the “interlude” themed issue, helmed by UNI seniors Jakob Watson and Quincy Griffin. Watson and Griffin serve as co-editors-in-chief for Uprising, and have witnessed their concept take on a new life through the eyes of their writers, designers and photographers.
According to Watson and Griffin, the idea of the theme “interlude” came to them while in the middle of a lunch at Panera. “It came to us both very naturally,” said Watson. “We’re trying to think of how we’re in a weird phase in our life, things are coming to an end.” Watson will graduate at the end of the fall semester and Griffin will graduate at the end of May. In Panera, the two discussed how the time in their lives were changing as they knew it. “We were on the topic of music, and interludes within music and how they’re transitional pieces,” said Griffin. “It was kind of a lightbulb moment.”
After Watson and Griffin landed on the “interlude” theme, they slowly began to see their writers, designers and photographers shape their own perspectives and ideas surrounding the word “interlude.” After creating their mood boards and sharing their ideas, the Uprising team put their ideas into motion. “Our job, obviously, is to kind of give that space for our team to create, we sit back and let them do their magic and let their committees excel in what they do. It’s been so fun watching everyone express what they think interlude is,” said Griffin.
The latest issue tells a story of time, with a unique perspective from each writer, designer and photographer that worked on the issue. A photoshoot that stuck out to Watson was the “Layers of Me” photoshoot, where models brought in articles of clothing that were in their own style, encapsulating who they are. “You could feel the excitement from each model, and each member that was working the shoot,” said Griffin. “Our editorial directors completely grasped what we meant when we were talking about how interludes are so personal.” For both Watson and Griffin, the “Layers of Me” spread exemplified to them the essence of the “interlude” theme. “It’s such a small moment, where you’re picking out your clothes in the morning, but for some people, that takes a lot of self understanding and that doesn’t happen right away,” said Griffin.
One of the final spreads in the latest issue of the magazine is “the Gift of Time,” where different models and editorial directors are dressed in age makeup. Watson and Griffin discussed how they wanted to play on the dichotomy between the childlike wonder towards the beginning of the issue, and delve into the passage of time towards the end. “We kind of all expressed that childhood that we were holding onto,” said Griffin. “But when we were sitting down thinking of all these moments that were important to Jakob and I, they were all very future focused.”
From a table at Panera to a physical collection of their team’s hard work, the “interlude” issue is in full color for students to digest and enjoy. For both Watson and Griffin, maintaining that Uprising magazine can be something students can hold and have a physical copy of remains of importance to them. “I think it’s super important to maintain a tangible kind of version of literature and pop culture … it’s important we make something physical for campus,” said Griffin.
According to Watson and Griffin, Uprising magazine is continually looking for writers, designers, models and photographers. “Uprising is broad in our ideas and who we are and what we showcase,” said Watson. “In the current state of the world we’ve needed nothing more than what we’re doing right now.” 
Uprising Magazine’s 18th issue can be found for free on Northern Iowan newsstands and is available online at linktr.ee/Uprisingmagazine. You can also scan the QR code to see Issue 18.
