Issue 77’s cover was created as a tribute to the NFT pioneer and legend Alotta Money who has sadly left us all. Alotta was among the few who saw the potential in NFTs and Web 3.0 and paved the way for many who came after.

We had decided after the arrival of the heartbreaking news that this week's cover will be dedicated to Alotta. The acid-collage style was clearly the way to go. The other news in the industry was of Treasure DAO’s unexpected short notice to its users to delist all their NFTs as they were exploited. We set out to find a painting that would serve the purpose as the base for the artwork. Several hours later deep into the different art eras we landed on the gold mine that Jean-Leon Gerome’s works are. The master of Oriental art and the painter to whom the Ottomans owe a lot for recording their history in the most beautiful way possible.

The artwork we chose was ‘The Carpet Merchant’, from 1887 by Jean-Leon Gerome. After fixing the painting we set out to find elements we can add onto this to depict our articles from this week’s gazette. The first to arrive was Van Gogh to preach on how important mental health is in life (who better?). Next, we had eccentric Randi Zuckerberg take the stage with a bear, presumably scouting locations for her next video on NGMI. If you look close you will find a hanging Putin in the far-off distance, swaying to the winds of change. 

We made it a point to include classic Alotta elements like the eye, tentacles, a cow, and a UFO trying to abduct Randi. The protest is led by none other than a deeply disappointed Jose on how NFTs have recently been subject to a lot of questionable events. Also, can you spot how we have encrypted the issue number? Brownie points if you did!

Overall, making this week’s cover was an experience like always. A new theme, a new style, and as every week a reason to make it the best. We will be back next week with another beautiful cover frens!