When making a magazine, visually driven features—those in which images drive the storytelling—are prime real estate. Add a “conceptual cover” to that, and you’ve got yourself a happy art department.

In April, a friend texted me to ask if I was planning to go to Cultured magazine’s “CULT100” party and, if not, whether I wanted to. “No” and “no,” I replied, mostly because I had no idea what ...