diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 00f13c9..c17e800 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,34 @@ Versions marked *(unpublished)* exist in git history but were never released to
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [1.6.0] - 2026-06-07
+
+First release carrying the **"Cortex" design system** and **"Bloom" logo** to published
+artifacts — the redesign was merged after v1.5.3 but never shipped. Both the npm Web UI
+and the macOS desktop app now render the new brand.
+
+### Added
+
+- **"Cortex" design system + "Bloom" logo across the web dashboard and desktop app.**
+  New single dark theme (deep blue-black surfaces, indigo `#6d7bff` → cyan `#34e0e0`
+  gradient accents), Space Grotesk display + IBM Plex Sans/Mono type, a sidebar+topbar
+  dashboard shell (replacing the old top-tabs), and centralized category colors. The
+  Bloom mark, icon set, favicons, tray icons, and `.icns` are generated from the two
+  canonical SVGs in `assets/brand/` via `scripts/generate-brand.js`. Fonts are
+  self-hosted (24 woff2) to preserve the zero-network/offline guarantee — no CDN links.
+  See [`DESIGN_SYSTEM.md`](DESIGN_SYSTEM.md). [#29](https://github.com/HBarefoot/engram/pull/29)
+
+### Changed
+
+- **Desktop bundle now also emits a `.dmg` installer** (`bundle.targets` =
+  `["app", "dmg"]`), alongside the raw `.app`. The app remains unsigned by design — clear
+  Gatekeeper after install with `xattr -cr /Applications/Engram.app`.
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **CLA Assistant writes signatures to this repo** instead of a remote, dropping the PAT
+  requirement for the contribution flow. [#30](https://github.com/HBarefoot/engram/pull/30)
+
 ## [1.5.3] - 2026-06-03
 
 This release bundles three independent improvements (PRs #23, #24, #25). Each was reviewed separately; bundling the version bump keeps the npm release history tidier.
diff --git a/desktop/package.json b/desktop/package.json
index fd1700c..ef19e66 100644
--- a/desktop/package.json
+++ b/desktop/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "engram-desktop",
   "private": true,
-  "version": "1.5.3",
+  "version": "1.6.0",
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
     "dev": "vite",
diff --git a/desktop/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json b/desktop/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
index 0b31d26..1d06b7c 100644
--- a/desktop/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
+++ b/desktop/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tauri-apps/tauri/dev/crates/tauri-config-schema/schema.json",
   "productName": "Engram",
-  "version": "1.5.3",
+  "version": "1.6.0",
   "identifier": "com.engram.app",
   "build": {
     "beforeBuildCommand": "npm run build",
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
   },
   "bundle": {
     "active": true,
-    "targets": ["app"],
+    "targets": ["app", "dmg"],
     "icon": ["icons/icon.icns", "icons/icon.png", "icons/icon-512.png", "icons/icon-256.png", "icons/icon-128.png", "icons/icon-32.png"],
     "macOS": {
       "minimumSystemVersion": "10.15"
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 9cf3ec2..3c7598c 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@hbarefoot/engram",
-  "version": "1.5.3",
+  "version": "1.6.0",
   "description": "Persistent memory for AI agents. SQLite for agent state.",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "src/index.js",