Kickstarter

Company Overview

BRINK is a fresh approach to pop culture, trend, style and fashion. BRINK focuses on an emerging photographer or entrepreneur and gives them the platform to show their work utilizing the BRINK publication. We surround the spread with pop culture editorials on TV, film, new media, music, literature, beauty, style and fashion. BRINK also includes contributor opinions on national and global events with global correspondent coverage from London, Scotland, New York, Los Angeles and Boston. BRINK strives to introduce an audience to original, moving, and ground breaking material from a fresh perspective.

Mission

The intent of BRINK is to introduce an audience to emerging entrepreneurs and talent through groundbreaking features and material ranging from pop culture and fashion to human interest and opinion.

An interview with BRINK Magazine founder and Editor in Chief, Kyle M Menard.

Why would you want to start a print magazine Kyle?

I’ve found that there is a demand for print publications. When the right content reaches the right audience – a connection is made. The reader wants that tangible object to hold in their hands and flip through at their leisure. More importantly, they want to pass that magazine onto a friend or show them a feature that they find intriguing. Many people have uttered the words, “print is dead,” but when you have something that people want, it’s alive and kicking. The bonus is that we are also online. We believe in the perfect marriage between the print publication and online users. In this day and age, it would be foolish to not have one without the other.

“Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity”.

So BRINK has already launched?

Yes, I launched BRINK very quietly in November of 2009. For the last two months of 2009, the magazine was online. In 2010, I decided to print BRINK out using local printers and published it monthly. In 2011, I decided to take a little step back, publish the magazine every other month and clean up the layout and content. I also decided to keep BRINK’s roots in local Orlando flair, but step outside the box and give it a national (sometimes international) feeling. There is a phenomenal amount of talent in our nation and I couldn’t have BRINK only dip into the Central Florida pool. We have featured hundreds of artists, photographers, entrepreneurs, designers and anyone that’s making something happen for them. That’s the whole point of BRINK, to fill that void for the everyday dreamer who says, “I could never do that” to “I see how they did that and I can do that too.”

Why do you need funding?

To move BRINK forward, we need backers. For two years I’ve been trying to get the right amount of advertising and keep the magazine moving along. It’s at the point where we need some continuity and consistency in printing and where the magazine is distributed. Nationally, we are getting some attention, but we’re plateauing and stuck in the same spot because we haven’t been able to print the magazine and get in people’s hands – especially potential advertisers. We’ve earned some advertising here and there, but we want to take it to the next level. There’s a core group of five-seven BRINK staff members and I want to be able to reimburse them for their time which has yet to happen. 

What will you do with the $21,400?  

The money raised through kickstarter will not fund the magazine once, but rather, fund the magazine all year and finally give us the continuity and push we need to really get noticed. I’ve been doing this for two years now and understand what it takes to get six issues a year published. Each issue would receive the minimum order of publishing and I would also be able to pay my contributors and staffers a nominal rate for their service.

What happens if and when you reach your goal? Should people keep funding BRINK?

Yes! Any money received after our goal will allow us to publish more than the minimum amount of issues for each year and allow me to distribute a fair rate to my contributors and staffers. It will also give us the freedom to improve upon our website and add to the infrastructure of the magazines core.