BRAIN BUG is a new kid’s magazine by three enterprising Kutztown University students. “It’s called Brain Bug because we wanted to incorporate something to do with the brain (to emphasize knowledge, understanding and giving kids REAL information) but we also want to be about things that are gross-out fun, and science related, like bugs.”
Editor-in-chief Olivia Knowles is a Fine Arts /Painting major. Brain Bug is inspired by her fond memories of the wacky energy of Nickelodeon magazine. “I’m also inspired by the attitude of my kids at the daycare I work at, -how much they love stickers, books, coloring pages, physical activity, and how curious they are about the “grown up” lives of all the staff members.”
Cody Myers is a Business major, but he can draw comics like a pro, as can be seen in the Culture Vultures panel above. Jesse Warner is a Communication Studies major. Jesse says issue one took 4 months, but it is a bimonthy magazine, so they are going to speed up production. “Brain Bug to me is more than just writing about topics, it’s a little piece of things that I liked when I was a kid and still do.”
Want to start a your own magazine? Here is a tip from Brain Bug: “Tell everyone. By telling literally everyone we’ve ever met about this project, we’ve received SO much support. It can’t hurt!” The 30-page full-color magazine looks sharp. They used a digital printing service called MagCloud, recommended by KU Fine Arts Prof Dan Talley.
Olivia has high hopes for Brain Bug. “My hope for Brain Bug is that it gets big enough that we have a fairly substantial group of readers that are excited to get a copy every month and know exactly the feeling they’ll get when they open it. A lot of adult friends have bought copies, but my hope is that with the next several issues we can reach out to more kids and parents that don’t know us directly. I hope that our issues will continue to be thicker, have longer more juicy articles, and more comic contributors. I hope we can unify our aesthetic and establish a concrete style and expectation while still keeping the grab bag feel as much as we can!”
Brain Bug is looking for art, story and comic submissions! Guidelines: Non-violent, non-political, not an advertisement! A reading level that fits about a ten-year old, non-gender biased, has to fit the informative and fun the theme of our magazine. Issue 1 is nearly sold out. “We still have about 20 copies for sale, but there may be a repress! If anybody would like a copy, check out our online store! “ Get in touch with the team via Brain Bug’s Facebook page.
Illustration Concentration 