Heather Brandon

Current

• City Blogger and Photographer at urbancompass.net (Sole Proprietorship)
• Freelance photographer (Self-employed)

Past

• Freelance reporter (Self-employed)
• City Blogger, Urban Compass at Valley Advocate
• Blogger, Urban Compass at MassLive.com

• Editor at One magazine (Sole Proprietorship)
• Media consultant (Self-employed)
• Illustrator | Designer at Unit.E Design (Sole Proprietorship)
• Co-Editor, "On the Front Lines" at One magazine
• Web Instructor at Interactive Factory
• Aide to Principal Representative to the United Nations at Bahá'í International Community
• Intern at SPIN magazine

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Education

• Bryn Mawr College
• Schenley High School, Pittsburgh, PA

Recommended

9 people have recommended Heather

Connections

89 connections

Industry

Online Media

Websites

• Urban Compass
• One Mag

Heather Brandon’s Summary

Springfield and Hartford may have a lot of stories to tell that aren't necessarily being captured by traditional media.

My blog focuses on some local urban issues in an effort to capture some of those stories, varying among personal, academic, and journalistic in tone. My original photography occasionally mixes in with my writing, experimenting with the relationship among straight reporting, commentary, relevant research, and the use of images to tell a story.

In my past academic studies, I examined relationships between private and public sectors, and how decisions eventually impacted pedestrians in the built environment. Salient in the research was the role the media plays in translating and mitigating these relationships.

A developing role my blog has taken on is that of connecting residents with an emerging urban self-identity.

Heather Brandon’s Specialties:

Writing, editing, storytelling; team-building as well as working independently; translating in-group ideas for broad audience; relevant and speedy research; combining language with art for maximum effect. Art direction, marketing. Web, HTML, open source CMS and PHP proficiency. Graphics and layout software experience, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.

Heather Brandon’s Experience

• City Blogger and Photographer

  urbancompass.net (Sole Proprietorship)

  (Sole Proprietorship; Myself Only; Online Media industry)

  May 2007 — Present (1 year 3 months)

• Freelance photographer

  Self-employed

  (Self-Employed; Myself Only; Photography industry)

  October 2006 — Present (1 year 10 months)

• Freelance reporter

  Self-employed

  (Self-Employed; Myself Only; Newspapers industry)

  October 2006 — May 2008 (1 year 8 months)

• City Blogger, Urban Compass

  Valley Advocate

  (Public Company; Online Media industry)

  October 2006 — November 2007 (1 year 2 months)

• Blogger, Urban Compass

  MassLive.com

  (Privately Held; Online Media industry)

  May 2005 — September 2006 (1 year 5 months)

  http://masslive.com/springfield/weblog

• Editor

  One magazine (Sole Proprietorship)

  (Sole Proprietorship; Myself Only; Online Media industry)

  March 1996 — August 2006 (10 years 6 months)

  http://one-magazine.com

• Media consultant

  Self-employed

  (Self-Employed; Myself Only; Media Production industry)

  August 2002 — August 2006 (4 years 1 month)

  Art and media consulting and production for print and Web.

• Illustrator | Designer

  Unit.E Design (Sole Proprietorship)

  (Sole Proprietorship; 1-10 employees; Graphic Design industry)

  January 1995 — August 2002 (7 years 8 months)

  Illustration, design, branding and marketing work, ranging from small business, corporate identity to print and online media. My husband and I ran this business together.

• Co-Editor, "On the Front Lines"

  One magazine

  (Publishing industry)

  June 2002 — June 2002 (1 month)

  On the Front Lines (George Ronald, 2002), co-edited with Aaron Emmel. A published anthology of features from One magazine.

• Web Instructor

  Interactive Factory

  (Privately Held; Professional Training & Coaching industry)

  February 1996 — April 1998 (2 years 3 months)

  Taught primarily Web novices the art of coding HTML.

• Aide to Principal Representative to the United Nations

  Bahá'í International Community

  (Non-Profit; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)

  1993 — 1994 (1 year)

  In this largely clerical position, I drafted letters, maintained and updated a complex filing system, hosted diplomats, couriered to consulates, arranged international travel and accommodations, and sat in on NGO-related meetings in a pre-9/11 United Nations building.

• Intern

  SPIN magazine

  (Privately Held; Publishing industry)

  June 1991 — August 1991 (3 months)

Heather Brandon’s Education

• Bryn Mawr College

  B.A., Growth and Structure of Cities, Fine Arts, 1989 — 1993

  For my major I selected the architectural history track; I minored in fine arts with a focus on woodcuts and printmaking.

• Schenley High School, Pittsburgh, PA

  International Baccalaureate Diploma, Art, English, French, European History, Math, Biology, 1985 — 1989

Additional Information

Heather Brandon’s Websites:

• Urban Compass
• One Mag

Heather Brandon’s Honors:

2006, Outstanding Media Award, American Planning Association, Massachusetts chapter.

1993, Bolton Prize for thesis work, "Phillip Johnson's PPG Place in Pittsburgh: Successes and Failures as a Planning Endeavor," from Bryn Mawr College's Growth and Structure of Cities department.

Heather Brandon’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• new ventures
• job inquiries
• expertise requests
• reference requests
• getting back in touch