Nicole Brydson

"If the whole world fell apart, Nicole Brydson would still end up writing some kind of media with charred dog bones on chunks of asphalt. She's got it in her, and it will always come out." 

-Cintra Wilson

Hi! I am a journalist and jill-of-all-trades who develops a full spectrum of new media strategies for creative endeavors including information design, marketing and communications. I was born and raised in Hell’s Kitchen in the heart of Manhattan and graduated from Harvard University in 2004, with concentrations in history, film, writing and political science.

I went on to found Misfit Media and the local cultural magazine BrooklynTheBorough.com in 2008, after writing about politics and culture for the New York Observer, BlackBook Magazine and the New York Press, and also developed grassroots campaigns while working for the House of Representatives, the New York State Senate, The Lincoln Center Institute and NARAL/NY.

There are many things you could call me. I'm a journalist by trade. I’m a creative strategist. I’m also a multimedia producer and information designer. I came of age learning from an amazing mash up of teachers, mentors and friends across the fields of fashion, visual art, music, performance and technology. I live at the heart of interdisciplinarity.

These days I advise and provide objectivity to creative projects in need of a communications agenda. Think of me as you would a contractor; I'm here to build your digital infrastructure and teach you how to reap the rewards and learn the lessons of the digital economy. 

I'm a manager of people and resources; I'm your objective confident, imagination consultant, contextualizer, sounding board and creative closer. I help you pull your project towards presentation; give ideas structure and lend a network of talented people to get it done.

I speak many languages - English mostly and French sometimes - but also the language of music, art and media. I'm an expert in the sociology of subculture. Most importantly I speak the language of our digital economy like a native because I was part of the first generation to be raised in it. 

Weened on punk shows, raves and outsider art in New York City's underground, my first job was sorting and replying to late-career fan mail for Peter, Paul and Mary. Soon after, I gave my first style advice to Pat Smear on his 1995 appearance with Foo Fighters on SNL. My suggestion: go without boots and wear only his gorgeous neon pink socks on stage, brightening up a sea of grunge. I challenge you to find the video online. It’s there. Somewhere.

Meanwhile I was playing guitar in a punk band called the Lizzies; working as a photographer’s assistant on fashion shoots; as a shop girl for Jonathan Shaw’s Fun City Tattoos and vintage mecca Screaming Mimi’s; interning for visual teaching artists at the Lincoln Center Institute.

My expertise in grassroots organizing and DIY culture stems from this as well as my work in the 1990s - featured in a MS. Magazine article - organizing NARAL/NY workshops on women’s rights and sexuality across all five boroughs of New York City.

Meanwhile, I coded my first website at 16 while I was also communicating with other young people across the country and the world, sharing ideas, music and art as some of the earliest adopters of weblogs, virtual topic based communities and social networks.

I went on to graduate from Harvard University in 2004, where I studied political science, history, art and film. Prior to becoming a creative strategist and entrepreneur, I wrote about politics, real estate, fashion, sex and culture for the New York Observer, BlackBook Magazine, New York Press, Playgirl, New York Post and The Brooklyn Paper. 

I struck out on my own in 2009 to found BrooklynTheBorough.com, a multimedia digital journalism project based on my weekly Observer column Brooklyn, The Borough. The site's infrastructure is a highly customized Wordpress CMS uniquely designed to facilitate a dialogue with readers holding a cross-section of interests. 

I’ve also worked on community relations, communications and legislative issues for the House of Representatives and the New York State Senate. I once had a job writing personal ads for The Boston Phoenix, and also served as an assistant teacher to a second grade class in a Boston Public School. Seriously, I’ve had a lot of jobs. Now I live happily in Brooklyn with my life collaborator Rhett and our cats Bubbs and Bella.

(Photo by Dusdin Condren)

"Nothing costs more than what you don't pay for." 

-William S. Burroughs 

"Forget about fifteen minutes of fame, what about five minutes of truth?" 

-Paul Garrin

"If you have to go home to visit, this isn't your home, is it?" 

-Danny Hoch

"I can break Sean Hannity just by giving him a middle seat in coach." 

-Wanda Sykes

"Freedom is the freedom to say two plus two equals four. If that is granted, all else follows." 

-George Orwell

Virtue itself 'scapes not calumnious strokes. 

-William Shakespeare

In the abundance of water, the fool gets thirsty. 

-Bob Marley