Social Chameleon

Photo by BOB SOFALY | The Beaufort Gazette

Sitting on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away and the oystermen pull in the morning’s haul. Filmed as part of an ongoing enterprise story examining water quality in the Lowcountry, tentatively scheduled for late February publication.

My name is Erin Wetzelberger, and I am a journalist. My specialty is editing and pagination, although I’ve been known to dabble in video, site design, graphic illustrations and printer troubleshooting. I’m hoping to broaden my horizons by picking up a little more knowledge in core web technologies and design theory.

Brainco Application Essays

These are my responses to the questions listed on the application for Brainco: The Minneapolis School of Advertising, Design and Interactive Studies. The essays are available for download as a PDF. They’ve also been submitted via mail.

1. What interests you about the program you’re applying for [Interactive Design]?
2. Choose a campaign you like and describe why.
3. Choose a campaign you dislike and describe why.
4. Why do you want to come to Brainco?

Newspaper Pages

From May 2005 to April 2007, I worked as a copy editor at The Beaufort Gazette. One of the great things about working for a small daily paper is the opportunity to work on prominant pages after a relatively short tenure. During most of the week, I would either design the front and local-content pages or select and edit wire copy for the inside pages. I was also in charge of design for the Scene section, a Friday lifestyles section dedicated to arts and entertainment.

This is one of my favorites. In the weeks prior I’d fallen into a habit of fitting the text around a cutout of the art provided for the stories. For this page, I did the opposite — placing the text and playing the art around it in medium-sized thumbnails. It has a bit of a Web aesthetic.
 

Local artist Deanna Bowdish is my muse — my best work comes from her best work. Her series of puffy jellyfish literally leap off the canvas, and I tried to capture the same feel in the paper’s coverage of the show.
 

Another Bowdish exhibit. Again, my design seeks to echo the theme of the show.
 

Note the can of “snake oil” in the bottom promo. Often it’s easier to create your own illustration instead of relying on the wire services.
 

Web Videos

When I took over as online editor for BeaufortGazette.com, they handed me a video camera, showed me where the record button was, and said “have fun.” After some painful trial and error, I think I’ve found my rhythm. Most of these were shot with a Sony HVR-A1E high-definition MiniDV camcorder, edited with iMovie and hosted by Vmix. It’s easily my favorite part of the job.

Bill Clinton campaigns on behalf of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, at historic Penn Center on St. Helena Island, S.C.

January 25, 2008

Sen. Hillary Clinton speaks to Beaufort County Democrats. My first video assignment for the paper.
July 28, 2007

Barack Obama speaks to a very enthusiastic crowd at Battery Creek High School in Beaufort, S.C.
January 14, 2008

John Edwards campaigns at Penn Center on St. Helena Island.
January 11, 2008

Beaufort High School battles it out for the state championship against Clover High School at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia S.C. Edited entirely from the backseat of a moving vehicle.
December 2, 2007