Gabby McNabney | Graphic Designer & Visual Storyteller

The Scenic Route

I’m a graphic designer, visual storyteller, artist, and maker with a habit of wandering across disciplines when an idea calls for it. My work moves between branding, publications, digital design, illustration, information design, photography, and hands-on making—not because I can’t pick a lane, but because I’m much more interested in figuring out what a project actually needs.

I took the scenic route to design. I studied biology before eventually realizing the art classes I considered my “fun classes” were trying very hard to tell me something. Somewhere along the way, I also spent years working professionally in pastry, where I learned that composition, color, precision, craftsmanship, and making something beautiful are only half the job. The thing still has to work.

That combination follows me everywhere now: an analytical brain, a maker’s attention to detail, and an artist’s tendency to ask “but what if we tried this?” I like thoughtful solutions, strange little ideas, and work that communicates clearly without sanding away everything that makes it human.

How I think about design

I tend to start with two questions: What does this need to do? and What if we tried this?

I like structure, but I don’t believe structure has to mean predictable. Good design should communicate clearly and work for the people using it, while still leaving room for curiosity, personality, and the occasional weird idea that turns out to be exactly the right one.

My process is a kind of organized chaos: research, sketching, experimenting, making, breaking, rearranging, and refining until the pieces click into place. Whether I’m building a brand, laying out a publication, illustrating a strange little world, or figuring out how something will actually be produced, I’m looking for the point where function and feeling meet.

I don’t want to make things that are different just for the sake of being different. I want to understand the rules well enough to know when they’re useful and when something better might happen if we bend one.

Design Areas Technical Skills

Brand Identity & Visual Systems Adobe Creative Cloud (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop)
Publication & Editorial Design HTML/CSS & Bootstrap — working knowledge
Campaign & Promotional Design Cricut Design Space
Digital & Web Design Microsoft Excel
Information Design & Infographics WordPress
Production & Maker-Focused Design Canva

Credentials Other Weirdly Useful Skills

B.A. Graphic Design & Media Arts Illustration & Visual Storytelling
Southern New Hampshire University Photography
Expected February 2027 Traditional & Mixed Media
Production-Ready SVG Design
AIGA / MindEdge Plant Installation Design
Professional Development Hands-On Fabrication & Prototyping
Project Management for Creatives Food Styling & Pastry Arts
Data Analytics A Slightly Unreasonable Attention to Detail