Gabriel Carter
Gabriel Carter's relationship with design began early — shaped, in part, by an alopecia diagnosis that pushed him to think differently about identity, expression, and how we tell our own stories.
That early instinct to make meaning through visuals carried him through Loyola University, into a nonprofit career, and eventually to founding his own business. Today, he serves as communications manager at Parks and People while maintaining a freelance practice, a Substack, and an ever-expanding creative universe that includes poetry, a novel, and a graphic novel rooted in his own experience.
For five years, DesignFest has been a constant in Gabriel's calendar — and not by accident.
He came for the strategy. The part where you sit with a team, untangle a nonprofit's real challenges, and build something they can actually use to move forward. His goal isn't just to deliver a product; it's to help organizations articulate their value clearly and confidently. Each year refines his process, and that process has become a tool he uses across his business and mentorship work with young designers.
Gabriel draws inspiration from everywhere — the Bauhaus movement, Baltimore coffee shops, the green room at Hotel Revival, conversations with CEOs, and the collections at the Baltimore Museum of Art. He stays plugged into the local creative scene through AIGA meetings, the Motor House, and writing groups that keep his thinking sharp and his network warm. His Substack has become another kind of community — a place where spoken word artists and readers gather around both the written and auditory versions of his work.
The dream project is already in motion.
What started as an anthology has grown into a graphic novel with ambitions beyond the page — a cinematic universe spanning a novel, video game, and television. Gabriel is building it intentionally, in collaboration with local designers and creators, just as he approaches everything: with curiosity, process, and authentic play. In his world, design and storytelling were never separate from the start.