Conversations with Micah Nibbs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Micah Nibbs.

Hi Micah, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Honestly, my story is a little bit different from the usual! Art was something I knew I wanted to do since I was young, but the route to where I am now wasn’t always clear. I was born and raised in Stone Mountain, GA my two siblings and I were homeschooled from elementary school all the way up until college. My parents always encouraged various pursuits, so every year we were doing something different, from Computer Science courses, to STEM programs, to Firefighter training, to football it was always a toss up in terms of what we were going to be doing year to year.

My first real brush with art came when I was probably 9 or 10, and my dad randomly drew me a picture of Spider-Man, and from the moment I saw that, I decided it was the coolest thing ever and something that I wanted to spend my life doing. From that point on I would practice between tracing, sketching, and anything similar that I could do to try and learn. My parents also encouraged us to read a lot, and my siblings and I love that, so through various series’s, graphic novels, comics, etc. my creative brain sprouted so I always had ideas on what to try and bring to life. One of the many things I did growing up was the Boy’s & Girl’s Club, and through that, at 16/17, I got to have a small taste of being a “professional” artist after some of my sketches were selected to be published and I was invited to a showcase and book signing at the Fox Theater. However even with all that drive, with being homeschooled there weren’t many classes or courses I could take, so my first formal classes weren’t until college.

When I graduated high school I made the decision to enroll at Kennesaw State University, coming in I still knew I wanted to pursue something creative in nature, but also knew that I needed a balance of practicality. My heart would have loved pursuing something like illustration, or comics and sequential art, but my head knew that a better option for me would be graphic design which is what I settled on pursuing and ultimately fell in love with. Even once I settled on a degree the journey was not easy, after my first few introductory art classes it came time to put together a portfolio and apply for the art school. Looking back now I can say my first pass at it was not stelar and unsurprisingly I didn’t get in, after that initial rejection, I went back to the drawing board (figuratively and literally) and came back with a much more polished portfolio which I’m happy to say was accepted. In my design classes I pretty consistently did well, but almost always felt behind, I was truly blessed to have so many classmates and friends who to this day I will say are incredibly talented and amazing designers, and I still consider them to be significantly more talented than me. After my foundational Graphic Design classes, I applied to be accepted to my concentration, and I’m happy to say I made it in on my first try. By the end of my second to last semester I made pretty significant strides as a designer, including winning several GDUSA awards and being chose as a GDUSA Student to watch for 2020. Despite all this, there were a few more twists in store, my senior year was disrupted by COVID so graduation, senior show, final portfolios, were all essentially erased. Fortunately enough, a friend of mine had let me know about an internship opportunity as a graphic designer at a large software company, which I ended up applying for, and landing. 6 months later I was hired full-time to what I can honestly say has been my dream job and incredibly fun and wild ride so far.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My journey so far has probably been the opposite of smooth and I think my story as a whole is kind of a testament to that, between no foundational base for art besides attempted self-taught skill, struggles with getting into and surviving the art program, and even coming close to having everything be derailed during senior year. All of those challenges were extremely present, but also beneficial in their own way. Each one felt like a potential changing of direction, that if I hadn’t experienced the struggle prior, would have completely derailed my course. My senior year was probably the closest I’ve come to quitting and finding a new direction, coming into the semester my hope/scholarship funds were running out, I was dealing with family/personal tragedy, and my savings were essentially 0, between working on campus and classes, I was running on little to no sleep most days. The only reason I didn’t drop out before my senior year was being granted a by selection scholarship that allowed me to pay for my last semester. Even with that, once COVID hit, I lost my job on campus and had maybe $300 to my name, with no real direction as to what the future was going to hold. Until I landed the internship that I did, I was fully convinced that everything had been for nothing and that I’d been going down the wrong path all along. Looking back I can say that every struggle was worth it, and the God gave me probably the most individually beneficial path to growth, especially as a creative.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My work is a mixed bag, inspiration wise my creative base has always come from embracing my inner nerd, whether it’s Marvel, DC, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc. all of these have been things that shaped the lens I view art and creation through. I specialize in Graphic Design, but I would say my true super power is adaptability, being someone who has primarily been self-taught, and through always feeling behind it has pushed me to have a deep interest in learning just about any and every new skill that I can. At this point and time I’ve had either deep experience, or dabbling experience, in Graphic Design, Illustration, Video Editing, UI/UX, Photography, Sculpting, Metal Work, Writing, 3D, etc. All of these areas have shaped how I approach my day job as well as my hobbies.

To this day the thing I’m probably most proud of is a book on space I made when I was entering my senior year. Since then I’ve made things that are significantly better designed, and elevated, but that was the first project that truly made me feel confident in saying that I could probably be a designer.

What makes you happy?
The things that make me happiest are the people in my life, both friends and family, my dog (he’s a delinquent, but I love him), my faith, cooking/baking, working out, taking care of and upgrading my house and yard, and just creating and learning in general. These are the things that truly make me feel the most alive, and at my most grounded and joyful when I’m fully engaged with them in the way that I should be. Being busy in the best way possible can be extremely simple, but for me it puts me in a mindset of joy just to do and be and I think that’s an important state to be in, in life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mnibbsdesigns.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mnibbsdesigns/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micah-nibbs-48908b197/