Today we’d like to introduce you to Abbey Kostyal.
Hi Abbey, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m from PA, and grew up always wanting to be a graphic designer. I always looked up to my aunt who worked at a local print shop, and around middle school I asked her to teach me everything she knows!
Flash forward to college – I graduated in 2021 with a BFA in Graphic + Interactive Design from West Chester, a college outside of Philadelphia, PA. I loved to design and found a new love for illustration through some truly awesome professors.
Post-grad, I really wanted to try moving away and living on my own in a place totally new, and found myself working as a Jr. Designer at a design studio in Atlanta, GA: Nimble. Design Co. These days were super formative and I grew so much in branding, learning signage, and web design! It was so neat to design for places local to the ATL. At one point, I even designed a logo for the Pencil Building! (I am not sure if they ended up using it)
Eventually, I wanted to experience another big city in my 20’s, so when I was about 23 I moved to Nashville, TN, and started working for an ad agency: Confidant. I got some awesome clients under my belt: Amazon, Sony, Firestone, and MadeGood, and just really worked on some dream projects. At one point, I was illustrating most of Sony Camera Divisions’s merch they would hand out at events, and at another I was designing banners for Amazon’s homepage. I am so grateful for this stage of my career because it really taught me agility and how to balance multiple clients.
At 25, I became a freelance graphic designer and fully self employed. My main client is Bulletproof, a super awesome coffee and wellness brand, but I also still work for Sony from time to time, local businesses to Nashville like Bagel Shop, and agencies across the east coast.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. I have experienced my fair share of layoffs, clients rejecting my pricing, late nights, and the rise of AI affecting my career. Sometimes clients will flat-out tell me hiring me is too expensive and that they will instead be using AI. I’ve also experienced so many periods of grind in my career where I’m just not sleeping much or having much of a weekend in order to get a deadline met. I still struggle with over-working and falling into patterns of working 50-60 hour weeks.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in Illustration! I’ve done t-shirts, stickers, hats, tote bags, posters, and I’ve been working on illustrating a children’s book for the past few years.
I would say my style is very whimsical, I like to use super bright colors and a lot of texture.
Lately, I’ve been getting into mural painting and that has been really fulfilling! I’ve been really proud to grow in that direction.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
In my childhood, when I would play with my best friend, I made up this game where I basically created an economy; my best friend would have to buy anything he wanted to play with from my ‘store’. We had a whole currency system and he was always paying me in exchange for games, books, toys, etc.
I think my girlboss tendencies started there.
Pricing:
- T-Shirt Illustration: $600 and up
- Children’s Book Illustration: $4,000 and up (depending on page count and complexity)
- Branding: $1,250 and up
- Ongoing design support: $75/hr
Contact Info:
- Website: https://AbbeyKostyal.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abbeydesignsthings/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbey-kostyal/
