- MFA, Intermedia - Arizona State University
- BFA, Graphic Design - Indiana State University
The Department of Community Development and Applied Economics
BIO
Steven Kostell (b. Gary, IN) is an intermedia artist & designer whose work explores the convergence of traditional and experimental techniques in print and digital media, resulting in hybrid forms. His work is grounded in material-based production and digital image processing, involving papermaking, printmaking, artist books, and multi-channel audio/video installations and interactive methods of social practice.
His research areas focus on environmental issues, the relationship between urban/rural morphology and constructs of social/visual vernacular. Collaborative materials research focuses on the regional hemp fibershed development; linking production, processing and manufacturing through regenerative materials and sustainable practices. Additional interests focus on transition design, human-centered design, cultural entrepreneurship and creative communities.
Kostell's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at such venues as the Center for Book and Paper at Columbia College, Chicago; the Qijiang International Printmaking Festival, Chongqing, China; Ozu Washi Gallery and the Oji Paper Museum, Tokyo, Japan; New Forms Festival, Vancouver, BC and the Laura Haber Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Courses
CDAE 1160 - Communication Design I
CDAE 2160 - Communication Design II
CDAE 2460 - Publication Design
Awards and Achievements
Funded Research Grants
Kleinman, S., Lewins, S., et al. AgroTek Innovation. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Food and Agricultural Non-formal Education (FANE).
BluSeed Studios, et al. Multi-Cultural Interpretations on How Pollution Impacts the Lake Champlain Watershed. Funded by a Lake Champlain Basin Program grant under an agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission.
Kostell, Steven (PI, Project Director); Jane Kolodinsky (Co-PI); et al. Agricultural Transition through Transformative Practices in Rural Economies with FACT. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Research and Extension Experiential Undergraduate Learning (REEU).
Kolodinsky, Jane; Kostell, Steven, Entrepreneurial Mindset course development support. Office of the Vice President for Research, University of Vermont, 2019.
Innovation in Makerspaces through Cultural Entrepreneurship. Express Grant, Office of the Vice President for Research, 2019.
Honors, Recognitions, and Outstanding Achievements
Invited cohort participant, Building Interdisciplinary Collaborations to Transform Food and Agriculture into Circular Systems: A Mid-Career Mentoring Workshop in Kansas City, MO. Sponsored by the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA). 2022.
Awarded competitive Vorwerk-Stift Artist-in-residence, Hamburg, Germany, July 2019.
Residency exhibition at Gallerie 21, Vorwerk-Stift.
Invited studio residency, St. Pauli Paper Studio, Hamburg, Germany, July 2019.
Collaborative book project focused on new refugee populations.
Sustainability Faculty Fellow, University of Vermont, 2015-2016.
AIGA (Re)design Award 2013. Fresh Press Agri-fiber Paper Lab (Eric Benson & Steven Kostell). This unique design competition honors sustainable design solutions and the designers, educators and students throughout the world that use their creative influence to create a positive impact on our environment and society. Judges included Banny Banerjee, Associate Professor at Stanford University and Founder of the Design Change Lab, John Bielenberg, Founding Partner of Project M and C2, Holly Robbins, Adjunct Faculty, MCAD | Partner and Creative Director at This Is Folly, and Natacha Poggio, Founder and Executive Director of Design Global Change.
The International Design Awards, Silver Prize in Print Competition. Fresh Press Agri-Fiber Paper Lab (Eric Benson & Steven Kostell), 2012. Jurors included Alice Blackwood - Editor, Design Quarterly; Lise Coirier - Editor-in-Chief, TL; Hans Fank - Editor-in-Chief, OBJEKT International; Aaron Kenedi - Editor-in-Chief, Print; Rebecca Epstein Kong - Co-Founder, Artware Editions; Raj Nandan - Managing Director, Indesign Group; Laurence Ng - Publisher, IdN; Josh Rubin - Editor-in-Chief, Founder, and Publisher, Cool Hunting.
Entrepreneurial Leadership Academy Faculty Fellow, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2011-2012.
Area(s) of expertise
Visual communication, graphic design, time-based media, design systems, traditional craft practices, creative economies, cultural entrepreneurship, material prototyping.
Bio
Steven Kostell (b. Gary, IN) is an intermedia artist & designer whose work explores the convergence of traditional and experimental techniques in print and digital media, resulting in hybrid forms. His work is grounded in material-based production and digital image processing, involving papermaking, printmaking, artist books, and multi-channel audio/video installations and interactive methods of social practice.
His research areas focus on environmental issues, the relationship between urban/rural morphology and constructs of social/visual vernacular. Collaborative materials research focuses on the regional hemp fibershed development; linking production, processing and manufacturing through regenerative materials and sustainable practices. Additional interests focus on transition design, human-centered design, cultural entrepreneurship and creative communities.
Kostell's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at such venues as the Center for Book and Paper at Columbia College, Chicago; the Qijiang International Printmaking Festival, Chongqing, China; Ozu Washi Gallery and the Oji Paper Museum, Tokyo, Japan; New Forms Festival, Vancouver, BC and the Laura Haber Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Courses
CDAE 1160 - Communication Design I
CDAE 2160 - Communication Design II
CDAE 2460 - Publication Design
Awards and Achievements
Funded Research Grants
Kleinman, S., Lewins, S., et al. AgroTek Innovation. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Food and Agricultural Non-formal Education (FANE).
BluSeed Studios, et al. Multi-Cultural Interpretations on How Pollution Impacts the Lake Champlain Watershed. Funded by a Lake Champlain Basin Program grant under an agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission.
Kostell, Steven (PI, Project Director); Jane Kolodinsky (Co-PI); et al. Agricultural Transition through Transformative Practices in Rural Economies with FACT. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Research and Extension Experiential Undergraduate Learning (REEU).
Kolodinsky, Jane; Kostell, Steven, Entrepreneurial Mindset course development support. Office of the Vice President for Research, University of Vermont, 2019.
Innovation in Makerspaces through Cultural Entrepreneurship. Express Grant, Office of the Vice President for Research, 2019.
Honors, Recognitions, and Outstanding Achievements
Invited cohort participant, Building Interdisciplinary Collaborations to Transform Food and Agriculture into Circular Systems: A Mid-Career Mentoring Workshop in Kansas City, MO. Sponsored by the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA). 2022.
Awarded competitive Vorwerk-Stift Artist-in-residence, Hamburg, Germany, July 2019.
Residency exhibition at Gallerie 21, Vorwerk-Stift.
Invited studio residency, St. Pauli Paper Studio, Hamburg, Germany, July 2019.
Collaborative book project focused on new refugee populations.
Sustainability Faculty Fellow, University of Vermont, 2015-2016.
AIGA (Re)design Award 2013. Fresh Press Agri-fiber Paper Lab (Eric Benson & Steven Kostell). This unique design competition honors sustainable design solutions and the designers, educators and students throughout the world that use their creative influence to create a positive impact on our environment and society. Judges included Banny Banerjee, Associate Professor at Stanford University and Founder of the Design Change Lab, John Bielenberg, Founding Partner of Project M and C2, Holly Robbins, Adjunct Faculty, MCAD | Partner and Creative Director at This Is Folly, and Natacha Poggio, Founder and Executive Director of Design Global Change.
The International Design Awards, Silver Prize in Print Competition. Fresh Press Agri-Fiber Paper Lab (Eric Benson & Steven Kostell), 2012. Jurors included Alice Blackwood - Editor, Design Quarterly; Lise Coirier - Editor-in-Chief, TL; Hans Fank - Editor-in-Chief, OBJEKT International; Aaron Kenedi - Editor-in-Chief, Print; Rebecca Epstein Kong - Co-Founder, Artware Editions; Raj Nandan - Managing Director, Indesign Group; Laurence Ng - Publisher, IdN; Josh Rubin - Editor-in-Chief, Founder, and Publisher, Cool Hunting.
Entrepreneurial Leadership Academy Faculty Fellow, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2011-2012.
Areas of Expertise
Visual communication, graphic design, time-based media, design systems, traditional craft practices, creative economies, cultural entrepreneurship, material prototyping.