Interview with Laura Coyle, Artist and Educator

Laura Coyle is a Adobe Community Expert, illustrator, and educator who is passionate about teaching Adobe Illustrator to creatives at all levels. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, she has nearly 30 years of experience illustrating for major brands including Target, Hallmark, Hasbro, Amazon, Disney, and Papyrus. Through that work, she has developed a deep understanding of how artists and designers think and create.

Laura is speaking at CreativePro Week 2026, which takes place June 29–July 3, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. We thought it would be fun to get to know her better with some Q&A.

2026 marks your 8th year teaching Illustrator at CreativePro Week. What keeps it interesting for you? What continues to draw you back?

What draws me back, more than anything, is the people. It is such a unique mix of creative and technical minds. These are people who spend their days solving visual problems and making things clearer, more beautiful, more accessible, and more engaging. That is just a fun group to be around.

I still remember my first year at the conference in Atlanta. I was nervous and did not know a single person. By the end of the first day, I was sitting with a fashion designer from Los Angeles and a graphic designer from Indianapolis, and we were trying to figure out an Illustrator puzzle together. After a couple of years, CreativePro Week starts to feel like a family reunion. I have good friends there now, and I can’t wait to see everybody.

This year, you’re speaking about color confidence and Illustrator power techniques. How do you define “confidence” and “power” in the way someone uses Illustrator?

Confidence in Illustrator comes from understanding the fundamentals. You do not need to know every feature, but it helps to have a solid sense of how the program works and what it does well. Power comes from building on that foundation with the right techniques. You learn a few things that save time, give you more control, or help you solve a problem better, and that starts to add up.

With color, designers already bring instinct, theory, and experience, and we know what tends to work in print and on screen. What Illustrator does especially well is help you explore and evaluate color quickly, in context. That’s important because color evokes feeling and meaning, and it can either clarify them or obscure them. When I can see my options in the design quickly and react to them in context, I can make stronger decisions.

You run an Illustrator learning community at Laura Coyle Creative. How has building that community shaped the way you teach?

One of the best things about the community is that it keeps my teaching from being one-directional. The courses provide structured learning, but in the group sessions, I get to hear their questions and understand where they get stuck.

I really love seeing what people are working on, whether it is a book layout, a repeat pattern, a quilt design, or something for a laser cutter. Helping people make the art they want to make in Illustrator keeps me excited to teach every day.

Your Illustrator work has a very recognizable style. Does that show up when you step away from the computer? What do you enjoy making?

I have a few friends I get together with regularly, and we make art. The medium changes, but for me, the main thing is that I’m trying not to care too much about the result. I think of it as reprogramming myself a little after decades of making art for clients. I’m really into the tactile experience and the process, and I try not to shape it into something “good.” If I’m making something, that’s enough.

I’m excited to bring rubber stamp carving to the Maker Morning craft room. It is such a perfect craft for designers because it is hands-on, and you don’t fully know what you have until you print it. It’s full of happy surprises.

What’s something you’re currently exploring or learning that’s energizing you right now?

I started taking in-person Spanish classes this year, which I had wanted to do for a long time. I’m right at the beginning, and I’m fascinated by how much it is bending my brain.

It is a mix of reading, writing, memorization, and some clumsy speaking so far. Sometimes, while I’m listening to the teacher, I can almost picture that little spinning rainbow beachball as my brain catches up. I’m having a great time with it, and I already know I’ll be at this for years.

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