Christine Kettner – Designer

Having been born and raised in New York City, I attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, New York. One of my instructors was the legendary Bea Feitler, please look her up, as I own her so much. She was the Art Director at the time of Rolling Stone magazine and started Ms. magazine with Gloria Steinham. She taught the art of story telling through visuals. Also the importance of rethinking concepts again and again until you arrive at the very best option that compels a reader to be so enticed by the cover that you must read that book.

My good fortune and hard work has given me an amazing career with award winning book designs with major book companies such as Disney, Harper Collins, Little Brown and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

I continue to learn with every assignment. And honestly, although I have been working and have many years of experience, I think my best work has been of late as shown here in the gallery of Reedsy.

Writer's Digest asked me to contribute to their Design Notes feature for their July/August 2025 issue describing my process for creating book covers.

I read the manuscripts and/or synopsis and work with the authors to create a cover that satisfies the current market trends and also reflects the emotional thread of the story.

I am respectful of the author's vision but also provide other concepts/ideas that the author may not have considered or thought of.

A good example of my work process is my latest book cover, The Orphan of Lady Liberty. I read the manuscript, and wanted to include the protagonist's homeland, Panama. This included coffee bean plants (they are very beautiful) and red hibiscus. The book covers of authors Fiona Davis and Ellen Marie Wiseman were used as inspiration for this particular project. The author was so happy with my concepts, they made her cry and it was difficult for her to pick one. But she landed on the one shown here in my gallery. If you contact me with a proposal, I would love to show how I work and share the many cover options I present to the author before they land on the very one. I also can combine. If they like the typography of one with the art of another option, I am happy to combine and rework.

Bottom line, I would love to collaborate with you to create a beautiful work that reflects your story and you as an author. And don't forget, I design interiors and so, a complete package. Nothing makes me more over the moon in life than making an author happy.