12 Fantasy Book Cover Designers Who Will Bring Your Story to Life
We often hear people say not to judge a book by its cover. But in the world of publishing, a cover is everything, especially in the fantasy genre. Whether your readers are browsing books digitally or in a bookstore, the first thing they encounter is the cover and based on that, they’ll decide if they want to look closer. So a cover is one of the most important marketing tools an author can have.
A freelance illustrator can help you create the perfect cover for your book – one that fits into genre conventions but still represents the theme of your story. No matter how good your story is, a cover can make or break your book.
If you want to hire a fantasy book cover designer to create the cover of your dreams, we’ve gathered 12 talented artists you should consider below.
1. Casey Gerber
Based in Bellevue, Washington, Casey Gerber is an illustrator, designer, and occasional concept artist who has worked on projects large and small. She creates atmospheric and whimsical pieces that will look at home in any fantasy novel. As a designer at Boneshaker Press, Casey created illustrations for volumes in the Encounters with the Imaginary series, and she also worked on The Chromatic Fates Tarot for Color Tarot. She believes art speaks to people directly and emotionally and serves as the first step in capturing a reader’s imagination.
Fun Fact: Casey has worked for Wizards of the Coast on some of their most popular franchises, including Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.
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2. Kelly Ritchie
Kelly Ritchie is a book cover designer specializing in highly-marketable dark fantasy and fairy tale illustrations. She has worked with dozens of indie authors on books in paranormal romance, sci-fi fantasy, and more. Beautiful art is a must for her, and she strives to create something unique for each book she works on. Kelly also is skilled at creating covers for book series, as author Maddox Grey’s testimony attests to. “Kelly does a wonderful job at capturing the theme of your book for the cover. And if your book is part of a series (mine is) she’s great at continuing the theme of the covers, which helps a lot for marketing and series recognition.”
Fun Fact: Kelly has created book covers for NYT and USA Today bestselling author Thea Harrison.
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3. Candice Broersma
With ten years of experience creating fantastical covers, Candice Broersma is always excited to bring authors’ stories to life. She’s won multiple awards for her work including the Comic-Con International: San Diego Artist Sponsorship and was also the 2018 grand prize winner of Infected By Art Volume 6 Art Annual competition. Each attention-grabbing cover Candice creates is hand-drawn and painted digitally, resulting in a totally unique piece of art.
Fun Fact: Candice also sells her original artwork on Etsy as art prints, stickers, and even greeting cards.
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4. Kelly Carter
With over 20 years of experience in the publishing industry, Kelly Carter has excelled as a graphic designer and creative director. She’s worked on everything from magazine covers to company publications, but has recently turned her eye towards fantasy book cover designs. Working one-on-one with independent authors is one of her favorite things to do and she enjoys taking a concept and turning it into a cohesive design that captures a reader’s imagination.
Fun Fact: Kelly has won awards from Print Design Annual, Ad Club of Delaware, and City Regional Magazine Association Awards.
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5. Rebecca Frank
Rebecca Frank specializes in creating covers for fantasy books, especially for paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Her vibrant style emphasizes the bright and magical nature of fantasy novels, providing that important “wow” factor that draws readers in. Having worked with multiple USA Today and NYT bestselling authors, Rebecca strength lies in creating covers that are both marketable and works of art. If you need a book design that fits within the genre’s expectations while standing out from the crowd, look no further.
Fun Fact: Rebecca rebranded the covers for USA Today bestselling author Carysa Locke’s series Telepathic Space Pirates.
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6. George Long
A former senior art director at Penguin Random House with over 20 years of experience in publishing, George Long is now available to help indie authors create staggering covers across a range of genres. Having honed his skills as a fantasy and sci-fi designer during his time at DAW Books, George truly understands book cover trends and how to make your book look its best.
Fun Fact: George has made covers for multiple NYT bestselling authors, including well-known fantasy authors like Patrick Rothfuss and Seanan McGuire.
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7. Eugene Smith
Eugene Smith is a professional illustrator based in Chicago with over 15 years of experience. He graduated from Academy of Art University in San Francisco with a degree in painting and drawing. His art can be found everywhere from comics to editorial magazines to books — with an impressive client list that includes Scholastic, Quirk Books, and The Washington Post. Eugene’s style can be described as atmospheric, vibrant, and unconventional — the perfect combination for a fantasy novel.
Fun Fact: Eugene has composed multiple tarot decks with different themes for Llewellyn Worldwide, including the Edgar Allan Poe Tarot, Tarot in Wonderland, and the Animal Totem Tarot.
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8. Matt Gaser
Based in Northern California, concept artist and illustrator Matt Gaser trained at ArtCenter College of Design, where he studied illustration and entertainment design. After graduation, Matt cut his teeth in the gaming industry, concept designing for games like Eragon, Forgotten Realms: Demonstone, and the official adaptation of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. From there, he went on to Lucasfilm where he worked on the first two seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These days, he is a full-time freelancer running his own studio and creating otherworldly covers for fantasy books.
Fun Fact: Matt is also a writer whose fantasy children’s book series was recently picked up by Chronicle Books.
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9. Taylor Barron
An illustrator concept artist, Taylor Barron received a BFA in digital art and animation from the DigiPen Institute of Technology. Before becoming a freelance illustrator, she spent several years working in the motion graphics and animation industry, creating character designs, background paintings, and concept art. Now, as an independent artist, Taylor helps authors bring their stories to life with whimsical children’s book illustrations and book covers.
Fun Fact: Taylor also enjoys making murals and rugs!
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10. Basia Tran
Basia Tran is a Polish-Vietnamese illustrator who specializes in creating illustrations and covers for picture books, middle grade novels, and the fantasy genre. She received her BFA from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. As a professional illustrator, she has worked with clients such as Ben and Jerry’s, Capstone Publishing, Hasbro, Kar-Ben Publishing, and the ASPCA. Her work has also been featured in publications like The New York Times, Forbes, and Design Ideas.
Fun Fact: Her full name is Ngoc Diep Barbara Tran Fader, but she goes by the Polish diminutive Basia.
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11. Mariya Prytula
Mariya Prytula is an illustrator specializing in watercolor and digital art based in Austin, Texas. She especially enjoys drawing animals, nature, and warm children’s illustrations. Mariya has won multiple awards for her work, including the Gold IPPY Medal from Independent Publisher Book Awards (for Little Moss, Big Tree) and the NAPPA award for the picture book Happy Papas. Her previous clients include Reeves International, Austin ArtBoards, and Austin Wildlife Rescue. As Mariya says, she creates art with “the goal of giving her viewer a hug.”
Fun Fact: Mariya graduated from Baylor University with a degree in biology pre-medicine and worked in medical device consulting before becoming an illustrator.
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12. Josh Tufts
Josh Tufts is an illustrator focusing on the YA and middle grade markets — though he enjoys creating art for books that range from fantasy to non-fiction. Most of all, he wants to bring a good story and good characters to life. Josh graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design with a BFA in illustration. Since then, he has worked with clients like FX, Elevate Pictures, Columbus Art Museum, Llewellyn Worldwide Publishing, and Delta Airlines. His work has also been featured in the bestselling Spectrum Fantastic Art series.
Fun Fact: In his free time, Josh likes to compose music, bake, and spoil his dog.
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