Roland Keane worked closely with Erika Christiansen for two years at the Wall Street Journal. In a letter of recommendation, he describes Erika as an extremely talented and creative senior art director. Erika was highly organized and diligent, taking on the most difficult tasks and ensuring assignments were completed on deadline. She worked tirelessly to provide compelling visuals for stories. Despite significant responsibilities and pressure, Erika always treated colleagues and subordinates with kindness and good humor. Keane highly recommends Erika and believes any organization would benefit from her contributions.

1. Roland Keane
News Editor
Corporate News
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY. 10036
212.416.2316
roland.keane@dowjones.com
April 2010
Dear Sir or Ms:
I have worked closely with Erika Christiansen for nearly two years in my position as a
corporate-news editor at the Wall Street Journal. In that time, Erika, as senior art director for the
Corporate News section impressed me as an extremely talented, creative and indispensable colleague
and team member.
Erika was quite simply the superwoman of the design and production side of the Journal’s
Corporate News section, as evidenced by how much more difficult it was for us to publish on days
without the benefit of her leadership. As the head of the corporate section’s art directors, Erika used
her technical mastery of our new and complex publishing system to guide paginators in producing a
thoughtfully designed, visually appealing newspaper against tight deadlines, day in and day out. She
was highly organized in conceptualizing and assigning work - usually giving herself the most difficult
tasks - and diligent in ensuring that all assignments were completed on deadline.
Perhaps Erika’s greatest contribution was her strong and creative direction of the paper’s
visual presentation. She worked tirelessly throughout the day to ensure all photographs, graphics and
charts were compelling and appropriate for each page and story – from the large art on our front page
to the smallest graphical elements accompanying stories deep on inside pages. She displayed great
imagination while working within the Journal’s strict design guidelines and standards. Erika also
frequently took it upon herself to contract on-the-spot work from outside illustrators if she thought it
would enhance a large story on our display pages. It was a true education, and a privilege, to witness
her passion and dedication in helping produce a well designed and colorful business newspaper. The
fact that financial and corporate news don’t easily lend themselves to visuals made Erika’s artistic
achievements all the more impressive – along with the fact that layout and art requirements would
often change completely with the flow of news each day. Erika was flinty and resourceful in
accommodating new priorities, and her flexibility and inventive nature were crucial factors in our
publication’s continued success.
Despite having large responsibilities and considerable pressure as senior art director; Erika
always dealt with colleagues and subordinates with extreme kindness and good humor. Her affable,
approachable demeanor and ability to draw the best from those around her marked Erika as a special
person in our workplace. She was much respected and admired, and our newspaper will be the worse
for her absence. I would recommend her wholeheartedly to any organization seeking her contributions.
Any company or group would be very fortunate to have Erika as a member.
Sincerely,
Roland Keane
(609) 844-1152 (cell)