Joan Steiner was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. After receiving degrees at Barnard College and the University of Chicago, she began her art career by creating one-of-a-kind wearable art pieces. She was the illustrator and creator of the Look-Alikes series. Her first book, Look-Alikes, was published in 1998. The book, and the other books in the series, featured three-dimensional collages that turned everyday objects like razors, coffeepots, or vegetables into everyday scenes such as a train station, city street, general store, park, and zoo. Her other works include Look-Alikes Jr., Look-Alikes Christmas, and Look-Alikes Around the World. She won numerous art and design awards including a Society of Illustrators Award and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. She died of cancer on September 8, 2010.