Help designing a cover for my DDR Book

You could always change the DDR arrows in the logo to something like I said earlier. I have the vectors of the arrows so I can change them a bit if it really bothers you that much. I can understand though. A dancer sounds cool too. I can lend you the dancer silhouette from DDR STARLIGHT to put there if you want to see how it works out.

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well the logo is a vector, and i just remade the arrows so

but if you could post a vector of the dancer that would be great

Okay, I ran the book through the digital proof process at Amazon.

These pics may not mean so much to some but it gives an idea of just how the final product will look.

Anyways, they flagged the cover for those 2 DDR arrows left of "Combos" on the cover so I had to remove them. I left it blank and resubmitted it for proofing and if they OK it I'll order the proof copy.

One last thing, I notice in the book I accent certain words by surrounding them with asterisks. e.g. I use this technique a fair bit but not *that* much. This may not be a problem but I still want to see it in print in my hands; reading a PDF on screen and even on an eBook reader isn't helping me for small things like this.

I do plan on making a digital version of this outside of the PDF version, though. Images are going to be a problem but I'll see what I can do to make a decent EPUB version and something for the Kindle.

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since the arrows were a problem, i can replace it with a dancer

Okay, I'd like to see that. The proof copy (when approved) is going to take a bit to get to me so we have some more time to tinker with the image(s))

If it is the actual dancer image silhouette from the earlier mixes or even from the later mixes it might be a problem, but if it is a rough impression/approximation that should be all right.

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Wow... those pics look beautiful. I know it's my own work but once you see it going to print like that, it changes the way you see it. The DDR arrows really shouldn't have been a problem but if they want to be like that then that's fine. I had mentioned earlier I would lend my DDR STARLIGHT dancer to you for the logo and I had sent to CobaltHex via PM the other day. It hasn't been used in any official DDR so they shouldn't complain about it. I didn't want to use a dancer from actual earlier or current mixes because you'd probably run into the same problem that you did with the arrows in the logo.

Funny though that they had NO problem with the arrows in the back since it's part of the official global logo for the game now. I guess it's better not ask questions at this point.

When the logo is tweaked, I'll add it to the cover for you.

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hmm, do you guys think i should do it like the other ddr games where it takes the entire screen, or just make it similar in size to the logo?

I would say do some variations and post them to see what they look like. It helps alot when you do that, trust me.

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Okay, I ordered the proof copy (actually, 2) so I can review them that way (and it really helps having a real physical copy in your hands)

The Proof is set to arrive at my house no later than June 6th though from experience I wouldn't be surprised if it arrives considerably earlier than that.

Anyways, yeah, if you have other variations and ideas, I'm all for it. When I get the Proof copy I'll be able to see how the cover fits on the book and what it looks like overall so if any tweaks to alignment or dimensions are required, I can point that out.

silverdragon754> When it comes to legal issues, the best response is to nod and close the issue as soon as possible. If they don't ask about the back cover, I don't mention it. I remember with the Arcade Mania book Kodansha had to ask permission from Capcom for use of Ryu from SF2 so it might be a similar reason as to why they flagged the cover of my own book. If that is the case, though, I can't imagine Konami actually giving permission to use it; they were against every and all game images in a major publication by Kodansha (again, that Arcade Mania book) so I can't imagine they would show any sympathy whatsoever for an independent author.

As far as copyright and IP infringement is concerned, the logos and any in-game images are off-bound if they are used as-is. Impressions of them or user-created variations are usually fine, though.

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Yea I figured as much.

I actually have vectors of the official DDR arrows that I recreated myself but they look so identical to the real thing that they might be mistaken for it so they might still flag it even though it was user created. Most of the logos I have from Konami's music games(check my BEMANI HD wallpaper thread here) are actually all recreated by me with the exception of 2 or 3. I'm assuming all the ones I made from scratch would be ok to use anywhere so if you ever want to use any of them for anything just let me know.

I'm excited to see how the printed version of the book turns out. It looks really nice just from the photos you posted earlier.

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well those arrows are ones i recreated

Hrm, I guess they were a bit too close for Amazon :/

Maybe some subtle changes or touches to the arrows might get it past the censors there?

Anyways, my order was confirmed so I'm just playing the waiting game and taking glances at the PDF once in a while but I'm trying to clear my head so I can approach it with a fresh view.

The cover looks nice so I'll have to see how the printed edition comes out. I did have to remove the arrows and they aren't on the cover like they are on the previews but it still looks great IMHO. Really stellar job.

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Glad I could be of some help. If you ever need anything else, I'm here for you. I'm tempted to buy a copy of the book.

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Would it be possible to get a full scale of the book without my logo?

Sure no problem. I sent it to your PM just now.

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hmm, would it be possible to get without the text?

You want me to remove ALL the text from the back, spine and cover? Just checking.

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just the front

So here is one concept, the "insiders perspective" is the subtext



I'll make some other concepts soon. (If you like one, just tell me, I have the source format so u can more easily add it)

This is really shaping up isn't it?

I think it looks very proffesional!

So here is the png version and the svg vector (pdf doesnt allow for blurs)
svg: http://minus.com/lblnYWRIAjiVOP