Tug of War with a Monster eBook Cover

Calm Living Blueprint

We help people suffering with social anxiety to release themselves from the struggle so that they can live the life they want to live.

The design will be for an e-book cover. This book will be the first in the series of four. So there is the opportunity for four future designs, as the goal would be to keep the same type of look for each book in the series.

The cover will be used to sell on Amazon as a Kindle book, as well as to sell from our website, http://www.calmlivingblueprint.com. So no spine or back design is needed - just the front cover.

Of course, the design must meet Kindle's formatting requirements:

Dimensions: 1563 pixels on the shortest side and 2500 pixels on the longest side
RGB Color; should also look good in shades of grey
Cover art with white or very light backgrounds can seem to disappear against the white background. Adding a very narrow (3-4 pixel) border in medium gray will define the boundaries of the cover.

Please refer to https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publish…TRG6OPX0VM for complete Kindle formatting details.

Characteristics of the Design:
Simple (good use of white space)
Bright
Eye-catching (the title font must be readable when shrunk down to what it will appear like on Amazon) - high contrast between text and background
Easy to read

Title: Drop the Rope

Subtitle: A Simple, Ridiculously Useful Guide to Overcoming Social Anxiety

Author: Candice Esposito

Artwork/Image: Illustration of a person in a tug of war with a monster; similar in idea to http://acceptandchange.com/ACTOZ/ca…ster_1.jpg or http://www.thecareerpsychologist.co…e-rope.png
There should be a hole between the person and the monster. The words, "fear people" should be written on the monster and the person's eyes should be facing out towards the reader.

No photos.

Here are a few ideas/inspirations for what the monster possibly could look like:
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-il…st=bf09567
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-il…st=bf09567
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oaePI6tsS…aining.jpg
http://crispme.com/in-focus-cute-mo…arlos-paz/

The monster shouldn't be absolutely horrifying or cute. The design is meant to be somewhat lighthearted and hopeful.

Colors:
Thinking more calming colors like blues and greens, although open to variations
Thinking a more retro/vintage feel may go well with the artwork - something along these lines:
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-il…st=cb92cf0
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-il…st=cb92cf0
(although that isn't an essential design element - open to creative suggestions from the designer)

Strong preference for original work. Please note if you do use any copyrighted material as we wish to avoid any infringement and take those costs into account.