Graphic Design: Directory Cover

I was asked to design a church directory cover.

On my quest to design an awesome directory cover, I settled upon an art deco inspired style.  It's classy, evokes that sophisticated, upon the edge of greatness feel, and I like it. Here is the final image.

 I also went with an interior image, bucking the trend of a steeple image on the front. I did this for a couple of reasons- a steeple is typical and what you would expect.  Second, the church had just renovated the sanctuary, so it made sense to show it off.

The finished cover, less text.

I had originally pictured an Irish rope design around the border with an ornate gold cross, but that idea thankfully evolved.

A few themes inspired by the Empire State Building, because that building is classic art deco:

Simplicity.

The Empire State building influence is easily recognizable.

This one is a bit too busy.

I culled those ideas into something simpler, so the border would not overtake the image. You can see the influences of the sketches above in the border below.

I still felt the border was too much and scaled it back farther. At this point, it started actually looking good, and I transitioned to the final image.