looking for more of an older black book image - well worn, but perhaps emanating light -showing source for sacred transformational travel.

Found a picture that sort of captures the idea of the book and light. I would take this one and rotate it with the long edge facing me, and make the light come out of all the edges.: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1204250

And these pictures show the angle and locks, as well as some embossing although the books are a little too thick:

http://cliparto.com/image/3184962-old-book-/
http://cliparto.com/image/3184830-old-book-/

the idea is that a black book is where all of your secret contacts are contained. So the lock is important, and opening with the light indicates the magic involved with our contacts and travel.

Hi Everyone,
Getting some good feedback from friends, and want to explore further the possibilities that don't include the book, and different colors than black and gold. I will update comments on individual artists to see if I can explain further.

Thank you very much.

Another possibility to explore instead of the book graphic, would be a temple, or animal, or ruins? Just wanting to see more of a range of possibilities related to our concept.

Many thanks for your amazing work so far.

Sorry for the waffling folks, but I'm being swayed by opinions, and want to get back to the original graphic that represent the idea of the secrets of the black book being revealed relative to travel. As opposed to an animal or abstract figure. Thank you for your efforts.

A friend made a great point that some of the books look a little to much like bibles, and so maybe why keeping them thinner and some compass type embossing would help.

With the first phase coming to a close, I want to thank everyone for participating with your great talents.

And summarize my thoughts and feelings around the top five logos and designers so far:

#18 has simplicity and captures the black book, travel, and shamanic elements, and may need some tweaking with the font to capture the luxury
#67 has simplicity and elegance and captures the black book and may need some tweaking on the travel font and something to capture the shamanic
#65 captures the black book may need toning down or simplifying, i.e. thinner book and darker color highlights instead of the bright gold , is a little warmer or rustic, and captures the shamanic with recommended tweaks, and could capture more luxury with tweaks to the font perhaps
#7 and #55 both capture elegance and luxury, with subtle shamanic and travel hints, and may need something to capture the book and shamanic elements

I feel they each have good ascetic appeal and memorable and professional feel. I look forward to the next phase and am very grateful for all of the hard work and dedication.

So it looks like we have 3 more days for the second phase, and I really like the top entries and will check with partners that have been away the last couple of days and get this dialed in. I think we are really close. It's my first time at this, so I appreciate your patience and great efforts.

Can't drag and drop on my tablet right now but #110 and #117 will replace the current top two and we will look more in several hours from now and back on main computer. Thanks!