At this point I have a pretty firm idea of where I want the image to go both thematically and visually. However before the last stretch I had to allow myself the chance to explore the other possibilities in my head. 

The background showcasing the towns living amongst the landscape had a solid design from the beginning. I did want to look at utilising different shapes that could represent the area I live in more. Some alternative designs were more interesting both in color and composition (the iteration with the pink sky) however distracted from the main focus of the antenna on the hill. Ultimately the narrative/idea takes importance over squeezing out every drop of visual pizzazz. 

I'm particular to vibrant skies however after exploring some other variations of the colour I found that if too bright, the sky draws away from the focus point. I'm trying to work from a limited palette and still feel that the blue and purple accented with small hints of warm oranges/yellows feels the strongest.

For the antenna, I know I want the design to remain simple, friendly and appealing against the backdrop. In this constraint, I have been avoiding throwing cables, greebles and other such scifi extras into the mix (which is very difficult as I love that stuff!). An iteration I was particularly fond of was shaped like a lavender flower but ended up too complicated.
I iterated on the design by hopping into blender and mocking up the alternative shapes. Playing around with the shaders to achieve the luminescent/iridescent look was quite fun.
Sadly it looks like scifi lollypop won't win though!