Bungie deliberately chose a muted color palette for Destiny to make things feel aged.
Bungie's presenters cited sculptor Takayuki Takeya, known for the Super Imaginative Chogokin series and the mechanical designs for the anime series Gilgamesh, and artist and sculptor Kow Yokoyama, perhaps best known for work on Maschinen Krieger (Ma.K ZBV3000).
The map of all the "time holes" in the universe from Terry Gilliam's 1981 fantasy film, Time Bandits. This would appear to be an inspiration for both the concept and the look and feel of Destiny's solar system map.
Bungie cites the works of film director and Monty Python memberTerry Gilliam, in specific TIme Bandits, as a source of inspiration for its humor, imagination, art design, and its ancient maps.
The hangar where players will store their personal spaceships migrates from the space station in orbit to the tower beside the city.
The base of the tower where players will congregate and prepare to go out adventuring.
The thick walls around humanity's last safe city on Earth emphasizes the dangers that lurk beyond.
Bungie's concept of the center of Destiny's world crystallizes in this image of the mysterious alien artifact known as The Traveler hovers above the last human city where players will make their home.
The ruins of Chicago have been mentioned, but I'm still not sure where Destiny's last city is.