I think that it is a great concept, but that image needs some more work. The 3 different images look very disjointed. You need to figure out how to make them flow together, which I think would create a more cohesive, better looking image. Illustrator is a tough program to use. Google up some tutorials or try fixing the image up in photoshop or paint shop pro instead.
About the # of buttons, I think 2 should be just fine.