Close to Finished?

I think I've almost got these ads as good as I can make them:

3 x 10.5

5 x 5

8 x 10

Thoughts?

Changing the Plan (for the better)

   Despite my disappointing progress so far, I think I've had a bit of an epiphany on how to improve.  I hadn't decided to do this, but I've been trying to take these different elements and fit them together to build a seamless new picture.  Considering what I'm trying to go for, letting my image actually look like a collage might be the best direction to go in.  So I'm going to just pick patterns that work well with certain teas and cut them into shapes and lines that I can use to build a picture.
   I still don't know which tagline to pick, but "Experience the world with Teavana" seemed to pop more than the others, so I'm going to go with something along those lines.
   I also like the idea that was suggested to me about putting maps of where the teas are from in the background.  So, a lot of crunch work ahead!

Ad "Progress"

   I am terrible with Photoshop!
   I'm not giving up or anything, but all the trouble I've been having just getting the basics down is a bit discouraging.  So far, this is all I've got to show for myself:

   Still, better than nothing, right?  ...riiiight?
   Well, in my defense, I had quite a lot of other work I had to finish right away, and once that was done it was either try to fix this thing I'm not even sure I'll stick with or try to get three hours of sleep.  I stand by my decision.
   I do think I understand what to do better now, and thankfully I've still got the weekend to work.  I think I should play with my composition ideas again if I want this to look good.

Project Two Step Four

In my research on Teavana, I've had some trouble finding ads besides the ones that occasionally come up on my banners after looking them up on the Internet myself.  That makes sense, in retrospect, as I even found an article on the company stating that their business strategy relies on "virtually no advertising," instead focusing on tea culture, mall foot traffic, and word of mouth.  Well, it does seem to be working for them.
So, I decided instead to pick some images from their site as examples of their advertising.

I like their style: clean, crisp, and colorful, everything looks beautiful and tasty.  Still, you're not likely to see it unless you know about them already.  I don't like to be swamped with ads any more than the next person, but I believe they would benefit from more exposure.
I get a similar feeling watching the videos on their YouTube channel: the people they have to speak seem to know their stuff and some viewers love the real-person appeal, but for that same reason they can come off looking a bit unprofessional compared to ads with actors and professional speakers.

Since Teavana doesn't have their own tagline, I've been playing around with some that I hope will be good:

• Tea can transport you.
• Tea can take you there.
• Travel the world in a cup.
• Entire worlds in one cup.
• An entire world in a cup.
• Drink in the world.
• Experience the world with Teavana.
• Tastes of the world from Teavana.

What do you think?

Advertisement Project Progress

Step Three: Unfortunately, Teavana's logo isn't on Brands of the World, but this image from their home site should be ok.

I'm finding a lot of images I think would work well for my theme, now it's a matter of designing the composition and narrowing down to just what I need.

Logos Final Versions

Almost forgot to upload the final versions of my logos.

Textual:

Illustrative:

As my personal stamp for the rest of the semester, I've picked my black text on red background textual logo.

Project Two-Step One

Okay, if I had to prioritize the companies I picked last night, it would be:
1) Teavana
2) KitchenAid
3) Pixar

After talking about it in class just now, I'm really leaning to Teavana.  I think I've made my decision!  Yay!
So, now that I've got that out of the way, I want to work out a plan for step two so that I don't waste time just flipping through magazines hoping for something I like.  What really interested me was the idea of using some of the designs and textures from the merchandise in the ad, although I also like the "tea lifestyle" aesthetic too.  I plan on spending today looking at Teavana's ads to get a little inspiration.
OOOH!  Just had an idea, want to write it down: maybe a tea set that is sort of a window into other worlds?  To evoke that meditative feeling you can get drinking a good cup of tea.  Also I just love tea sets.