Graphic Design, A joy or a challenge?

As a designer I am a very visual person.  Images can have such an emotional impact on us, depending on  your own sensitivities.  Images are very personal, meaning that various colors or textures can impact individuals in different ways according to your preferences.  

When it comes to graphic design I am still learning my way.  I have a great friend, with whom I went to Graduate school, that is an amazing graphic designer (yes Katie, I am talking about you)!  Whenever I need to design an advertisement or even a website or blog, I try to "channel Katie."  

As a company, we are still developing our style of "branding".  Our intention is to be sophisticated  and elegant, mixing classic elements with a modern edge.  With the help of my fabulous intern, Alex (a whiz at photoshop, much faster than I am ), we put together this "before and after" ad from one of our bathroom remodels.  It will run in the April/May issue of Home magazine.

Our final ad for Home magazine, let us know what you think about it.  I tend to prefer clean, simple ads with more visual impact than written information.   

Our second choice, I love the color mix, but it seems to draw the eye away from the images more than I wanted.  What do you think?