I'm putting together a box ad (336x280) here is what I have so far but I'm not completely happy with it and I thought a second opinion or a few more brains could help... after messing with a design for a while your brain goes crazy.


http://advertel.com/ads/square-ad.jpg

Looks OK to me.
Snoopys head touching the top of the graphic is annoying to the eye, reduce the size slightly.
Also the mask around the shadow under the 3 kids is not complete so some white shows through. I would remove the scrappy shadow all together.

I'm with MrTom, and will go one step further. The text is also on the edge. Give yourself a little room around the sides.

Nice ad but the first thing that stood out to me was the background. Reminds me of the Mexican and Italian Flags, not so much Christmas. I agree with the other comments, no shadow & give yourself some room.

Maybe go for a softer gradient as a background, red and green are really harsh on the eyes.

You could use the red/green gradient combo in the text, that would look nice.

Happy Holidays!

From a quick glance it looks like a pizza box or something