THE TEA Concept · Stock library
Concept brief
What tea.photo is for, who it serves, and the information architecture planned once B2B demand is validated.
Purpose
A stock-photo library for tea subjects, offered on a subscription basis. Planned categories: leaf (dry, wet, liquor) · ware (gaiwan, pot, kettle, scale, cup) · plantations (tea-growing regions) · ambient (session shots, hands, steam) · events (cuppings, ceremonies) · macro.
- Leaf
- Ware
- Plantations
- Ambient
- Events
- Macro
Internal role
Beyond external subscriptions, tea.photo is planned as the internal source of real photography for the other siblings in THE TEA constellation — replacing placeholder graphics with named, provenance-tracked photos, per the house rule against AI imagery.
Audience
- Tea brands needing product photography
- Editorial publications, food writers, and bloggers
- Tea shops and cafés for interior and menu use
- Educators — course material for tea.school
- Internal — the other sibling sites across the constellation
| Path | What is there |
|---|---|
| / | Hero grid teaser, categories, search |
| /browse | Full library with filters — category, region, color, mood, license |
| /photo/[id] | Detail view — large preview, photographer, license tiers, related photos |
| /category/[id] | Browse by category |
| /region/[id] | Browse by tea region, cross-linked with the Tea Path atlas |
| /photographer/[id] | Photographer profile and portfolio |
| /license | Tier explainer — editorial, commercial, extended |
| /subscription | Plans — 10, 50, or unlimited photos per month |
| /internal | Free feed for the THE TEA family of sites |
Validation before build
Per house practice, this concept is not built until it clears a four-step validation pipeline — jobs-to-be-done analysis, mom-test interviews, a design sprint, and a build / kill / pivot decision. See the validation pipeline on the home page.