layout breakdown

Here are some sketches and rough layouts for a feature profile story about two guys who took an energy bar that was created by the US Army and then branded it for the general public. The name of the energy bar is "Hooah"

The working headline and deck:
It’s not just an energy bar, it’s an adventure
Is this anytime to tie a consumer brand to the U.S. Army? The brains behind the HOOAH! bar think so

I was thinking conceptual, photo-illustration, like Zachary Scott (view his work at http://sharpeonline.com/)


Since the story is about to guys going to the military, getting the recepie, which is public domain information, and making it their own by packaging it and naming it. I had the idea to merge the military aspect of the story with the civilian, such as a supermarket. So I thought it be funny to see two soldiers gaurding a supermarket aisle. The 2nd sketch was a portrait based opener and dressing the 2 owners in camo. The last was a juxtoposition of a soldier on base and the 2 owners standing in the same position in the supermarket More military/supermarket ideas. (my personal favorite)


I asked the photographer to embed the 2 guys in a line of soldiers working out. The 2 guys are indicated below in pink. (I also kept pushing for the 2 guys standing while a carpet of soldiers crawled underfoot and the supermarket idea)
First stab. The concept on the top layout was making the headline look like a nutrition info found on packaging. The photos were shot by chris mcpherson http://www.chrismcpherson.com