Swagger Revisited

This week marks the passing of an era here at Blue Ion. Force Protection came to us as a small, 3-person operation in 2004 with a specialty in creating armored trucks that featured v-hulls whose most common application is to soften the ride in boats. This proven, battle-tested technology on vehicles was common in other parts of the world. But to the US military, it was breaking new ground. If you know nothing else about these vehicles – know this: if you find yourself on the receiving end of an IED or RPG or stacked anti-tank mines, you want to be in this vehicle. There’s a better than good chance you’ll live, and that in itself is amazing.

What started with making each vehicle by hand turned into a full-blown assembly line operation cranking out Buffalos and Cougars as official programs of record for the US Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. Even the British and Canadians got in on the action with their own variants. Force Protection vehicles are at the front-lines of every major American conflict since 2004, and most of the original trucks are still up and putting in service.

We actually went through 2 iterations of websites for Force Protection through the years. Throughout both, we knew the headlines, images, and overall vibe had to be one of a confident swagger. These vehicles are the best. Their technology is second to none. And they save lives.

Now that the company has been acquired by General Dynamics and the Buffalo and Cougar join their cousins the Abrams tank and Stryker combat vehicle, there may be less opportunity for the individual focus these vehicles received previously. We wanted to take a moment and thank the awesome folks at Force Protection for the chance to present their brand to the world. And many thanks to the hard working folks that put together each truck and got them to the front lines where they belong.

Below, we leave you with a sample of banners that we created for the original website that have some of that swagger feel.