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In the auto industry, design departments create camouflage patterns to disguise future products while they are being tested on open roads, leaving a bit of mystery for the new vehicle's debut. Newsweek was given the unique opportunity to design a camouflage wrap for a brand-new vehicle—not just to disguise specific features underneath, but to also show off a brand-new electric truck to the public for the first time.
Ahead of this project, Newsweek's creative team had never designed camouflage before, let alone for a vehicle. Embracing the project, Carrie Bremner, Newsweek's art director, took inspiration from previous designs used by automakers, but one thing was immediately clear: This wrap had to wear Newsweek's brand colors. A sea of black and white just wouldn't do.
Looking at the brand marks available, Bremner started playing with logos in a "very experimental" fashion, making patterns and shapes then distorting those, disassembling them and simplifying them in an effort to see what might work.
Bremner had to take into consideration the scale of the project—a vehicle is far larger than the average issue of Newsweek magazine—and what a pattern would look like when photographed. For assistance, Newsweek leaned on the expertise of Slate's team and project partner, 360 Wraps, who walked Bremner through their knowledge of putting together just the right pattern for a vehicle.
Bremner created a dozen different camouflage pattern samples, which were then narrowed down to the three favorites among the group. Based on recommendations, the prospective wrap patterns were scaled down to one-fifth of their original size to aid in the camouflage effect.
The pattern that was chosen was inspired by a motor sport checkered flag. Bremner pushed beyond by reaching back into history for the various red-and-white Newsweek logos, adding in an elongated "N" logo reminiscent of the Newsweek logo from the 1930s and 1940s, back when Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford graced the cover with his Quadricycle.
