GPP v3 — Hero Options (6 directions)

6 candidates brand-over-Justin click any image to zoom

Per your directive: "talk with your build team to discuss options, then send me options in a gallery style." Team input below, 6 hero concept directions after, each with pros/cons + the exact prompt used. Tell me a number.

What the build team said

Aleph (QA, iMac)
"Two directions: Van mid-arrival — someone showed up (Option 01/02 hybrid). Or hands on work — honest, anti-corporate, no heroics (Option 04). Both brand-over-person. Pairs with 'Done right. First visit.'"
Blue (voice research, iMac)
"Hero should confirm 'this is a real person from here.' Specific Fox Valley geography + anti-upsell promise belongs in the hero, not page 3. Favors Option 02 (human in context) or Option 03 (owner context with customer). NOTE: the B&W handshake concept is Nagatha's, not from my comp research — inspiration is Tony LaMartina."
Skippy (Elder AI, toolset lead)
"Routing: LoRA/Flux for identity shots (02, 03). Gemini Flash for bulk-iterate no-identity (01, 06). gpt-image-1 for craft/text/detail (04, 05, 06 water-heater hero). Mask+edit unlocks fixes without regen across all six."
Nagatha (me, coordinator)
"My top-2: Option 02 (Walk-Up) for the strongest story + Option 04 (Macro Wrench) as a secondary tile if we want craft-forward. Option 03 needs a B&W conversion + identity lock rebuild, high effort, potentially highest payoff."

6 hero directions

OPTION 01
The Van — Curb Arrival
Grok Imagine · 16:9
Calm arrival. Quiet neighborhood.

Van pulled up to a brick colonial, golden hour. Reads as 'just showed up.' Low drama, classic Midwest family-plumber feel.

Pros
  • Brand-over-person (no face, no identity risk)
  • Full residential context — home + trees + driveway — sets geography instantly
  • Lots of sky in upper-left for headline breathing room
Cons
  • Still a parked van. Codex's critique of the current hero applies — no human, no motion, no story beyond 'a van is here'.
  • Brick house reads slightly Northeast/South, not Chicago suburbs. Can regen for siding-style home.
prompt
Plain unmarked white Ford E-Series van parked curbside of a 2-story suburban colonial home, golden hour, mature maple trees, brick mailbox. Empty left third for headline. No logos, no text.
OPTION 02
The Walk-Up
Grok Imagine · 16:9
Human presence. Working-class composure.

Plumber back-to-camera walking up the driveway toward a colonial home, van behind him, canvas tool bag in hand, sunset behind. The strongest storytelling candidate.

Pros
  • Brand-over-person — face NOT visible (back-to-camera) so Justin doesn't own the brand
  • Human presence communicates 'a real person is coming to fix it' without face risk
  • Golden hour sunset reads warm and real, not corporate
  • Aleph's #1 pick (Direction 1): 'The story is someone showed up'
Cons
  • If we use this, we don't want to use it ALSO on the residential service tiles (brand consistency — pick one canonical walk-up shot)
  • Sunset behind the plumber can burn the headline white-on-white if we don't dim the right side
prompt
Mid-20s man in navy work polo walking away from camera up driveway of 2-story colonial, canvas tool bag in right hand, white unmarked van behind him. Golden hour sunset behind. No logos, no text, no face visible.
OPTION 03
The Handshake (B&W candid)
Grok Imagine · 16:9
Trust moment. Magazine-editorial. Tony LaMartina reference.

Plumber at the front door mid-handshake with homeowner. Candid, pre-service trust moment. The direct narrative competitor: Tony LaMartina Plumbing's hero is literally this shot in B&W.

Pros
  • Most storytelling-per-pixel of the set — whole value prop (human shows up + greets customer) in one frame
  • Anti-corporate by construction — no stock-shop sterility
  • Blue's research: the competitors that WORK on copy do it by 'owner in context, specific geography, not posed in a showroom' — this delivers that visually
  • Pairs naturally with voice-spec headline: 'Same-day plumbing service across the Chicago suburbs.'
Cons
  • Grok rendered it in color — needs a B&W conversion pass (5min post-process)
  • Plumber's face is VISIBLE here (3/4 profile) — this is the one candidate that makes 'brand-over-Justin' harder. Could re-frame so we only see his back + shoulder from behind, homeowner in focus
  • Two-character scene: harder to get Justin's identity locked without the Flux LoRA + multi-ref (Skippy flagged as the tooling choice — fal Flux Kontext Multi)
  • Blue corrected my earlier attribution: the B&W handshake is MY idea, not from his research. Inspiration is Tony LaMartina, not comp-set consensus.
prompt
Young man in navy polo extending right hand for handshake to homeowner in open front door of suburban American home. Three-quarter angle, candid, pre-service moment. No logos, no text.
OPTION 04
The Craft — Macro Wrench
gpt-image-1 · 3:2 (gpt native)
Craftsmanship. Anti-flashy. Utility-company energy.

Extreme close-up: work-calloused hand on a Ridgid pipe wrench clamped to a copper elbow. No face, no scene, just the craft. The work IS the brand.

Pros
  • Most anti-corporate candidate — doesn't try to sell, just shows the work
  • Gpt-image-1 renders hands/tools near-photoreal (Skippy's routing was right: hands are where other models fail)
  • Aleph's #2 pick (Direction 2): 'Honest and anti-corporate in a way the parked-van-alone isn't, because there's a human presence without making it about Justin specifically'
  • Pairs with copy like 'Done right. First visit.' per Aleph
  • Ridgid brand on the wrench is real — not made-up AI text
Cons
  • Zero geographic context — could be any plumber anywhere. Loses the 'family plumber in the Chicago suburbs' angle
  • 3:2 aspect (gpt native), not 16:9 — needs a crop pass for hero widescreen or we redesign hero to handle 3:2
  • No van = no brand object. Might be TOO anti-corporate for a business that needs to look legit
prompt
Extreme macro of work-calloused hand on Ridgid 14" pipe wrench clamped to copper elbow fitting, navy polo sleeve cuff visible at edge. Shallow DOF, warm natural daylight.
OPTION 05
The Quote — Flat-Rate Trust
gpt-image-1 · 3:2 (gpt native)
Transparency moment. The price-before-wrench-turns promise.

Hands writing on yellow invoice pad at a granite kitchen island, warm pendant lights. Photographs the trust moment the voice research called out as the #1 fear driver ('you'll get the price before we start').

Pros
  • Most literal visualization of GPP's voice-spec differentiator: 'flat-rate quotes on arrival'
  • Zero face risk — hands-only
  • Kitchen-island context is HEAVILY residential — reads family-home immediately
  • Warm pendant lighting + fruit bowl = lived-in, real, not staged
Cons
  • Not a 'hero moment' — reads more like a service-page tile than a homepage opener
  • 3:2 from gpt — crop pass needed
  • Anti-action — the whole image is someone writing. May not convert visitors into 'call now' mode
  • Works better as trust-band section further down the page than as THE hero
prompt
Hands and navy-sleeved forearms writing on yellow invoice pad on granite kitchen island. Warm pendant lights, blurred kitchen in background.
OPTION 06
The Neighborhood — Wide Context
Grok Imagine · 16:9
Your neighborhood, not a showroom.

Wide residential-street view: van parked at a colonial home, neighboring houses visible, kid's bike leaning against porch, mature trees. Geographic context maxed out.

Pros
  • Sells 'your neighborhood plumber' visually in a single frame
  • No face, no person-centric risk
  • Lots of sky + empty street (left) for headline breathing room
  • Blue's research: 'specific local claim > generic value prop' — this IS the local claim visually
Cons
  • Very quiet — if someone lands here with a leak, the calm-neighborhood vibe may not match their urgency
  • Harder to read at mobile sizes — the wide composition loses context when cropped
  • Same 'parked van' critique as Option 01 — no motion, no story beyond geography
prompt
Wide residential street view: white unmarked van parked at 2-story suburban colonial, neighboring homes, mature maple trees, kid's bicycle, brick mailbox. Golden hour, open sky.

Nagatha · Aleph · Blue · Skippy · 2026-04-22 · 6 hero candidates