6 Branding Lessons from the
Pioneers of Weed Design
Four experts in cannabis culture explain how to brand a high-demand,
once-illegal product.
Carey Dunne
he marijuana industry never had room for professional
design while stuck in the criminal sector. For decades, goofy
stoner iconography, such as pot-leaf decals and so much
tie-dye, were the de facto brand of marijuana in the popular
imagination. Product packaging was limited to cellophane
baggies and the tools
of commerce (head
THE POT INDUSTRY
shops, guys on bicycles)
IS POISED TO GROW operating discreetly.
FASTER THAN THE
But in the wake of
Colorado’s
historic
SMARTPHONE
decision to legalize
marijuana
for
INDUSTRY.
recreational
use,
states are lining up--and so are designers, entrepreneurs,
architects, and advertisers. An estimated $2.34 billion worth
of legal weed will be sold in 2014. The pot industry is poised
to grow faster than the smartphone industry. We’re at the
cusp of a gold rush to commercialize the plant and create
products for emerging marijuana markets like health care
and luxury accessories. We’re seeing the emergence of
everything from diamond-encrusted vaporizers to cannabisinfused pet food. For designers and branding professionals,
landing a marijuana account may become as coveted as
landing a liquor or car account.
So what do designers need to know about this emerging
marketplace? Co.Design culled insights on the burgeoning
industry from four cannabis industry experts: David
Bienenstock, a cannabis consultant and former editor at High
Times; Cheryl Shuman, an L.A.-based PR and marketing
consultant known as the “Martha Stewart of Marijuana
Branding;” James Kennedy, founder of Apothecanna, the
first U.S. skincare company licensed to use cannabis flower
extracts in its products; and Ryan Mungia, author of Pot
Shots, a book about California’s marijuana dispensaries.