Euphoric Branding: The Rise of a Dispensary

Euphoric Branding The Rise of a Dispensary Written and Designed by Katie Wood

About the Designer Katie Wood is a driven graphic designer who has recieved her Bacherlor of Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design from Maine College of Art. She has worked as a design intern with Toderico Creative in Portland, ME, and Engine: Propelling the Creative Community in Biddeford, ME. She is passionate in multiple fields of graphic design such as branding, UI and UX design, and environmental design.

She believes that all of these fields interrelate with each other. They are what builds the face of a company and shape what they serve to the audience. chaosncontrol.com Edited and produced by Katie Wood Concepts and art direction by Katie Wood Book Design by Katie Wood Š Katie Wood 2020 Special thanks to my design group for be an amazing team and encouraging me to push the boundaries as I always do. Special thanks to Charlse Melcher and David Puelle for being amazing mentors in this endeavor and for giving me insight on how I can push Euflorie even further in the real world outside of graduation. Thank you all the dispensaries I have visited: Fire on Fore and Wellness Connections of Maine, for anserwing my questions and letting me poke around the store for inspiration. Finally, special thanks goes out to my family and boyfriend for your own insight and inspiration as I developed this brand.

Typefaces Lakeside Regular and Bernhard Gothic URW Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts, Maine College of Art, Portland Maine, May 11, 2020 Major in Graphic Design.

C

t s n e ton Intro

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Putting Ideas Together Feeling Euflorie

Dispensary in Type

Logo Ideas and Thumbnails My First Round of Logos

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Some Designs Just Don’t Word We Have a Logo!

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Thinking in Colors

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Experimentation in Packaging Rocking Shirts and Mugs

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Educating New Patients The Medicinal Side Looking Posh

Finishing Touches

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Euphoric Branding The Rise of a Dispensary

A journey into the world of cannabis and recreational growing. Join me as I explore ideas and inspirations for branding a dispensary that focuses on the euphoric feeling one experiences using cannabinoid products.

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ot only has the legalization of recreational growth opened gates for a booming industry, but it has also given way to a niche in the graphic design industry. Now that cannabis has lost its grungy lifestyle and users and growers no longer have to be in the dark, dispensaries have taken on a new, high-end style.

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Many dispensaries such as Grass Roots in San Francisco, California have designed their

space and brand to feel like an elegant smoke room. With custom wood interior, display cases and warm tones to make the buyer feel comfortable and know that they are good hands. Grass Roots is said to be the first dispensary to have taken an elegant route, setting the bar high for competitors and allies alike. But, it also sets a tone for designers to either follow or to go an entirely different route.

Interior of Euflorie, Designed by Katie Wood

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Putting Ideas Together

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hen I first started thinking about my thesis, I knew I wanted to explore the branding in cannabis industries. This is not only one of the largest growing industries, but this topic is also of particular interest to me because in the past I had taken part in a passion project of creating tasteful edibles. Through this venture, I learned different techniques of making edibles through hash and butter. While also learning formulas for the dosage of edibles and multiple medical benefits of cannabis.

However, the venture was a short one, but I never lost the passion for creating these treats because it was a way to experiment with different forms of treats and topicals.

Marigold Brand Identity, designed by Cocorrina

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Marisol Cannabis Queen, designed by Rina Je

Before started anything in the branding process, I needed to figure out a name for the dispensary but also I needed to think about the key characteristics of the brand. That is where Moodboards come into play.

Moodboards are used to gather inspiration for a project, but also allows me to picture the brand and decide what I want to pursue as a direction.

I created three different types of MBs, the first two are very similar in what kind of direction I wanted the logo of the dispensary to be. I wanted the logo to incorporate the figure of a woman and tie to nature in someway.

The third Moodboard was entirely about the interior and layout of the dispensary. I was asking myself, do I want this brand to feel clean and medical or smoky, cafe-style. Once I figured that out, the rest is history.

BAM Karaoke Box, Paris France

Art Nouveau Matchstick Collection

LUXE Botantics, Organic Skin Care Packaging Design

Ceremony Botanical Studio Designed by Neighborhood Studio

CHANELl NO. 5 Stretched Canvas by Juan Zavala

Feeling Euflorie E

ufloria. A name I have been wrestling with the past few weeks. To me, the name of the dispensary is the most important because it sets the brand in motion. It is what users interface with, so when thinking about the name I often ask myself, “How do I want this dispensary to look?”, “How do I want it to feel and be seen by the users?”. I often think about my own experiences with cannabis, how I feel floaty and at peace. That is how I want the users to experience when interacting with the dispensary as a space and brand. To feel comfortable and to know that their needs will be taken care of.

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This poster was really just a quicky, playing with concepts and style. I am inspired by painters Salvador Dali, Georgia O’Keefe, and photographers Mann Ray and Dora Marr. How they incorporate nature and sensuality into their work is just awe-striking. But, the more I look at it the more I want the dispensary to have this euphoric feeling. I don’t necessarily want to be experienced as a trip ship, but as a place that draws from nature. A place that respects nature because it is beautiful and dangerous. I may use this poster as more of a piece of decor but would like to continue using this idea to further my ideas.

Euflorie Decor Poster

The Dispensary in Type G

etting trippy up in here! Seriously though, this poster is intended to describe my thesis to viewers by only using type. I find this to be challenging, but in a good way because I have never really used just type in a design. I have always been a go big or go home with graphics and making the page explode. This design is still loud in my kind of way, but I think it envelopes the smokey, hazy characteristics that I want to display in the dispensary.

The center of this poster is the name of the dispensary that I have finally landed on after much debate. This stemmed from the first poster I designed just for fun, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted the dispensary to portray the euphoric feeling in the poster. I love the idea of having the woman in the poster as an icon for the brand. Not just in the logo but the feeling she is projecting in the poster.

She is the embodiment of the feeling of euphoria, she is enjoying the moment but is also at peace. She looks comfortable and warm, possibly projecting the feeling of smoking the cherry ghost x lemony sniffets plant that is displayed in the poster as well.

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Back to the type only poster, I was experimenting with the warping of the type, which I know seriously pisses off some designers, to create this psychedelic illusion one might feel while ingesting a certain strain of cannabis.

I really had no idea where I was going with this poster, but when I started to arrange it on the page I realized that it was creating a very organic shape. I really then starting manipulating the type to create these petal-like shapes and arrange them to create an abstract plant. This is in no way shape or form trying to represent a cannabis plant, but to give this organic shape that ties into my intention of having the brand be inspired by floral species. I intend to use this poster and the female poster, to further inspire the design of the brand and to push the boundaries of the dispensary can be.

Final Iteration of Type Only Poster

Round 1of Type Only Poster

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Round 2 of Type Only Poster

Round 3 of Type Only Poster

Round 4 of Type Only Poster

Logo Ideas and Thumbnails I

t’s time to start thinking about the logo of the dispensary. How I see it, I can’t start anything in the branding process until I have the characteristics formed in t he logo. I want the dispensary to be a comfortable, café style establishment where customers can come in and now that their needs will be taken care of. The logo, which is what they will interface with, reassures them that they are in the right place. For my ideas, I have drawn wispy characters who are projecting the feelings of euphoria. I want the image to allude to the female form while also having the smoky characteristics of a dispensary and feel of the plant. Some of these thumbnails may be a little too sexy, giving the wrong idea about what the dispensary is about.

But, I’m going to try them anyway just to see where it goes.

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Beginning Sketches

Inspiration Sited for Wisp Logo #1

Inspiration Sited for Wisp Logo #2

Inspiration Sited for Wisp Logo #3

Inspiration Sited for Wisp Logo #4

Initial Sketches for Wisp Logo

My First Round of Logos T

he first round of logos and I am loving the results! Each logo gives a different feeling through the facial expression of the woman, but the two on the left are a little too sexual for the dispensary. The one on the bottom is great because it gives this sense of discovery with realizing that a woman is coming out of the smoke. But, the logo that to the right of the top row has this beautiful flowing figure that also takes the shape of a cannabis bud. It also has a more comfortable, cozy, euphoric feeling that I want to imbue in this dispensary.

The typography needs work, it’s better to have the word “euflorea” in all lowercase to give the comfortable, psychedelic feeling, I’m still battling with the name because I want eufloria as the name but there are already nine active trademarks and two of them are owned by a dispensary in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Tulsa, of all places! Grrrr, this is really frustrating but that is usually how it goes. I might make one more version that combines the two...I don’t know we’ll see.

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First Round of Wisp logos

Wisp Logo Number 2

Wisp Logo Number 3

Some Designs Just Don’t Work H

mmmm...this is an example of when we have gone too far in the logo and need to step back. Here I tried to combine the two logos that I liked the best from the first round, the best of both worlds kind of thing, and it ultimately didn’t work. When doing this logo, no matter what it just wasn’t coming out as strong as the last ones. I could feel my creative process fighting with me as if the designer in me knew that this version wasn’t going to work. Guess what? It was right! I think the only way that was going to make this better is if I stopped working digitally and redrew the figure. But, my mind kept going back to the quiet wisp and how it worked and came out in digital form and I could easily see how I could work her form and wisp in the rest of the brand. So in the end, I guess this exercise was good because it showed me what wasn’t going to work and now I know where I need to go.

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Compilation of First Rounds of Logos and Last Round of Different Wisps

Typography Arrangement Experimentation

We Have a Logo!

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have decided to go with the more comfortable wisp and changed the name from euflorea to euflorie. This is basically the combination of euphoria and flora in spelled in their french translation of euphorie and flore. The idea popped in my head to look up the french translations of the word combos and use that as the name of the dispensary, I looked it up and there aren’t any trademarks for euflorie and when googled the only thing that comes up is what looks like a florist company in the Netherlands.

So I think I’m good! I might buy the trademark for euflorie because I do see this dispensary becoming a real thing and if I’m putting all this hard work into it, then I might as well.

Back to the logo, the reason I am going with this wisp is that she gives this comfortable, cozy feeling that I want the dispensary to be characterized as. Also, the fact that her form looks like a bud of a cannabis plant when it is crystalizing is plus. In this logo, I am projecting the smokiness of the dispensary but also showing the euphoric feeling that one experiences on cannabis. As I continue this brand, I realize that I am focusing more on the plant and its properties. So both the plant and the experience should be imbued in the logo.

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Final Logo Lockup

With this logo, the placement of the typography is really important. I played with many different positionings, thinking about the relationship of the decorative, hand-script type and how it would appear on different lockups such as business cards and packaging. In the end, I decided to go with the version where the typography is nestled along with the wisp’s arms. It seems to fit there and work with the flow of the curving lines of the body and smoke. One idea that has been suggested is to play with the type so that some parts mimic the shapes in the wisp. I feel like it is important to at least try it, although I have no idea how it will turn out.

Next thing is to apply color variations for the-wisp, I’d like to experiment with how the colors will work with the smokiness and euphoric feeling that is the dispensary’s brand.

Thinking in Colors O

h, how I do love colors.

Not only do I enjoy color variations in a brand, but it also aids me in seeing how the brand will be felt by its targeted audience. The color palette of the brand gives it the key characteristics, whether it is the use of purples and gold to make feel luxurious and high-end or using dark color palettes of grey, black, and red to feel grungy.

For euflorie, I want the brand to feel high-end and dusky. So I took color inspiration from cannabis plants in their crystallization form and created various color palettes that include tones of purple, magenta, gold, and green. In doing this, it ties the brand back to its product, cannabis and the beauty it reveals both as a plant itself and the uses it provides.

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From left to right: various cannabis plants for color inspiration

Some of the color palettes are stronger than others, for example, the palette that includes tones of dark purple, rose, and gold stands out more like a luxury brand and draws people in. Another one that could work is the palette that contains hints of dusky rose/ pale pinks and greens. This draws in the green color of the cannabis plant and has the smokey characteristics I’m looking for.

However, I don’t want to go the cliche route and have the color palette consist of greens. I think that has been done too many times and doesn’t give the euphoric feeling I want either.

So all in all, I have some good ideas for the color palette but need to keep working on it. I might play around with creating smokey, watercolor textures in photoshop then create a clipping mask for the logo. That way, I can still have the smokiness but I won’t lose details like I am losing in gradient usage.

From left to right: various color pallete experimentation

Experimentation in Packaging P

ackaging! Now that the logo is officially in its final form, hopefully, but with designs, there is always room to modify and make improvements over time.

Anyway, with the packaging of edible treats I wanted to create an experience when one opens the package. Most packaging of edibles that I have seen follows the federal regulations of being opaque and sealed.

This means that the packaging must be sealed for freshness but also that a child cannot open the packaging or see what is inside and think that the chocolate can be eaten. No! This is special chocolate that is definitely not for children.

With this in mind and the fact that I wanted to do something different than just a standard box or bag; I designed the packaging to take the shape of a pyramid with a topper

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that keeps it closed. When one takes the topper off, the pyramid then opens up like a blooming flower to reveal the treat. This creates a pleasing experience as one does not expect the pyramid to “bloom�.

At first, I was planning on having a secondary packaging inside the pyramid so the treat would not slide around. But, I realized that would take away from the mystical experience of the blooming package.

One more important thing that is included in this packaging is an information card about the treat that is inserted in the packaging. On this card is a description of the treat including the ingredient list, the dosage of the treat in milligrams, the on-set effect duration, and the duration of the effects.

Pyramid packaging design printed and assembled

The overall design of the packaging has the same watercolor effect as the logo, with the canvas of the base appearing to be a smokey cloud of purples, gold, and rose. While the topper is kept simple with a dark maroon base and the logo placed in one of the panels. The inside of the pyramid is much like a piece of fruit, it is different by the slight color shift but still has the watercolor canvas.

I plan to create more products to further the brand of euflorie by creating packaging for tinctures and topicals. These are CBD products and have more medical uses than THC edibles. I intend to incorporate the same blooming effect in the pyramid to these products but have the tinctures in tall rectangles and the topicals in square boxes.

This will keep the packaging cohesive as I do not plan on using the pyramid packaging for everything. I have already found dielines for these ideas so I look forward to the next steps.

Rocking Shirts and Mugs I

thought it was a good idea to create some merchandise for the dispensary so I can figure out how to get things made for the exhibit. Many dispensaries have merchandise featuring mugs and t-shirts, either depicting the logo or a design that fits with the brand.

For example, Wellness Connections of Maine have mugs that either display the logo in one color on a grey background and has the brand’s orange inside the cup. Another design they have is a cannabis leaf with illustrations of Maine activities creating the shape of the leaf. Both of these designs are simple and effective in broadening the brand’s image.

With euflorie, I decided that I wanted to take the euphoric woman poster and use it as t-shirt graphics. I think that this graphic is really eye-catching and can work for both men and women shirts. I don’t want to stamp the logo on everything and call it done, so I think that using this graphic demonstrates the wide terrain of branding that is going into the dispensary. I probably won’t be able to get these shirts printed because of the multiple colors in the design, not affordably anyway. What I might end up doing is taking the type only poster graphic and make that a t-shirt. This style has the psychedelic/trippy feeling, but also with the typography taking the form of a flower makes the viewer stop and really focus on what is happening.

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Euflorie T-shirt mockuped on Placeit

After the t-shirts, I decided to design mugs as well.

In this iteration, I went with the classic ceramic camper mug because I like the wide body of the mug. I have ideas to take the logo and made a more illustrative graphic with making the wisps the main image. But for now, it is simply the logo on the mug. I think I can definitely get the mugs made for the exhibit by making the logo a one-color version in gold and have the mugs a deep plum color.

The logo works really well in this color lockup because it doesn’t lose the smokey feeling with the plum background, and it still feels luxurious. I don’t know if I’ll stay with the camper mug when it comes to making the real thing, there are other mugs that have a more elegant/curvy figure feel that I think suits the brand more. We shall see.

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Euflorie mug merchandise

Educating New Patients W

hen I first started this project, I wanted to bring in an educational aspect to the company. There is so much information and research about cannabis that goes unseen unless one really looks, and this information is vital for new users. I have been wanting to experiment with infographic design for quite some time now, so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity.

I created three infographic posters that, at first, were going to be hung up in the dispensary for customers to stroll over and read the information. But, I then realized (and was pointed out) that this would be too much information for a patient to take in when I want the dispensary to have a smoky, elegant cafe feeling. Plus, there is no way the patient would be able to remember the information.

So, I then resized the posters to be postcard size so the patients could take them and keep the information on hand. How these postcards stay on brand is that I incorporated the euphoric, smoky effect in the background, and kept the graphics simple so that it is easy to understand. These postcards are also another opportunity for advertising the dispensary as it’s storefront location and social media presence are displayed on the back of each card

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Euflorie Infographic Postcards

Each postcard has a different topic, but each one relates to each other. One is about the differences between CBD v. THC, one on the proper dosage of cannabis for an optimal experience, and the last one is about the Endocannabinoid System in the human body.

(All of the information and research I have collected comes from Leafly, a well-sourced cannabis research database whose goal is to educate the public about cannabis).

These are so important for new patients because it informs them about the products as they start their cannabis journey. The last thing a dispensary wants is a patient having a negative experience on one of their products and not wanting to continue interfacing with them. Or worse telling new potential patients about their negative experience and inhibiting growth in patients

The Medicinal Side B

ringing in the medicinal side of the dispensary. I have started designing the packaging for Euflorie’s CBD products, as suggested by L.K. Weis of Portland Design Co. They insisted that the dispensary should speak to all users of cannabis, both recreational users and medicinal users. This would widen the brand of the dispensary but also make it feel more trustworthy than just pertaining to recreational users.

CBD products have a more medicinal property than THC, they are generally used in topical products such as balms that soothe aching muscles or edible tinctures that one can apply to their drink to give them an extra boost without getting high.

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First Round of CBD Poducts Design

I have made topical products in the past, and have experienced the benefits first hand. When applying the balm, it feels like an icy-hot and has a better smell with the essential oils that are in the balm. The tinctures, I believe, have a better result than say a 5 Hour Energy drink. You don’t experience an energy crash like one would if you had too much coffee, but feel refreshed and energized. I think it’s interesting that you can actually tap into these benefits with the cannabinoids and create certain products for a specific need. Plus the fact that it tastes great is even better.

Restoring, Dzintars Ltd Designed by Marta Gintere

Brain Salad CBD Product Packaging Designed by All this Concept

Viva Sana Organic Suncare Designed by Benji Peck

Sandra Jewelry Packaging Designed by Pavel Vrabie

With the design of this packaging, I wanted to keep the euphoric experience of the blooming box that is in the pyramid packaging in these products. The color palette is toned down to a quieter, more medicinal feeling. I wanted these products to feel trustworthy but also high-end, something one would see in an esthetician’s office. Posh, clean, and still euphoric in the design. In this round though, it feels a little too controlled. I am entirely relying on the base to create the euphoric feeling, and there is not much distinction b etween the two besides the size, and color. So I need to continue pushing the design, working with the 3D plain and push the graphic of the logo farther.

Looking Posh

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ound... I have no idea! Took another crack at the CBD product packaging, this time experimenting with the logo placement to make it more graphic and use the whole plain of the boxes. This was a challenge, as I have a very wispy logo and had to figure out how to connect it across different panels and consider where the dieline folds and connects. After many, many clipping masks and moving pieces of the logo by just a few clicks and multiple rounds of printing and tiling the dieline together; I think we have the final design!

The reason why we are going through this slow process of printing and tiling is that we no longer have access to the school printer. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the school has closed down and moved to remote/online learning since March 20th. Since then, I have had to work my way around this problem and print at home with tiling methods. Thank God my printer at home can actually tile images!

Final Iteration and Mockup of Euflorie CBD Products

Anyway, I really love how the logo moves across the plain of the boxes and brings the whole design together. This really sets the products apart from the recreational treats and extends the brand of Euflorie. How I want to continue these products further is by mocking up the labels on the actual 4oz jars for the topicals and 1oz tinctures.

The Finishing Touches A

s we come closer to the end of the semester, it is only fitting that I finish with the design of the dispensary and how it would live in the real world. I will undoubtedly continue to work on Euflorie after graduation because I believe that this dispensary can become real. After all the hard work I have put in it, I don’t see the point in just stopping the work because I graduated.

Euflorie has become the center and a prime example of my work as a designer, what better way to demonstrate this than to make it real.

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Exterior Design of Eulforie Storefront

Grass Roots, San Franscico California

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Wellness Connections of Maine, Congress St. Portland, Maine.

Level Up, Scottsdale, Arizona

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riginally, the endpoint of the project was supposed to be Senior Thesis Exhibition, where I would design my installation like the interior of the dispensary.

My idea was to have the posters I created to act as decor pieces while the products I have made would be displayed in cases that I and my boyfriend were going to construct. Shelves would be mounted on the walls with the shirts I designed for sale to the viewers along with the mugs. Now, all of that has been replaced with this beautiful rendering of the store.

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How I put to this together was I scoured the internet and my own photos for pictures of cafĂŠs and open airy spaces. I ended up constructing the room like a collage on Photoshop with various different pieces clipped and rendered to match the lighting and overall feeling of the dispensary.

I am very please with how real and authentic the mockup turned out to be. This result so exceeded my expectations of what I myself could do as a designer. With this mockup, I feel very confident that I can present the brand I have designed to a potential buyer and be able to make Euflorie a real company.

Interior of Euflorie, Designed by Katie Wood

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