High Tide on designing for a cannabis brand without weed leaf stereotypes

A self-described team of “passionate stoners”, Bloom is a Los Angeles-based brand working in the cannabis vape industry. Interestingly, it is not the first cannabis brand High Tide has worked with. In the past, the creative studio has delivered an illustration-led identity for Miss Grass, a lifestyle cannabis brand. Though its latest work on the identity for Bloom, is miles away from the look achieved for Miss Grass – for good reason. Part of the aim behind the Bloom project was to bring some visual variety to the cannabis realm. Rather than returning to signatures in the space – High Tide lists weed leaf iconography as an example – the studio has opted for a more minimalist approach.

At the centre of the brand is a cyclical logo – nodding to a flower form rather than a leaf. High Tide explains: “The bold simplicity and forward motion alludes to Bloom as innovators and experts in harnessing flavour and potency." The studio adds that: “Red as a brand colour is unique in the cannabis space. We wanted to preserve [Bloom’s] brand equity and lean further into using red by using it in an unapologetically bold way.” Intensifying the hue, High Tide added “big colour floods” throughout, incorporating the palette across typography and packaging.

Alongside crafting the overall strategy, art direction, web design and identity for Bloom, High Tide has developed fresh packaging in which each product features a different variety of icon. According to High Tide, these minimalist shapes give the “brand a modern edge while also serving its function in an intuitive and uncomplicated way”. Beyond helping to delineate product lines, each icon has been designed “to have a sense of symmetry and geometric structure that unifies the system”. Meanwhile, the typography is “meant to feel clean, crisp and precise and speak to [Bloom’s] scientific approach to the product through its unique extraction technology.”

High Tide finishes off the Bloom packaging with touches including custom die-cuts and thick paper stock, to contribute a “premium feel to the product”, the studio concludes.