highly sexy brand

lotusworks

After years of prep and an impressive background in cannabis cultivation and sales, the team behind LotusWorks received the first recreational cannabis license in Beacon, NY and was gearing up to open their brick and mortar. They were in need of a complete brand + identity package, including packaging and website art direction. LotusWorks was starting with the retail portion of their business - which they were calling “wellness” - but needed an identity that could encompass the future iterations of their business as their cultivation, community arts and events developed. The one caveat: they wanted to include some elements of a lotus icon that was developed years ago by one of the cofounders. I created an umbrella “LotusWorks” wordmark with sub-logos for all potential iterations, including a cleaned-up version of the lotus icon with increased legibility in all formats.

We worked together on building a system to categorize the strains of cannabis, focusing on the way the strains make you feel rather than simply identifying with the traditionally-used sativa, indica and hybrid identifiers. We created four categories - relax, refresh, rejoice and recharge - that correlate to the four elements: earth, water, air, fire. I developed custom type treatments, icons and color combinations to be used throughout all packaging, the website and in store. The color palette is WCAG AAA compliant for website accessibility and also helps categorize products for retail employees and customers.

LotusWorks chose to work with Cannaplanners for their website development due to their extensive experience with the specific POS system they were integrating. I developed a homepage mockup and wireframe and art directed the design and build of the website.

For the packaging, they wanted to open shop with flower and pre-rolls in the four strains, which stylistically connected to the four “re-” categories. We then conceptualized multipacks, for which I created vibrant packaging systems connected to the color code system, but with different flair based on the pack, combo, and size (soon to be implemented!). We then developed LotusDrops, a sub-brand encompassing all tinctures, gummies and vapes. I created a set of LotusDrops identities - four icons and gradient color combinations for each flavor in the four categories - similar to the strain identities. This packaging is slightly more playful than the standard packaging, but all within the same LotusWorks universe.

Branding + Illustration: Michelle Silver
Photography: Meghan Spiro, Skyla Schreter
Web Art Direction: Michelle Silver
Web Design: Cannaplanners