Great cannabis brands communicate respectability and quality—here's how

Outstanding cannabis branding requires a unique identity and an understanding of one's target market. Great cannabis brands can no longer be built by slapping a variation of a cannabis leaf on a package containing one's product. When examining the package design and branding of successful cannabis companies, keep in mind how their design expresses their identity in order to reach their market. Here is one designer's take on top cannabis branding and design.

Arek Dvornechuck of Ebaqdesign recently shared his views on "9 Best Examples of Cannabis Branding." With a growing market for cannabis and a wide range of available cannabis products, branding has to be better than ever. As Dvornechuck points out, the leading brands feature a professional design that goes beyond the still all too common marijuana leaf.

Dvornechuck relates that there are many opportunities to create new cannabis businesses. These possibilities include cannabis cultivation, dispensaries, and retail outlets, edibles and concentrates, and accessories and apparel. With cannabis going mainstream and serving a wider range of customers, Dvornechuck emphasizes the need to make whatever one produces or offers "more respectable and acceptable" to move beyond the "traditional stoner image."

As Dvornechuck discusses, the core principle is that "cannabis branding design must reflect the company’s mission and vision." So one must seek out a designer like Dvornechuck who has a process that begins with identifying a company's mission and vision. And one must work with companies like white label e-liquid and CBD service White Label Liquids that "help[s] guide brands" in their understanding of "who, how and with what products they'd like to appeal."

While a designer like Dvornechuck provides a branding process leading to logo and packaging designs, a company like White Label Liquid (OTCMKTS:WLAB) can include branding in the total process from initial conceptualization to final marketing. The extra benefits of working with an outsourcing company like White Label Liquid is that they can provide branding services or work with the designer of your choice.

In considering top brands, Dvornechuck discusses how each brings a unique identity to their product. For example, Leafs by Snoop is his top example of a brand that is distinctive and has package design that he describes as luxurious and high-end. Like Snoop Dogg's own career, it takes a product originally associated with the streets and "overcome[s] the social stigma" associated with that product.

Other brands connected to musicians include Marley Natural and Willie's Reserve, associated respectively with Bob Marley and Willie Nelson. Both of these feature distinctive package design with coloring and lettering that relate to the brands of the musicians themselves. Great branding takes one's identity and threads it throughout one's package and product design.

Kiva Confections creates edible cannabis chocolates that have won awards. The creators worked with professional chocolatiers and growers to produce a great product. Their product design, which includes the design of the chocolates themselves, communicates a sense of high quality and what Dvornechuck considers a vintage style. The coloring also evokes a natural product in keeping with the medicinal emphasis of many of their chocolates.

As with all the examples Dvornechuck shares, the above brands are clear about who they are and who they are trying to reach. They communicate that their product is of high quality and their services professional. And, as Dvornechuck emphasizes, they leave previous social stigmas behind to serve their market's legitimate needs.