With songs like “Smoke the Weed,” “This Weed Iz Mine,” and “California Roll,” it’s no secret the rapper Snoop Dogg has long been a cannabis connoisseur. Now he’s sharing this passion with the public — at least in Colorado, where consumption is legal — with a new line of marijuana-based products called Leafs By Snoop.
Pentagram’s Emily Oberman and team have designed the brand identity and packaging for the line, which includes both flower and edibles such as chocolate bars, chews, drops and gummies. Working at the forefront of the legalization movement, Snoop and his team wanted to establish a brand that avoided clichés for a more sophisticated image that would still represent fun and a good time. The identity centers on an iconic marijuana leaf playfully constructed of jewel-like facets, accompanied by elegant packaging that is layered with laid-back California cool. Oberman and her team collaborated closely on the project with Ted Chung and Tiffany Chin of Stampede Management Snoop’s management, as well as Snoop. Oberman says she has always been a fan and was thrilled at the chance to help launch a brand in a category that is just getting started. “Snoop is smart, cool and truly unlike anybody else,” she says. “Leafs By Snoop is likewise not just another celebrity-endorsed product … He genuinely loves marijuana and is excited about sharing this enjoyment with others who are able to use it.”
To develop the logo, the team looked at Snoop’s iconography, including jewelry and fashion, and his brand has evolved in recent years to become clean and modern. Oberman and her team presented a variety of ideas and he gravitated towards pyramids, angles and dimensional facets. The finished Leafs By Snoop logo features a cannabis leaf stylized with jewel-like facets. The name “Leafs By Snoop” can also be abbreviated to LBS, a play on weight and buying in bulk. The logo typography is set in the sans serif Hurme Geometric No. 1.
When it came to the packaging, working at the forefront of a new era of recreational products presented a series of challenges. Laws about the packaging of marijuana are still evolving, and the LBS team was on a tight timeline, as they wanted to be one of the first brands out there. The designers used existing packaging structures that were already legally approved, but tweaking it all to make something that felt inventive and high-end. “It’s like working at the end of Prohibition,” says Oberman. “Everything is changing, all the time. Laws change from week to week, and affect what you can do. It’s incredibly exciting, but it’s also difficult, so we had to keep it simple.” Snoop and his team are extremely responsible regarding usage and didn’t take these considerations lightly; LBS is clearly meant for responsible adults. The minimalism of the white LBS box satisfies the strict laws about packaging for controlled substances. Marijuana packages have to be opaque and child-proof. Edibles cannot be called candy but rather gummies, drops and chews. Inside the boxes of weed, the cannabis itself is contained in an opaque white plastic container with a child-proof cap.
As a forefather of West Coast rap, Snoop is closely associated with California, and this comes into play in the packaging. Clean and simple on the outside, opening the flower boxes reveals a display colorful California cool, exposing images of green palms, sunny beaches and blue pools in angled slices that echo the LBS logo. Users encounter other surprises as they handle the packaging: The surface of the outer box is covered with a custom cannabis paisley pattern, printed in a clear, tactile spot varnish. “We chose Paisley because it is one of Snoop’s favorite patterns, borrowed from bandannas,” says Oberman. Opening the box also reveals a collectible sticker featuring a phrase like “Ooouuuweeee” or “Puff puff pass” handwritten by Snoop; the reverse of the sticker features humorous instructions for use the weed. The fractured images and paisley pattern are also integrated into the wrappers of chocolate bars and boxes of gummies, chews and drops. The look of the packaging carries over to the website with the cannabis paisley pattern, bright color palette, and faceted California photography, as well as images of the LBS packages.
