Hesperia, MI
Oceana Gardens
Legal weed is expensive. Taxes push retail prices above what people pay on the illicit market. In highly competitive markets like Michigan, this prompts a proliferation of products for cost-conscious consumers. Unfortunately, too much of the cheap stuff is garbage.
That's why high-volume outdoor cultivators Oceana Gardens wanted a value brand that wouldn't be seen as "cheap" or one-dimensional. Management wanted to deepen the meaning of their brand, refine its look, and define its unique place in the crowded Michigan cannabis industry.
Collaboration with key stakeholders uncovered a set of shared values at the intersection of communities that make Oceana Gardens unique:
- Korean Culture - importance of relationships, collectivist values, mythological references
- Cannabis Community - our employees, value customers, smart partners, local / state regulators, trade / press
- Oceana County - community relations, positive economic development for Hesperia, Oceana County, and the State of Michigan
- Agriculture Superfans - Vintage equipment restoration, innovative methods, sustainable practices, revival of / reverence for pre-industrial scale farming
With that, I developed our collection of values, inspirations, and realities into a cohesive story — one they felt comfortable inhabiting — and created a corresponding visual identity system.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Strategic & Creative Direction
- Brand Strategy & Story Architecture
- Visual Identity & Brand Assets
- Merchandise Design
- Sales Enablement Materials
- Go-To-Market Strategy & Deliverables
- Presentation Design & Document Templates
Brand Foundation & STory
The brand's origin story is one about inclusion. It inspired how we think about the brand's purpose, mission, values, and benefits.
Inspired by the dragon of Korean myth, we set our highest goal as "ascension" that takes many forms. The brand purpose is more than a lofty statement, it's a way of behaving in the world. It's why Oceana Gardens has these mission, values, and benefits.
Management wanted a brand symbol packed with meaning, and able to defy the trite, expected tropes of cannabis branding. From a handful of options, Oceana Gardens adopted the imugi (or imoogi) as the symbol of the brand. In Korean mythology, the imgui is a proto-dragon that begins its journey toward ascension in waterways. The thousand years an imugi trains to be a dragon inspires our work ethic and reminds us to be patient with nature and each other.
Brand colors, sourced from the farm itself, further differentiate the Oceana Gardens brand from competitors.
BONUS: A version of the brand manual was delivered as an editable file that also serves as a presentation template, complete with embedded brand fonts and colors, and slide templates.