Embracing Color: Breaking the Mold of the Cannabis Industry

When most people are asked to describe cannabis packaging they often imagine green cannabis leaves…bleh! Too often companies pigeon hole themselves into using leaf shapes and the color green, which can make the competitive market seem flat and uniform. The cannabis industry is nowhere near flat and far from uniform, so let’s celebrate those that embrace diversity and learn about color theory!

RED

Boldness, energy, and action are emoted by this eye-catching color. Red is celebrated by some of the biggest icons in the cannabis industry, RAW & High Times. When considering color psychology, red is the brightest boldest color. 

This color says “STOP, LOOK AT ME”! It’s a color of action and can be seen from far distances, which is precisely why it’s used so commonly in warning signs. Red is associated viscerally within the human body and our emotions. Some of our most extreme emotions such as anger and lust are tied to “turning red”.

ORANGE

Orange conveys youthful playful fun; this energizing color is an interest grabber on any product shelf. This bright and energizing color like all the warm tones demands your attention. Legendary rolling paper company, Zig-Zag claims orange as their own. Orange is bright, happy, and joyful, let’s start embracing more orange!

YELLOW

Bright, warm, and cheerful; yellow is a very unique color. Though loud and eye-catching, yellow has poor legibility in type and is often used as a supportive highlight color. If you really love yellow and want to help with legibility, consider using embossments and outlines. Successful use of yellow can be tricky, but some companies nail it! DadGrass launched their CBD line Mom Grass with a bright warming yellow with rich embossment. CBD is great but little do they know… moms also enjoy the DadGrass.

GREEN

Green is the color most associated with nature and growth. Due to the nature of our industry, it’s a simple choice of color that conveys freshness and life, and oh yeah weed leaves! Though it’s easy to get lost in the group making the simple choice, many companies embrace the vibe and execute gorgeous green branding. Perfected Plant Hemp Co. uses a more floral leaf shape with clean vector lines and bold black text; their branding is gorgeous and shows how you can creatively work within the box.

Though green is a great choice of color, we often try to push our clients to think outside the box and embrace boldness.

AQUA

Aqua conveys reinvigoration, youth, and dreaminess. Its bold and bright contrast on both black and white make it a harmonious and unique color for branding. Boveda celebrates this gorgeous color with their excellent bold branding.

Aqua can be a tricky color when it comes to printing vs screen appearance. Many printers work with a CMYK color model, which cannot print true to color RGB values. Make sure to pick a CMYK friendly aqua for ease of use!

BLUE

Tried and true is the color Blue! The color blue is highly associated with responsibility and is therefore regarded as representing reliability. Blue is always a safe choice, being regularly ranked in the top 3 globally as a “favorite color”. The Cookies brand would not be where they are in the industry without conveying a reliable quality brand, and their color helps to show it.


PURPLE

The color of royalty, Purple has a rich vibrancy all its own. Purple is often found in luxury, fantasy, nature, and female-focused brands. Part of why the color purple is associated with royalty stems from the fact that purple dye was rare and expensive in ancient times. itsPurpl® uses a gorgeous gradient highlighting their namesake color, purple.

BLACK & WHITE

Using black in a business logo can convey authority, strength, formality, and power. It’s no wonder that clean black packaging is often chosen by many luxury companies to convey their dominance in the market.

A feeling of safety, purity, freshness, cleanliness, and bright contrast make white an elegant choice for many industries. White is widely used in the medical industry and the medical cannabis industry is no different. Cleanliness embodied, it’s hard not to love white when applied properly. White works universally with all the colors and can help bring balance to any branding scheme. Jane West uses dramatic black and white packaging to differentiate between her day & night cannabis strains. We love her simple packaging scheme and their great products!